Luke 11 · Verse 47

Luke 11:47

Woe unto you! for ye build the sepulchres of the prophets, and your fathers killed them.
Luke 11:47, King James Version

Luke 11:47 in other translations

BSBWoe to you! You build tombs for the prophets, but it was your fathers who killed them.
WEBWoe to you! For you build the tombs of the prophets, and your fathers killed them.
ASVWoe unto you! for ye build the tombs of the prophets, and your fathers killed them.
YLT‘Woe to you, because ye build the tombs of the prophets, and your fathers killed them.
DARBYWoe unto you, for ye build the sepulchres of the prophets, but your fathers killed them.
BBEA curse is on you! for you make resting-places for the bodies of the prophets, but your fathers put them to death.
WebsterWoe to you! for ye build the sepulchers of the prophets, and your fathers killed them.

What does Luke 11:47 mean?

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Luke 11:47-48
47-48. ye build, &c.--Out of pretended respect and honor, they repaired and beautified the sepulchres of the prophets, and with whining hypocrisy said, "If we had been in the days of our fathers, we should not have been partakers with them in the blood of the prophets," while all the time they "were witnesses to themselves that they were the children of them that killed the prophets" (Mt 23:29, 30); convicting themselves daily of as exact a resemblance in spirit and character to the very classes over whose deeds they pretended to mourn, as child to parent.

Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown, 1871 · public domain

Barnes' Notes
Verse 47. Mt 23:29. Also Mt 23:30-36.

Albert Barnes, 1834 · public domain

Adam Clarke's Commentary
Verse 47 Ye build the sepulchres - That is, ye rebuild and beautify them. See on Mat 23:29 (note).

Adam Clarke, 1831 · public domain

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on Luke 11:37-54

We should all look to our hearts, that they may be cleansed and new-created; and while we attend to the great things of the law and of the gospel, we must not neglect the smallest matter God has appointed. When any wait to catch something out of our mouths, that they may insnare us, O Lord, give us thy prudence and thy patience, and disappoint their evil purposes. Furnish us with such meekness and patience that we…

Read the full comment on Luke 11:37-54 →

Luke 11:47 in the original Greek

Word-by-word with transliteration, English gloss and Strong's number. Tap a number for the full definition and every place the word is used.

ΟὐαὶOuaiWoeG3759
ὑμῖν,huminto you,G4771
ὅτιhotiforG3754
οἰκοδομεῖτεoikodomeiteyou buildG3618
τὰtatheG3588
μνημεῖαmnēmeiatombsG3419
τῶνtōnof theG3588
προφητῶν,prophētōnprophets,G4396
οἱhoi<the>G3588
δὲdeyetG1161
πατέρεςpateresthe fathersG3962
ὑμῶνhumōnof youG4771
ἀπέκτεινανapekteinankilledG615
αὐτούς.autousthem.G846

Source: STEPBible TAHOT/TAGNT (Tyndale House, CC BY 4.0).

Cross references for Luke 11:47

  • Acts 7:51

    Ye stiffnecked and uncircumcised in heart and ears, ye do always resist the Holy Ghost: as your fathers did, so do ye.

  • 1 Thessalonians 2:15

    Who both killed the Lord Jesus, and their own prophets, and have persecuted us; and they please not God, and are contrary to all men:

  • Matthew 23:29-33

    Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! because ye build the tombs of the prophets, and garnish the sepulchres of the righteous, And say, If we had been in the days of our fathers, we would not have been partakers with them in the blood of the prophets. Wherefore ye be witnesses unto yourselves, that ye are the children of them which killed the prophets. Fill ye up then the measure of your fathers. …

Ranked by reader votes · OpenBible.info cross references (CC BY).

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
for.
Mt 23:29-33; Ac 7:51; 1Th 2:15

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (Samuel Bagster, c. 1836) · public domain

Context

  • Luke 11:46

    And he said, Woe unto you also, ye lawyers! for ye lade men with burdens grievous to be borne, and ye yourselves touch not the burdens with one of your fingers.

  • Luke 11:47

    Woe unto you! for ye build the sepulchres of the prophets, and your fathers killed them.

  • Luke 11:48

    Truly ye bear witness that ye allow the deeds of your fathers: for they indeed killed them, and ye build their sepulchres.

Read all of Luke 11

Luke 11:47 in other languages

Spanish
Reina-Valera 1909		¡Ay de vosotros! que edificáis los sepulcros de los profetas, y los mataron vuestros padres.
French
Bible J.N. Darby 1885		Malheur à vous! car vous bâtissez les tombeaux des prophètes, et vos pères les ont tués.
German
Elberfelder 1871		Wehe euch! denn ihr bauet die Grabmäler der Propheten, eure Väter aber haben sie getötet.
Latin
Clementine Vulgate		Væ vobis, qui ædificatis monumenta prophetarum: patres autem vestri occiderunt illos.