Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Luke 7:32
They are like unto children sitting in the marketplace, and calling one to another, and saying, We have piped unto you, and ye have not danced; we have mourned to you, and ye have not wept.
32. They are like unto children sitting in the marketplace ] Our Lord constantly drew His deepest instruction from the commonest phenomena of nature, and the everyday incidents of life. Such a method gave far greater force to the delivery of His Gospel “to the poor,” and it was wholly unlike the arid, scholastic, technical, and second-hand methods of the Rabbis.
calling one to another, and saying ] This interesting comparison was doubtless drawn from the games which Jesus had witnessed, and in which perhaps He as a child had taken part, in Nazareth. Eastern children are fond of playing in groups at games of a very simple kind in the open air. Some have supposed that the game here alluded to was a sort of guessing game like that sometimes played by English children, and called ‘Dumb Show.’ This is not very probable. The point of the comparison is the peevish sullenness of the group of children who refuse to take part in, or approve of, any game played by their fellows, whether it be the merry acting of a marriage, or the imitated sadness of a funeral. So the men of that generation condemned the Baptist for his asceticism which they attributed to demoniacal possession; and condemned Christ for His genial tenderness by calling Him a man fond of good living. The difficulties and differences of explanation found in this simple parable are only due to a needless literalness. If indeed we take the language quite literally,
‘this generation’ is compared with the dancing and mourning children who complain of the sullenness of their fellows; and if this be insisted on, the meaning must be that the Jews complained of John for holding aloof from their mirth, and of Jesus for discountenancing their austerities. But it is the children who are looking on who are blamed, not the playing children, as is clearly shewn by the “ and ye say ” of Luk 7:33-34. In the explanation here preferred our Lord and the Baptist are included in this generation, and the comparison (just as in the Homeric similes) is taken as a whole to illustrate the mutual relations between them and their contemporaries. So in Mat 13:24, “The kingdom of heaven is like unto a sower, &c.,” where the comparison is more to the reception of the seed.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Verse 32. They are like unto children] See on Mt 11:16-19. It is probable that our Lord alludes here to some play or game among the Jewish children, no account of which is now on record.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
They are like to children,…. The Pharisees and lawyers, who rejected the counsel of God, and the baptism of John, were like to “children”; not for innocence, simplicity, meekness, and humility; their characters were the reverse; but rather, for their ignorance, and want of understanding, their folly and weakness; nor are they here compared to the children that piped and mourned, but to those surly and ill natured ones, who made no answer to those that did. They, together with Christ, and John the Baptist, are in general likened to children,
sitting in the market place; where children were wont to be, there being a variety of persons and things to be seen; and which may design the temple, or the synagogues, or any place of concourse, where the Pharisees met, with John, Christ, and their disciples:
and calling one to another, and saying; they that were good natured, and more disposed to mirth and innocent diversions:
we have piped unto you, and ye have not danced; we have mourned to you, and ye have not wept: they imitated the pipers at weddings, expecting their companions would have danced, as was usually done by the others, when the pipe was played upon; and they mimicked the mourning women at funerals, expecting their fellows would have made as though they had wept; whereas they would do neither, showing a dislike both to the one and to the other. The children that imitated the pipers, represent Christ and his disciples, who delivered the joyful sound of the Gospel; and the children that acted the part of the mourners, signify John the Baptist, and his disciples, who preached the doctrine of repentance; and the children that would not join with, nor make any answer to the one, or the other, intend the Scribes and Pharisees, who were not pleased with either of them, as the following words show; [See comments on Mt 11:16].
[See comments on Mt 11:17].
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
And ye did not weep ( ). Here Mt 1:17 has “and ye did not mourn (or beat your breast, ). They all did it at funerals. These children would not play wedding or funeral.
Fuente: Robertson’s Word Pictures in the New Testament
Children [] . Diminutive; little children. See on Mt 11:16.
Market – place. See on Mt 11:16.
We piped. Playing at wedding.
Mourned [] . Rev., much better, wailed : playing at funeral. Weep [] . Of audible weeping. See on Mt 5:4. Matthew has ejkoyasqe, beaten your breasts. See on Mt 11:17.
Fuente: Vincent’s Word Studies in the New Testament
1) “They are like unto children sitting in the marketplace,” (homoioi eisin paidiois tois en agora kathemenois) “They are about like children (under teenagers) in emotional mentality, impulsive, sitting in a market center,” Mat 11:16.
2) “And calling one to another, and saying,” (kai prosphonousin allelois ha legei) “And calling (in complaint) one to another, who say,” fault finding toward or against each other, complaining, murmuring, Mat 11:16.
3) “We have piped unto you,” (eulesamen humin kai ouk orchesasthe) “We piped (made music to you) and you did not orchestrate or dance about.” The pipers are the Jews who found fault with John the Baptist, who would not conform to their formal, lax mode or manner of morals and ethics, Mat 6:16.
4) “And ye have not danced;” (kai ouk orchesasthe) “And you all did not dance,” to our religious music. Dancing accompanied Jewish marriage festivals, while loud mourning popularly accompanied their funerals, Joh 11:19; Mat 11:17. This generation of Jewish leaders is a dissatisfied people, ever complaining, paranoid, fault finders.
5) “We have mourned to you, and ye have not wept.” (ethrenesamen kai ouk eklausate) “Or you all are similar to those who complain, we mourned and you all did not respond by crying aloud, with weeping,” The Jews were piously posing in long robes, disfigured faces, and long prayers, but neither John the Baptist nor Jesus was hooked on their veneer of religious hypocrisy. They would not “dance to the religious tunes” of the empty ceremonies and empty traditional forms of Judaism of the day, Mat 6:2; Mat 6:5; Mat 6:7; Mat 23:14; Mat 23:33.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
Luk 7:32 . : referring to , in Mt. referring to . The variations in Lk.’s version from Mt.’s are slight: both seem to be keeping close to a common source for , for ; in Luk 7:33 is inserted after and after ; following a late tradition, think Meyer and Schanz. More probably they are explanatory editorial touches by Lk., as if to say: John did eat and drink, but not bread and wine . For Lk. substitutes in Luk 7:33-34 = is come. Thus the two prophets have taken their place once for all in the page of history: the one as an ascetic, the other as avoiding peculiarity influencing men not by the method of isolation but by the method of sympathy . The malignant caricature of this genial character in Luk 7:34 glutton, drunkard, comrade of publicans and sinners originated doubtless in the Capernaum mission.
Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson
children = little children. App-108.
the = a.
We have piped = We piped: i.e. played at being at a wedding.
have not danced = danced not.
we have mourned = we mourned: i.e. we played at being at a funeral.
have not wept = wept not. Compare Luk 6:21.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
Mat 11:16-19
are: Pro 17:16, Isa 28:9-13, Isa 29:11, Isa 29:12, Jer 5:3-5
children: Zec 8:5
Reciprocal: Deu 32:20 – a very Mat 9:23 – the minstrels Luk 15:25 – he 1Co 14:7 – except
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Verse 32
Sitting in the market-place; where they had gone to play.–Piped; made lively music. The idea is, that the Jews were like discontented children, of whom their playmates complained that they would not be pleased with any thing; they would neither play wedding nor funeral. The ceremonies of both these occasions, in ancient times, were such as children would be very likely to imitate in their plays.