For if they do these things in a green tree … – This seems to be a proverbial expression. A green tree is not easily set on fire; a dry one is easily kindled and burns rapidly; and the meaning of the passage is – If they, the Romans, do these things to me, who am innocent and blameless; if they punish me in this manner in the face of justice, what will they not do in relation to this guilty nation? What security have they that heavier judgments will not come upon them? What desolations and woes may not be expected when injustice and oppression have taken the place of justice, and have set up a rule over this wicked people? Our Lord alludes, evidently, to the calamities that would come upon them by the Romans in the destruction of their city and temple. The passage may be applied, however, without impropriety, and with great beauty and force, to the punishment of the wicked in the future world.

Thus applied, it means that the sufferings of the Saviour, as compared with the sufferings of the guilty, were like the burning of a green tree as compared with the burning of one that is dry. A green tree is not adapted to burn; a dry one is. So the Saviour – innocent, pure, and holy – stood in relation to suffering. There were sufferings which an innocent being could not endure. There was remorse of conscience, the sense of guilt, punishment properly so called, and the eternity of woes. He had the consciousness of innocence, and he would not suffer forever. He had no passions to be enkindled that would rage and ruin the soul. The sinner is adapted to sufferings, like a dry tree to the fire. He is guilty, and will suffer all the horrors of remorse of conscience. He will be punished literally. He has raging and impetuous passions, and they will be enkindled in hell, and will rage forever and ever. The meaning is, that if the innocent Saviour suffered so much, the sufferings of the sinner forever in hell must be more unspeakably dreadful. Yet who could endure the sufferings of the Redeemer on the cross for a single day? Who could bear them forever and ever, aggravated by all the horrors of a guilty conscience, and all the terrors of unrestrained anger, and hate, and fear, and wrath? Why will the wicked die?

Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible

Verse 31. If they do these things in a green tree] This seems to be a proverbial expression, the sense of which is: If they spare not a tree which, by the beauty of its foliage, abundance and excellence of its fruits, deserves to be preserved, then the tree which is dry and withered will surely be cut down. If an innocent man be put to death in the very face of justice, in opposition to all its dictates and decisions, by a people who profess to be governed and directed by Divine laws, what desolation, injustice, and oppression may not be expected, when anarchy and confusion sit in the place where judgment and justice formerly presided? Our Lord alludes prophetically to those tribulations which fell upon the Jewish people about forty years after. See the notes on Mt 24:1-51.

Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible

31. green treethat naturallyresists the fire.

the drythat attractsthe fire, being its proper fuel. The proverb here plainly means: “Ifsuch sufferings alight upon the innocent One, the very Lamb of God,what must be in store for those who are provoking the flames?”

Luk 23:32-38;Luk 23:44-46. CRUCIFIXIONAND DEATH OF THELORD JESUS.

(See on Joh19:17-30).

Lu23:39-43. THE TWOTHIEVES.

Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible

For if they do these things in a green tree,…. Or it may be rendered impersonally, “if these things are done in a green tree”; by which is meant the Lord Jesus Christ, who is often compared to a tree, as to a green fir tree, an apple tree, a vine, and is called the tree of life: and may be said to be a moist or green tree; because, as a green tree is full of juice, so is he of grace and goodness; as that is flourishing, so was he in the fame of his doctrine and miracles, in the spread of his Gospel, and in the increase of his kingdom and interest; and as that is fruitful and useful, so was he in preaching the Gospel, and healing diseases; and as that is not proper to be cut down, nor fit fuel for the fire, so he was not deserving of death, or to be used in the manner he was; the metaphor seems designed to express the righteousness and innocence of Christ; see Eze 20:47 who was pure in his nature, without sin in his life, harmless in his conversation, and did no hurt to any man’s person or property: his enemies could find nothing, nor prove any thing against him; nor even the devil himself, but owned him to be the Holy One of God; and he was also declared innocent by his judge, the Roman governor: and yet, how many hard and grievous things were done unto him! He was persecuted in his infancy, and his life was sought for; he was despised and reproached by men all his days; he was apprehended as if he had been a thief, and was bound as a malefactor; and arraigned at the bar of men, as if he had been the greatest criminal on earth; he was mocked, buffeted, and spit upon in the palace of the high priest; be was scourged by Pilate, and misused by his soldiers, who arrayed him with a scarlet robe, put a crown of thorns on his head, and a reed in his hand, and in a mock way bowed the knee to him, and saluted him as King of the Jews; they crucified him between two thieves, and as he hung on the cross mocked him, and gave him gall and vinegar to drink. To which may be added, that he was forsaken by his God, and Father, and his wrath was poured out upon him, as he sustained the persons, and bore the sins of his people; the curse of the law was executed on him: and justice drew its sword, and sheathed it in him: and now if all these things were done to such an useful, holy, harmless, and innocent person, what shall be done in the dry? by whom wicked men are designed; who, as dry trees are without juice, so are they destitute of grace and righteousness, and all that is good, and bring forth no fruit, neither to God, nor themselves, nor others; but, like dead and withered trees, are dead in trespasses and sins, and full of all manner of sin, and rottenness, and impurity; and are deserving to be cut down, and are fit fuel for the fire of divine wrath and displeasure, both in this, and in the other world. The wicked Jews that rejected Christ, and crucified him, are particularly meant; and if such evil things were done by them to so just a person, what may not be expected will fall on them in retaliation for such usage? and if the Roman soldiers, under their encouragement acted such a part to Christ, who had never done them any injury, what will they not do to these men, when provoked by their insults and rebellions? and if such things were done to Christ by his Father, according to the requirement of the law, and the strictness of divine justice, when he was made sin for his people, though he knew none, nor committed any himself, what vengeance will fall on them, who must answer for their sins in their own persons? What devouring flames, and everlasting burnings, will such dry trees be exposed to, as being fit for them, and deserving of them? so the children of men are, by the Jews, in their writings, called, , “dry trees” u; the Targumist on Eze 17:24 paraphrases the words thus;

“I have humbled the kingdom of the nations, which was strong as a green tree, and I have strengthened the kingdom of the house of Israel, which was weak as a dry tree.”

It is a common proverb with the Jews x;

“two dry sticks, or brands, and one green, the dry burn up the green:”

intimating, that a few righteous persons among wicked men suffer with them; but if righteous men suffer, how much more the wicked? see 1Pe 4:17.

u Zohar in Lev. fol. 14. 2. x T. Bab. Sanhedrin, fol. 93. 1.

Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible

In the green tree ( ). Green wood is hard to burn and so is used for the innocent.

In the dry ( ). Dry wood kindles easily and is a symbol for the guilty. This common proverb has various applications. Here the point is that if they can put Jesus to death, being who he is, what will happen to Jerusalem when its day of judgment comes?

What shall be done ( ). Deliberative subjunctive.

Fuente: Robertson’s Word Pictures in the New Testament

Tree [] . Originally wood, timber. In later Greek, a tree. Used of the cross by Peter, Act 5:30; Act 10:39; and 1Pe 2:24. Compare Gal 3:13.

Fuente: Vincent’s Word Studies in the New Testament

1) “For if they do these things in a green tree”,

(Hoteien hugro ksulo tauta poiousin) “Because if a tree do these (kind of) things when it is full of sap,” meaning when one is innocent, Psa 1:3; Pe 4:17. If the green tree is not spared.

2) “What shall be done in the dry?” (en to ksero ti .genetai) “Just what may happen in the dry,” or in a time of drought? or what will they do to those who are guilty? The dryness signifies “fit or prepared to be burned,” Mat 21:19, Jud 1:12; Psa 40:3; Jer 25:29; Eze 20:47; Eze 21:4; 1Pe 4:17.

ORDER OF CRUCIFIXION EVENTS

1. The arrival at Calvary (Golgotha), Mat 27:33; Mar 15:22; Luk 23:33; Joh 19:17.

2. Offer of the vinegar-wine, stupifying drink refused, Mat 27:34; Mar 15:23.

3. Christ crucified between two thieves, Mat 27:35-38; Mar 15:24-28; Luk 23:33-38; Joh 19:18-24.

4. The “First cry” from the cross, “Father forgive,” Luk 23:34, as nails were driven.

5. The soldiers part or divide His garments, Mat 27:35; Mar 15:24; Luk 23:34; Joh 19:23.

6. The Jewish rulers mock Jesus, Mat 27:39-44; Mar 15:29-32; Luk 23:35-38.

7. Two thieves rail on Jesus, then one repents, believes, Mat 27:44; Mar 15:32; Luk 23:35-43.

8. The “second cry” from the cross, Luk 23:43 “Today shalt thou be with me.”

9. The “third cry” – “Woman behold thy Son,” Joh 19:26-27.

10. The deep darkness falls, Mat 27:45; Mar 15:33; Luk 23:44.

11. The “fourth cry” of the cross, “My God,” Mat 27:46-47; Mar 15:34-36.

12. The “fifth cry” – “I thirst,” Joh 19:28.

13. The “sixth cry,” – “it is finished,” Joh 19:30.

14. The “seventh cry,” – “Father, into thy hands,” Luk 23:46.

15. Jesus dismissed His Spirit, Mat 27:50; Mar 15:37; Luk 23:46; Joh 19:30.

Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary

31. If they do these things in the green tree. By this sentence Christ confirms what he had stated, that his death will not remain unpunished, and that the Jews, whose iniquity is ripe, or rather half-rotten, will not remain long in their present condition; and by a familiar comparison, he proves it to be impossible but that the fire of the divine wrath shall immediately kindle and devour them. We know that dry wood is wont to be first thrown into the fire; but if what is moist and green be burnt, much less shall the dry be ultimately spared. The phrase, if they do, may be taken indefinitely for if it be done (266) and the meaning will be: “If green wood is thrown into the fire before the time, what, think you, shall become of what is dry and old?” But some perhaps will prefer to view it as a comparison of men with God, as if Christ had said: “Wicked men, who resemble dry wood, when they have basely murdered the righteous, will find that their time is prepared by God. For how could they who are already devoted to destruction escape the hand of the heavenly Judge, who grants them so much liberty for a time against the good and innocent?”

Whether you choose to interpret it in the one or the other of these ways, the general meaning is, that the lamentation of the women is foolish, if they do not likewise expect and dread the awful judgment of God which hangs over the wicked. And whenever our distress of mind, arising from the bitterness of the cross, goes to excess, it is proper to soothe it by this consolation, that God, who now permits his own people to be unjustly oppressed, will not ultimately allow the wicked to escape punishment. If we were not sustained by this hope, we must unavoidably sink under our afflictions. Though it be the natural and more frequent practice to make a fire of dry wood rather than of green wood, yet God pursues a different order; for, while he allows tranquillity and ease to the reprobate, he trains his own people by a variety of afflictions, and therefore their condition is more wretched than that of others, if we judge of it from the present appearance. But this is an appropriate remedy, if we patiently look for the whole course of the judgment of God; for thus we shall perceive that the wicked gain nothing by a little delay; for when God shall have humbled his faithful servants by fatherly chastisements, he will rise with a drawn sword against those whose sins he appeared for a time not to observe.

(266) “ Pour si on fait ”

Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary

(31) If they do these things in a green tree.The word for tree primarily meant wood or timber, the tree cut down. In later Greek, however, as, e.g., in Rev. 2:7; Rev. 22:2; Rev. 22:14; Rev. 22:19, it was used for tree. The green tree is, therefore, that which is yet living, capable of bearing fruit; the dry, that which is barren, fruitless, withered, fit only for the axe (Mat. 3:10; Luk. 13:7). The words have so much the character of a proverb that the verb may almost be treated as practically impersonal. So far as any persons are implied, we must think of our Lord as speaking of the representatives of Roman power. If Pilate could thus sentence to death One in whom he acknowledged that he could find no fault, what might be expected from his successors when they had to deal with a people rebellious and in arms? In 1Pe. 4:17 we have the same thought in a more general and less figurative form.

Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)

31. In a green tree in the dry A usual interpretation of this verse may be best given in the words of Bloomfield: “A proverbial form of expression; for (as we find from Psa 1:3; Eze 20:47; Eccl.

Luk 6:3, and especially the Rabbinical writers,) the Hebrews were accustomed to figuratively call the righteous, green trees, and the wicked, dry ones. Hence the sense here is: “If the innocent and the righteous be thus cut off, what may not be expected to befal the wicked and disobedient at the day of visitation, which impends over you.” But we are convinced that this is not the meaning of the passage. The green tree and the dry represent, if we rightly understand it, Jerusalem in its living and vigorous state, and Jerusalem in its dry and withered state. If in the former she commits crimes like these, what will be her judgments in the latter.

Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments

Luk 23:31. For if they do those things in a green tree, &c. If these things are done in green wood. Heylin. “If the Romans are permitted by heaven to inflict such heavy punishments upon me who am innocent, how dreadful must the vengeance be which they shall inflict on the nation, whose sins cry aloud to heaven, hastening the pace of the divine judgments, and rendering the perpetrators as fit for punishment, as dry wood is for burning.” Comp. Eze 20:47 with Eze 21:3 where God’s burning every green and every dry tree, is explained to be his destroying the righteous and the wicked together. See also Psa 1:3 where a good man is compared to a green tree full of leaves: and both our Lord and John the Baptist resemble bad men to dry, dead, and barren trees. It is proverbial among the Jews, that “two dry sticks will burn a green one:” that is, the company of two wicked men may corrupt and bring judgments upon a good man. See Pro 11:31.

Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke

DISCOURSE: 1585
THE GREEN AND DRY TREE

Luk 23:31. If they do these things in the green tree, what shall be done in the dry?

THE Jews, at this day, know not how to account for the judgments that are upon them. But we can tell them the true reason: it is for the murder of their Messiah. Whilst yet they were in the commission of that act, it was foretold by Jesus himself, that they, even their whole nation, should endure such tribulation as had not been experienced by any people from the beginning of the world; nor ever should again be, as long as the world shall stand [Note: Mat 24:21-22.]. He was now, at this time, bearing his cross to the place of crucifixion. And, though the nation at large were gratified at the miseries inflicted on him, there were some whose hearts were tender and compassionate, and who greatly bewailed and lamented him. These, however, he exhorted to weep, not for him, but for themselves and for their children; since the days were coming, when they who accounted barrenness so great a calamity, should congratulate themselves upon it; and when, to be crushed to death under rocks and mountains, instead of being dreaded, should be coveted as a blessing [Note: ver. 2830.]. His own sufferings were indeed great: but, says he, If these things be done in the green tree, what shall be done in the dry?

Under this proverbial expression he conveyed,

I.

A prophetic intimation to that peculiar people.

They were now committing a greater sin than had ever yet been committed on the face of the earth
[All other sins were light in comparison of this. Nothing had he done among them, but good. Not one amongst them could lay any sin to his charge. His very judge proclaimed his innocence. Yet did they, even the whole nation, rise against him, to put him to death: and when, by reason of their subjection to the Romans, they were unable to gratify their malice to the extent they wished, they delivered him up to the Roman governor, and, by their importunities and threats, compelled him to put him to death. In executing this sentence, they loaded him with every species of indignity, and strove by all possible means to aggravate his sufferings to the uttermost. Hence it may be said of him, Never was sorrow like unto his sorrow.]
And for this they were doomed to suffer a heavier punishment than had ever been inflicted on any other nation under heaven
[They were thus ripening themselves for vengeance, which was soon to come upon them to the uttermost. And it was to be inflicted by the instrumentality of that very people by whom they were now wreaking their vengeance upon him. They had proposed to put Jesus to death, lest the Romans should come and take away their place and nation. And God awarded to them, as their punishment, that very judgment which they had sought to avert. Into the hands of the Romans he delivered them; and not less than one million one hundred thousand of them were slain in the siege: the rest were carried captive, or sold for slaves: and from that day to this have their afflictions been continued, with a severity which has marked, in a peculiar manner, the wrath of Almighty God against them. To this hour are they a reproach, and a hissing, in every quarter of the globe. So that in them is the text fully verified. We have seen what was done in the green tree; and we now see what has been done, and is even yet doing, in the dry.]

But, in these words we may yet further see,

II.

A solemn warning to all mankind

All are fitly compared to a dry tree
[A tree which is dead draws no moisture from the ground; nor does it derive any benefit from the sun and rain. The heavenly influences which nourish and strengthen living trees, serve but to prepare the dead trees as fuel for the fire. What a striking picture does this give us of the Christian world! All who call themselves Christians are planted on the same ground. But the great mass of them are dead. Though, by profession, standing on Christ, and rooted in him, they receive from him no communications of grace or peace. The ordinances which enrich others, impart no blessing to these; but rather tend to render them more dead, and more meet for the fire that shall consume them. Years pass away, and no change, but for the worse, is wrought upon them: so that the very attempt to make them fruitful is altogether in vain.]
And what can be prepared for them?
[What but excision and the fire? They shall not always be left to cumber the ground thus. Look at every individual tree, and you shall see an axe already lying at the root, ready to inflict the fatal stroke, the moment that the expected order for it shall be issued. But, O who can conceive the fierceness of that fire which shall then consume it; or, rather, that shall ever prey upon it unconsumed; the fire itself being never quenched, nor the material that feeds it being ever wasted? In the green tree, the calamities were soon at an end: but to the dry tree, eternity itself shall be the duration of its torments. The things indeed which were done in Christ were inconceivably terrible, notwithstanding his perfect innocence: but, if they were so terrible in him, when sin was only imputed to him, what shall they be in those who are laden with iniquities, from their youth up even to their dying hour? Verily, no tongue can utter, no imagination can conceive, the miseries that await those who, in the midst of all the advantages of Gospel ministrations, continue dead in trespasses and sins.]

Sufficient has been spoken for the explaining of the text, both in its prophetic import and its more general application. We may now give somewhat fuller scope to our observations, whilst we call you to notice,
1.

The double aspect in which our Lords sufferings should be viewed

[We ought to view them as an atonement to God, and as an exemplar to man. As an atonement to God, we delight to contemplate them; seeing that they are a full, perfect, and sufficient sacrifice, oblation, and satisfaction, for the sins of the whole world. Behold him, brethren, bearing his cross to Calvary, and there exhibited, a naked bloody spectacle, to angels and to men: behold him, I say, and bear in mind that he is a victim dying under the load of your sins, and effecting reconciliation for you with your offended God

At the same time we must not forget, that, as an exemplar, he shews to us what is the desert of sin, and what must infallibly overtake the impenitent and unbelieving sinner. Hear him, under the depths of dereliction, crying, My God, my God! why hast thou forsaken me? and see him dying under the wrath of God, who for our sakes was pleased to bruise him: and know that such hidings of Gods face, and such endurance of his wrath, must be the everlasting portion of all who die in their sins. Yes, these things, which in the green tree were done for a season, shall be done in the dry, to all eternity
Never shall we have a just view of the Saviours sufferings, unless these widely-different considerations be combined.]

2.

The double operation which they should have upon our minds

[Hope and fear should both be called forth into united and harmonious exercise. Need I say, that hope should be generated in our souls? There is no other ground of hope for any child of man; nor any reason for despondency to the vilest sinner upon earth. What cannot those sufferings expiate? and for what can they not prevail to obtain pardon? Not even the sin against the Holy Ghost is excepted on account of its enormity, but because, in its very essence, it contains a contempt of this all-sufficient remedy. I hesitate not to say, that that very blood which was then shed on Calvary will cleanse from all sin, even from the sin of shedding it. Lift up your eyes to Him, then, upon the cross, my brethren; and you shall, though your views be very indistinct, experience, like the wounded Israelites at the extremity of the camp, a healing efficacy to your souls

Yet I would have you fear: for if God spared not his own Son, when sin lay upon him only by imputation, be assured he will not spare those who hold fast their iniquities in impenitence and unbelief. If God was a consuming fire to the green tree, be assured that he will be so likewise to the dry. To all, then, I say, Fear and tremble before the God of heaven; and lose not one hour in seeking reconciliation with him through the Son of his love ]

Fuente: Charles Simeon’s Horae Homileticae (Old and New Testaments)

31 For if they do these things in a green tree, what shall be done in the dry?

Ver. 31. What shall be done in the dry? ] Lo, little sucklings also are here called dry trees, dry wood, such as God’s wrath will soon kindle upon.

Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)

31. ] This verse the solemn close of our Lord’s teaching on earth compares His own sufferings with that awful judgment which shall in the end overtake sinners, the unrepentant human kind the dry tree . These things were a judgment on sin; He bore our sins; He, the vine, the green tree , the fruit-bearing tree, of Whom His people are the branches, if He, if they in Him and in themselves, are so treated, so tried with sufferings, what shall become of them who are cast forth as a branch and are withered? Read 1Pe 4:12-18 ; Luk 23:18 is a paraphrase of our text. Theophylact’s comment is excellent: , ;

The explanations which make the green-tree = the young, and the dry = the old (Bengel), or the green-tree = the women, comparatively innocent, the dry = the guilty (Baumgarten-Crusius), at the destruction of Jerusalem seem to me unworthy of the place which the words hold, though the latter agrees with the symbolism of Eze 20:47 , compared with Luk 21:4 .

Fuente: Henry Alford’s Greek Testament

Luk 23:31 . The sense of this proverbial phrase is obscure, but the connection demands this general idea: what is happening to me now is nothing to what is going to happen to this people. The green tree represents innocence, the dry tree guilt, ripe for the fire of judgment. Vide Eze 20:47 ; Eze 21:3 . Pricaeus cites as a parallel from Catullus: “quid facient crines quum ferro talia cedant?” The Rabbinical proverb, “si duo fuerint ligna arida et unum viride, arida illud lignum viride exurunt,” does not seem to bear the same meaning. , in the wet tree, in ligno humido , Grotius. = lignum viride , in Ezekiel.

Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson

if they do. Assuming the case. App-118.

do = are doing.

a green tree = the

living wood: i.e. the Lord.

shall be done = must happen.

the dry = the dry [wood]: i, e. the nation.

Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics

31.] This verse-the solemn close of our Lords teaching on earth-compares His own sufferings with that awful judgment which shall in the end overtake sinners, the unrepentant human kind-the dry tree. These things–were a judgment on sin;-He bore our sins;-He,-the vine, the green tree, the fruit-bearing tree,-of Whom His people are the branches,-if He, if they in Him and in themselves, are so treated, so tried with sufferings,-what shall become of them who are cast forth as a branch and are withered? Read 1Pe 4:12-18;-Luk 23:18 is a paraphrase of our text. Theophylacts comment is excellent: , ;

The explanations which make the green-tree = the young, and the dry = the old (Bengel),-or the green-tree = the women, comparatively innocent, the dry = the guilty (Baumgarten-Crusius), at the destruction of Jerusalem-seem to me unworthy of the place which the words hold, though the latter agrees with the symbolism of Eze 20:47, compared with Luk 21:4.

Fuente: The Greek Testament

Luk 23:31. , For) By this adage Jesus either shows why He Himself desires the daughters of Jerusalem to weep; or rather brings before us the persons who desire to be overwhelmed beneath the mountains, stating the grounds of their terror. Therefore we may take the green tree as typifying the young, strong, and healthy: the dry tree (comp. Isa 56:3, Neither let the eunuch say, Behold I am a dry tree; Eze 21:3 [Eze 20:47], Eze 31:3,[257] etc.), the old, feeble, and barren. A remarkable passage occurs in Joseph., B. vi. de B. J. ch. 44. f 968, ed Lips. When the soldiers were wearied out in killing the Jews, and a great multitude seemed still to be left surviving, Csar ordered that those alone who were armed and offered resistance should be slain, and that the rest should be made captives. But the soldiers (the sense requires ) , contrary to what had been commanded, slew the old and feeble ( ), ( ), but shut up in confinement those who were vigorous and serviceable, etc. Therefore in this crowning calamity they began debating with one another, as usually happens, which was the more miserable. Tending to the same view of the words is the fact, that denotes either a tree that is standing, or the wood of a tree that has been cut, which latter also is wont to be either moist (for so Erasmus renders , humidum, still retaining the sap) or else dry. Elsewhere indeed Christ is the tree of life, perfect in its verdure: men, whilst outside of Him, are dry wood. See Joh 15:1-2. But His suffering (punishment) was truly more severe than that of any Jew, after the city was taken.

[257] Where the Assyrian is called a cedar in Lebanon. Comp. Luk 17:24, I the Lord have dried up the green tree, and made the dry tree to flourish.-E. and T.

Fuente: Gnomon of the New Testament

Pro 11:31, Jer 25:29, Eze 15:2-7, Eze 20:47, Eze 20:48, Eze 21:3, Eze 21:4, Dan 9:26, Mat 3:12, Joh 15:6, Heb 6:8, 1Pe 4:17, 1Pe 4:18, Jud 1:12

Reciprocal: Lam 1:22 – all their Zec 11:2 – Howl Mat 3:10 – the ax

Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge

1

Green and dry are used figuratively, meaning trees that are alive or dead. In the application, they represent a righteous and an unrighteous person. If such distress will be imposed upon a righteous person (Christ), what may be expected to be done to a wicked nation, and its helpless citizens were destined to share in the general calamity, brought about by the wicked leaders.

Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary

For if they do these things in a green tree, what shall be done in the dry?

[If they do these things in a green tree, etc.] consult John Baptist’s expression, Mat 3:10; “Now also the axe is laid to the root of the tree;” viz., then when the Jewish nation was subdued to the government of the Romans, who were about to destroy it. And if they deal thus with me, a green and flourishing tree; what will they do with the whole nation, a dry and sapless trunk?

Fuente: Lightfoot Commentary Gospels

Luk 23:31. If they do these things in the green tree, etc. In proverbial form our Lord here contrasts what is coming upon Himself, the green tree, the fruitful vine, the innocent one when He bore our sins, with what would come upon them, the dry tree, the unfruitful ones standing to bear their own judgment. These things must be interpreted as a judgment on sin, or the contrast fails. They is used impersonally of human agency in general. Other explanations have been suggested; but none of them seem worthy to be final utterances of our Lord as a Teacher. At such a time nothing could be more appropriate than an allusion to His vicarious work. He could not avert the judgment. He must announce, but even at the last joins with it a thought of His work for sinners.

Fuente: A Popular Commentary on the New Testament

Verse 31

In the dry. Our Savior here seems to refer to the terrible calamities which were to come upon the Jewish nation, at the approaching siege and destruction of Jerusalem.

Fuente: Abbott’s Illustrated New Testament

23:31 For if they do these things in a {e} green tree, what shall be done in the dry?

(e) As if he said, “If they do this to me who is always fruitful and flourishing, and who lives forever by reason of my Godhead, what will they do to you who are unfruitful and void of all active righteousness?”

Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes

This was evidently a proverbial saying in Jesus’ day. The green tree stands for good conditions resulting from God’s blessing and the dry tree for bad conditions resulting from divine judgment. If God allowed innocent Jesus to perish in times of His blessing, what would happen to guilty Jerusalem when God judged her?

"If the Romans condemned to death the one they admitted to be innocent, how would they deal in the future with those whom they found guilty?" [Note: The New Scofield . . ., p. 1119.]

Jesus’ words constituted yet another call for repentance. There was still time for individuals and the nation to believe on Him and escape God’s wrath, but barring repentance God’s severe judgment would certainly fall. Luke evidently recorded these words because of his interest in extending the call to salvation to his readers.

Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)