Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Luke 18:34
And they understood none of these things: and this saying was hid from them, neither knew they the things which were spoken.
34. they understood none of these things ] as had been the case before, Luk 9:43-45; and St Mark tells us (Mar 9:32) that ‘they were afraid to ask Him.’ It was only at a later period that the full significance of all these words dawned on them (Joh 12:16). We must learn, as Pascal says, to love divine truths before we can understand them. The Apostles refused to admit the plain meaning of these clear statements (Mat 16:22).
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Understood none of these things – Though they were plainly revealed, yet such were their prejudices and their unwillingness to believe them that they did not understand them. They expected that he would be a temporal prince and a conqueror, and they were not willing to believe that he would be delivered into the hands of his enemies. They did not see how that could be consistent with the prophecies. To us now these things appear plain, and we may, hence, learn that those things which to us appear most mysterious may yet appear perfectly plain; and we should learn to trust in God, and believe just what he has spoken. See Mat 16:21; Mat 17:23.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Verse 34. They understood none of these things] Notwithstanding all the information which Christ had given them concerning this awful subject, they could not as yet fully comprehend how the Messiah should suffer; or how their Master, whose power they knew was unlimited, should permit the Jews and Gentiles to torment and slay him as he here intimates they would.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
34. understood none, c.TheEvangelist seems unable to say strongly enough how entirely hiddenfrom them at that time was the sense of these exceeding plainstatements: no doubt to add weight to their subsequent testimony,which from this very circumstance was prodigious, and with all thesimple-hearted irresistible.
Lu18:35-43. BLIND MANHEALED.
In Mt20:29-34, they are two, as in the case of the Demoniac ofGadara. In Matthew and Mark (Mr10:46-52) the occurrence is connected with Christ’s departurefrom Jericho in Luke with His approach to it. Many ways ofaccounting for these slight divergences of detail have been proposed.Perhaps, if we knew all the facts, we should see nodifficulty; but that we have been left so far in the dark shows thatthe thing is of no moment any way. One thing is plain, there couldhave been no collusion among the authors of these Gospels, else theywould have taken care to remove these “spots on the sun.”
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
And they understood none of these things,…. “Not one of them”, as the Syriac and Persic versions render it; every article of his sufferings and death were unintelligible by them; they knew not how to understand him in any one point: or how to reconcile these things to the notions they had entertained of the temporal grandeur, and glory, of the Messiah, and his kingdom; and which shows their great ignorance of the prophecies of the Old Testament concerning these things.
And this saying, or “thing”; for it answers to the Hebrew word
, which signifies any affair, or matter, as well as a word, or saying: and so here, the whole of this affair
was hid from them; unless it should have a peculiar regard to that part of it, which expresses his resurrection from the dead; see Mr 9:10 or the delivery of him to the Gentiles, Lu 9:44
neither knew they the things which were spoken; the meaning of them. The Ethiopic version leaves out this, and puts the former clause, by way of question, “and he said unto them, and is this saying hid from you?”
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
And they perceived not ( ). Imperfect active. They kept on not perceiving. Twice already Luke has said this in the same sentence.
They understood none of these things ( ). First aorist active indicative, a summary statement.
This saying was hid from them ( ‘ ). Past perfect passive indicative (periphrastic), state of completion. It was a puzzling experience. No wonder that Luke tries three times to explain the continued failure of the apostles to understand Jesus. The words of Christ about his death ran counter to all their hopes and beliefs.
Fuente: Robertson’s Word Pictures in the New Testament
Saying [] . See on ch. Luk 1:37.
Were said [] . Or, more correctly, which were being said to them at the moment.
35 – 43.; Luk 19:1. Compare Mt 20:29 – 34. Mr 10:46 – 52.
Fuente: Vincent’s Word Studies in the New Testament
1) “And they understood none of these things:” (kai autoi ouden touton sunekan) “And they (the twelve) did not understand any of these things,” could not grasp or comprehend what He said to them, how this could happen to the Messiah, not understanding, Isa 53:1-12.
2) “And this saying was hid from them,” (kai en hrema touto kekrummenon ap’ auton) “And this utterance was hidden from them,” curtained from their mind, their understanding, even after His resurrection, Mar 9:32; Luk 24:25-27; Luk 24:32.
3) “Neither knew they the things which were spoken.” (kai ouk eginoskon la legomena) “And they did not know the things that were said,” by Him, until He explained them to them after His resurrection, Luk 24:44-45; Joh 12:16.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
Luk 18:34
. And they understood none of these things. What stupidity was this, not to understand what Christ said to them in a plain and familiar manner, on a subject not too lofty or intricate, but of which they had, at their own suggestion, entertained some suspicion! But it is proper also to bear in mind — what I have formerly observed — the reason why they were held in such gross ignorance, which was, that they had formed the expectation of a joyful and prosperous advancement, and therefore reckoned it to be in the highest degree absurd, that Christ should be ignominiously crucified. Hence we infer with what madness the minds of men are seized through a false imagination; and therefore we ought to be the more careful not to yield to any foolish thoughts, and shut our eyes against the light.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
(34) They understood none of these things.The whole verse is peculiar to St. Luke, and reproduces what had been said before in Luk. 9:45, where see Note. It is as though his professional habit of analysis led him to dwell on these psychological phenomena as explaining the subsequent bewilderment of the disciples, and their slowness to believe that their Lord had risen from the dead (Luk. 24:11; Luk. 24:21; Luk. 24:25; Luk. 24:38). They heard the words, but, as we say, did not take in their meaning. For a like analysis, see Note on Luk. 22:45.
This saying was hid from them.The verb so rendered occurs here only in the New Testament. Its precise meaning is covered or veiled, rather than hidden. Some such thought of dimmed perception was in St. Pauls mind when he said of the unbelieving Jews that, as they heard the Law and the Prophets, the veil was upon their hearts (2Co. 3:15).
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
‘And they understood none of these things, and this saying was hid from them, and they perceived not the things that were said.’
We are again reminded that the horrific truth did not come home to the disciples until after it had happened. They could not conceive of such possibilities. They probably thought in parabolic terms, and that He was depicting vividly His own faithful walk as God’s Servant, a walk of service, sacrifice and hardship, as though it were the same as the call to them to take up the cross. He too would ‘take up His cross’. But they closed their minds to the impossible idea of it actually happening. They probably did not even think of it as a possibility. They were used to only half understanding what Jesus was talking about, and probably wrote this off as another example.
‘This saying was hid from them.’ Compare Luk 24:16. This was probably describing God’s merciful action lest they be unable to go forward to Jerusalem. But they would not be able to say that they had not been warned. And once it had happened they would recognise that Jesus had know about it all along. This would help to explain the triumphant way in which they so quickly went out to proclaim His death, resurrection and victory. They immediately recognised that it was all within the foreknowledge of God, and that God had brought it about, indeed had predestined Him to it from the beginning (Act 2:23-24). What He had said would happen had come about! So God was in it after all.
What kept them firm throughout was their faith. They would be baffled, devastated, unsure. But their confidence in Him never wavered. Even in the darkest moments they stuck together and still did not doubt that it had been worth following Him. They did not understand what was happening but felt that somehow, in some way, they would rescue something from the future. For when the resurrection appearances began they were still there together. It was faith in the midst of thick darkness.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
34 And they understood none of these things: and this saying was hid from them, neither knew they the things which were spoken.
Ver. 34. And they understood none, &c. ] Prejudicate opinions of Christ’s earthly kingdom hung as so many bullets at their eyelids, that they could not perceive so plain a truth.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
34. ] Peculiar to Luke.
i.e. neither the sufferings nor the resurrection. All was as yet hidden from them, and it seems not to have been till very shortly before the event itself that they had any real expectation of its happening.
Fuente: Henry Alford’s Greek Testament
Luk 18:34 . This is peculiar to Lk. A similar statement in Luk 9:45 with the same curious repetition. “An emphatic prolixity” is Meyer’s comment. J. Weiss (Meyer) from the facts that this verse repeats Luk 9:45 and that Lk. avoids repetition infers that the words must have been in his source. I rather think that we have here an effort on Lk.’s part to compensate by a general statement about the ignorance of the Twelve for the instructive narrative about the two sons of Zebedee which comes in at this point in Mt. and Mk., and which Lk. omits, doubtless by way of sparing the disciples an exposure. The iteration (same thing said three times) is in Lk.’s manner (Act 14:8 ), but it is significant here. The aim is by repetition of a general statement to convey the impression made by the concrete story an utter impossibility. No wonder Lk. labours in expression, in view of that humiliating proof of ignorance and moral weakness! But the attempt to express the inexpressible is interesting as showing that Lk. must have had the sons of Zebedee incident in his mind though he does not choose to record it. The omission of this incident carries along with it the omission of the second and most important saying of our Lord concerning the significance of His death. Lk.’s gospel contains hardly any basis for a doctrine on that subject ( cf. Mat 20:28 , Mar 10:45 ).
Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson
understood none, &c. As in Luk 9:43-45. Compare Mar 9:32.
none = nothing. Greek. oudeis.
saying. Greek. rhema. See note on Mar 9:32.
from. Greek. apo. App-104.
neither knew they = and they did not (App-105) know (App-132.)
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
34.] Peculiar to Luke.
-i.e. neither the sufferings nor the resurrection. All was as yet hidden from them, and it seems not to have been till very shortly before the event itself that they had any real expectation of its happening.
Fuente: The Greek Testament
Luk 18:34. , , , and, and, and) An ascending climax.- , this saying) put forth by the Lord.- ) they did not perceive the meaning of (recognise and acknowledge); they shrunk back in horror from it, as something strange and unheard of: so in Rom 7:15, For that which I do, , I do not recognise, as good (I allow not, Engl. Vers.) They felt conscious that something disagreeable was being spoken, Mat 16:22; but they did not in that consciousness go forward to the point, to which they ought to have gone.
Fuente: Gnomon of the New Testament
Luk 2:50, Luk 9:45, Luk 24:25, Luk 24:45, Mar 9:32, Joh 10:6, Joh 12:16, Joh 16:1-19
Reciprocal: Dan 12:8 – but Mat 15:16 – General Mat 17:9 – until Mat 26:32 – I am Mar 9:10 – what Joh 16:17 – said Joh 20:9 – they Act 7:25 – but
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
4
The apostles were baffled over these predictions about the death of Jesus. That was because they had a temporal kingdom in mind, and that would require the king to live and be present upon his throne.
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
Luk 18:34. And they understood none of these things. Peculiar to Luke; Matthew and Mark, however, give a proof of the same fact in their account of the request of the sons of Zebedee immediately after (Mat 20:20-28; Mar 10:35-45). They understood the words, but what was predicted they did not understand.
Hid from them. The cause of their not understanding was this hiding, which was due to their own dullness of spiritual perception, though in another view Gods agency is implied. Their spiritual blindness is emphasized by the connection with the healing of blind Bartimeus.
Fuente: A Popular Commentary on the New Testament
Verse 34
Was hid from them; its meaning was not understood.
Fuente: Abbott’s Illustrated New Testament
18:34 And they understood {h} none of these things: and this saying was hid from them, neither knew they the things which were spoken.
(h) By this we see how ignorant the disciples were.
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes
Luke alone repeated three times that the disciples failed to comprehend Jesus’ words. He strongly suggested that their failure was due to God withholding this understanding from them (cf. Luk 24:16; Luk 24:25-26). That is, it was not within God’s purpose for them to understand at this time. The illumination of believers is a necessary work of God’s Spirit that is supernatural. The Twelve probably would not believe that such a fate would befall Jesus.
"The failure of the disciples to understand the necessity of Jesus’ suffering and rejection involves the following interrelated defects: (1) a failure to understand God’s plan as announced in Scripture, including God’s way of working by using human opposition to fulfill the divine purpose; (2) a failure to accept rejection and suffering as a necessary part of discipleship; (3) a failure to reckon with the rejection of Jesus, resulting in premature, overly optimistic expectations for the immediate enjoyment of the messianic salvation; (4) rivalry over rank because of a failure to recognize that only those who devote their lives as servants can be great as Jesus is great." [Note: Tannehill, The Narrative . . ., 1:254.]