37
O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, who kills the prophets and stones those sent to her, how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were unwilling!
Berean Standard Bible · CC0
Greek — tap a word ↓
Ierousalēm Ierousalēm hē apokteinousa tous prophētas kai lithobolousa tous apestalmenous pros autēn posakis ēthelēsa episynagagein sou ta tekna tropon hon ornis episynagei autēs ta nossia hypo tas pterygas kai ouk ēthelēsate
Word by word31 · parsed
√ Ἱερουσαλήμ — Hierusalem (iNounVocative Feminine Singular
Ἱερουσαλήμ: Jerusalem (Hebraic form) The vocative is doubled (i 0 and i 1). Ellicott, Cambridge and Pulpit all observe that this Hebraic spelling (Ἱερουσαλήμ rather than the Hellenized Ἱεροσόλυμα) stands here only in Matthew, who uses the Greek form elsewhere. Pulpit reads it as Matthew reproducing "the actual sound of the Saviour's affecting address"; Cambridge says the form "employed by our Lord is retained." So the city is addressed by the name her own people used for her, twice, before any accusation lands.
√ Ἱερουσαλήμ — Hierusalem (iNounVocative Feminine Singular
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleVocative Feminine Singular
√ ἀποκτείνω — to kill outrightVerbPresent Participle ActiveVocative Feminine Singular
ἀποκτείνω: to kill outright Present active participle in the vocative feminine singular, agreeing with ἡ: not "who killed" but "you who keep killing." Gill narrows the addressee to the rulers and above all the great sanhedrin, since it alone could try a man claiming to be a prophet, and he notes these are "manifestly distinguished from their children" later in the verse. Ellicott reads the tense forward as well as back.
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleAccusative Masculine Plural
√ προφήτης — a foreteller ("prophet")NounAccusative Masculine Plural
προφήτης: a foreteller, prophet Accusative plural, the direct object of a habitual present participle: the killing of prophets is described as the city's standing practice, not her lapse. Ellicott widens the class forward rather than back, to Christian prophets (1 Thessalonians 2:14-15, probably James 5:10), so what stands accused is a disposition toward the office itself and not the sins of one generation.
√ καί — and, also, even, so then, too, etcConjunction
√ λιθοβολέω — to throw stones, iVerbPresent Participle ActiveVocative Feminine Singular
λιθοβολέω: to throw stones, to stone A rare verb (7 verses in the Greek New Testament). Pulpit notes that "stonest" is "particularly appropriate after the reference to Zechariah" of 2 Chronicles 24:20, whose stoning Jesus named four verses earlier; Gill names the same Zechariah son of Jehoiada, and adds that both killing by the sword and stoning were capital penalties the sanhedrin itself inflicted. The same verb carries Stephen's death at Acts 7:58.
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleAccusative Masculine Plural
√ ἀποστέλλω — set apart, iVerbPerfect Participle Middle or PassiveAccusative Masculine Plural
ἀποστέλλω: to set apart, to send with a commission Perfect participle middle or passive, accusative plural: "the ones having been sent," a completed sending whose result still stands. The prophets are not volunteers, and the perfect keeps the Sender in the frame, so each stone lands on the One whose commission they carry. Ellicott extends the class to Christian prophets (1 Thessalonians 2:14-15, probably James 5:10).
√ πρός — a preposition of directionPreposition
√ αὐτός — the reflexive pronoun self, used (alone or in the comparative G1438 (ἑαυτοῦ)) of the third person , and (with the proper personal pronoun) of the other personsPersonal / Possessive PronounAccusative Feminine 3rd Person Singular
αὐτήν: her The received Greek sends the messengers "to her," third person, in the middle of a second person address. Pulpit records the variant "thee" in some manuscripts and the Vulgate. We keep the harder reading and note the seam rather than smoothing it.
√ ποσάκις — how many timesAdverb
ποσάκις: how many times An unusually rare adverb: three verses in the whole Greek New Testament (here, Luke 13:34, and Peter's "how often shall my brother sin against me" at Matthew 18:21). JFB argues the word must reach past "the six or seven times that He visited and taught in Jerusalem while on earth" to the prophets themselves, which is to say the Speaker claims to have been sending them.
√ θέλω — to determine (as an active option from subjective impulseVerbAorist Indicative Active1st Person Singular
θέλω: to will, to determine Aorist indicative active, first singular. The commentators divide sharply here and we do not adjudicate: Poole holds that "the affirmative part" on God's secret will "has no foundation in this text," reading "would I" as no more than the sending of prophets; Ellicott makes the verse the strongest statement of "man's fatal gift of freedom," a human will frustrating the will "even of the Almighty"; Gill splits the difference by referring the wish to Christ's human will "for their temporal good." The parse settles the tense, not the theology.
√ ἐπισυνάγω — to collect upon the same placeVerbAorist Infinitive Active
ἐπισυνάγω: to collect upon the same place A rare double compound (7 verses) whose aorist infinitive here is answered by its present indicative at i 21. Its other weight-bearing use is eschatological: the angels sent to "gather the elect" at Matthew 24:31 and Mark 13:27, one chapter later in this same discourse. The gathering refused in the Temple court is the gathering that will yet be executed.
√ σύ — thouPersonal / Possessive PronounGenitive 2nd Person Singular
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleAccusative Neuter Plural
√ τέκνον — a child (as produced)NounAccusative Neuter Plural
τέκνα: a child (as produced) Gill presses a distinction the English hides: in the idiom of the schools the heads of the people are "fathers" and the people under them "children," so the ones Christ willed to gather are not the ones He is addressing. On that reading the verse holds a gathering desired for the children and refused by the fathers, which is why the final verb turns plural.
√ τρόπος — a turn, iNounAccusative Masculine Singular
√ ὅς — the relatively (sometimes demonstrative) pronoun, who, which, what, thatPersonal / Relative PronounAccusative Masculine Singular
√ ὄρνις — a bird (as rising in the air), iNounNominative Feminine Singular
ὄρνις: a bird (as rising in the air) Generic, not domestic. Ellicott says the eagle-to-hen contrast with Deuteronomy 32:11 sits "in the English rather than the Greek." JFB, unaware of the objection or unmoved by it, builds the whole pathos of the mother bird who will "let the last drop of her blood be shed out" rather than yield her brood. Both are in the brief; the lexicon supports Ellicott, the emotional force belongs to JFB.
√ ἐπισυνάγω — to collect upon the same placeVerbPresent Indicative Active3rd Person Singular
√ αὐτός — the reflexive pronoun self, used (alone or in the comparative G1438 (ἑαυτοῦ)) of the third person , and (with the proper personal pronoun) of the other personsPersonal / Possessive PronounGenitive Feminine 3rd Person Singular
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleAccusative Neuter Plural
√ νοσσίον — a birdlingNounAccusative Neuter Plural
νοσσίον: a birdling A diminutive, and a word that occurs nowhere else in the Greek New Testament. Its entire contribution is helplessness: the chicks bring nothing to the shelter but their need of it.
√ ὑπό — under, iPreposition
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleAccusative Feminine Plural
√ πτέρυξ — a wingNounAccusative Feminine Plural
πτέρυξ: a wing Rare (5 verses). JFB gathers the Old Testament field behind the image: Deuteronomy 32:10-12, Ruth 2:12, Psalm 17:8, Psalm 36:7, Psalm 61:4, Psalm 63:7, Psalm 91:4, Isaiah 31:5, Malachi 4:2. Gill and Cambridge independently record the rabbinic idiom in which a proselyte comes "under the wings of the Shekinah," and Cambridge draws the conclusion: Christ calls the children of Jerusalem to Himself as "the true Shechinah." That turns a tender simile into a claim.
√ καί — and, also, even, so then, too, etcConjunction
√ οὐ — the absolute negative (compare G3361 (μή)) adverbAdverb
√ θέλω — to determine (as an active option from subjective impulseVerbAorist Indicative Active2nd Person Plural
θέλω: to will (2nd person plural, negated) The same verb as i 13, now plural and denied: the two wills of the verse differ only in their endings. Cambridge flags the hinge in four words: "Note the change to the plural." Pulpit adds that "it was always in their power to turn if they willed," comparing Isaiah 30:15. Henry puts the whole chapter's ending on this verb: nothing stands between sinners and happiness "but their proud and unbelieving unwillingness."