Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Luke 7:33
For John the Baptist came neither eating bread nor drinking wine; and ye say, He hath a devil.
33. neither eating bread nor drinking wine ] “His meat was locusts and wild honey,” Mat 3:4. Being a Nazarite he drank no wine, Luk 1:15; see 2Es 9:24.
He hath a devil ] They sneered at him for a moody or melancholy temperament which they attributed to an evil spirit. This in fact was their coarse way of describing any peculiarity or exaltation which struck them as strange. At a later period they said the same of Christ, Joh 7:20; Joh 10:20.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
For John the Baptist,…. Who is designed by the children that mourned in the above simile, with whom his character and conduct agree; he preached very mournful doctrine, delivered it in a very solemn and awful manner, and lived a very austere life, and fasted much, as did also his disciples. The word “Baptist” is here added by Luke, which Matthew has not, to distinguish him from others; and it may be, because he had just spoke of his baptism. The Persic version only reads, “the Baptist”; of him our Lord says, that he
came neither eating bread, nor drinking wine; which were the common food and drink of men, but his diet were locusts and wild honey, and from this he often abstained; nor would he attend festivals and entertainments, or be free and sociable with men: “bread” and “wine” are here mentioned, which are not in Matthew:
and ye say, he hath a devil; is mad, or melancholy; for madness and melancholy, or the hypochondriac disorder, was by them sometimes imputed to a diabolical possession, and influence, as the cause of it; and though these men pretended to great austerity of life, and frequent fastings, yet John was too abstemious for them, and they could not agree with his doctrine nor method of living;
[See comments on Mt 12:18].
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
John the Baptist is come (). Second perfect active indicative where Mt 11:18 has second aorist active indicative. So as to verse 34. Luke alone has “bread” and “wine.” Otherwise these verses like Matt 11:18; Matt 11:19, which see for discussion of details. There are actually critics today who say that Jesus was called the friend of sinners and even of harlots because he loved them and their ways and so deserved the slur cast upon him by his enemies. If men can say that today we need not wonder that the Pharisees and lawyers said it then to justify their own rejection of Jesus.
Fuente: Robertson’s Word Pictures in the New Testament
Bread and wine. Peculiar to Luke.
Fuente: Vincent’s Word Studies in the New Testament
1) “For John the Baptist came,” (eleluthen gar loannes ho baptistes) “For John (the immerser) has come,” from God, Joh 1:6; Joh 1:33.
2) “Neither eating bread nor drinking wine,” (me esthion arton mete pinon oinon) “Not either eating bread or drinking wine,” as a separated Nazarite, wholly consecrated to God, according to your own law, Luk 1:15; Mat 11:18; Num 6:2; Num 6:13; Num 6:18-20.
3) “And ye say, He hath a devil.” (kai legete daimonion echei) “And you all say that he has a demon,” is mentally and spiritually deranged, Their complaints were impishly impulsive, like selfish children at play, with each fighting for preeminence, Mat 11:18.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
33. For John the Baptist came. Leading an austere life, he thundered out repentance and severe reproofs, and sung, as it were, a plaintive song; while the Lord endeavored, by a cheerful and sprightly song, to draw them more gently to the Father. Neither of those methods had any success, and what reason could be assigned except their hardened obstinacy? This passage also shows us, why so wide a difference existed, as to outward life, between Christ and the Baptist, though both had the same object in view. Our Lord intended, by this diversity, and by assuming as it were a variety of characters, to convict unbelievers more fully; since, while he yielded and accommodated himself to their manners, he did not bend them to himself. But if the men of that age are deprived of every excuse for repelling, with inveterate malice, a twofold invitation which God had given them, we too are held guilty in their persons; for God leaves not untried any sort of pleasing melody, or of plaintive and harsh music, to draw us to himself, and yet we remain hard as stones. They called John a demoniac, just as persons of unsound mind, or whose brain is disturbed, are usually called madmen.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
(33) For John the Baptist came . . .The substantives bread and wine are not found in St. Matthews report.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
“For John the Baptiser is come eating no bread nor drinking wine; and you say, ‘He has a demon.’ ”
So when John, like Elijah of old, goes into the wilderness and clothes himself in goatskin and eats wild honey (Mar 1:6) they cry, ‘He has a demon’. (The wilderness was seen among other things as a place of demons). ‘He is behaving like a madman’. To go alone with God like that was beyond their comprehension. They loved the tight huddle of self-congratulation.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
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.
33 For John the Baptist came neither eating bread nor drinking wine; and ye say, He hath a devil.
Ver. 33. Neither eating bread ] But locusts and wild honey.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
eating . . . drinking. Hebrew idiom for ordinary living. Compare Luk 1:15. Mat 3:4.
Bread. . . wine. Peculiar to Luke.
devil = demon. Later, they said the same of the Lord. Joh 7:20; Joh 10:20.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
Luk 7:33. , bread) In the baking of bread, art intervenes: but John used whatever food was thrown in his way altogether unartificial.- , and ye say) See Luk 7:39, where similar bad language was being spoken in the heart of a Pharisee.
Fuente: Gnomon of the New Testament
came: Luk 1:15, Jer 16:8-10, Mat 3:4, Mar 1:6
He: Mat 10:25, Joh 8:48, Joh 8:52, Joh 10:20, Act 2:13
Reciprocal: Num 6:3 – General Psa 69:10 – General Mat 5:11 – when Mat 17:12 – and they
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Verse 33
Neither eating bread, &c.; that is, leading an austere and solitary life.
Fuente: Abbott’s Illustrated New Testament
These unbelieving religious leaders did not like John because he was too much of an ascetic. He would not "dance" for them. However they did not like Jesus either. They believed He was too much of a libertine as they defined that term, too joyful. Jesus would not "weep" for them. Because John ate locusts and wild honey instead of bread and wine, the unbelieving Pharisees and lawyers accused him of having a demon. His fanatical behavior also suggested this to them. Jesus, on the other hand, took part in feasts eating and drinking freely. They accused Him of gluttony and drunkenness. The Old Testament described an Israelite who was a glutton and a drunkard as worthy of stoning (cf. Deu 21:20). Furthermore Jesus associated with people whom the Jewish leaders regarded as apostates.
"People who want to avoid the truth about themselves can always find something in the preacher to criticize." [Note: Wiersbe, 1:197.]
John and Jesus were both living parables. John taught the importance of repentance, and Jesus offered joy and blessing. However the Jewish religious leaders missed the points of both their messages because John and Jesus did not "dance to their tunes." Jesus probably referred to Himself as the Son of Man here because this title always stresses His deity (Dan 7:13-14). This would heighten the seriousness of the religious leaders’ rejection.