Luke 23:31
For if they do these things in a green tree, what shall be done in the dry?
Luke 23:31 in other translations
| BSB | For if men do these things while the tree is green, what will happen when it is dry?” |
|---|---|
| WEB | For if they do these things in the green tree, what will be done in the dry?” |
| ASV | For if they do these things in the green tree, what shall be done in the dry? |
| YLT | for, if in the green tree they do these things--in the dry what may happen?' |
| DARBY | for if these things are done in the green tree, what shall take place in the dry? |
| BBE | For if they do these things when the tree is green, what will they do when it is dry? |
| Webster | For if they do these things in a green tree, what will be done in the dry? |
What does Luke 23:31 mean?
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Luke 23:27-31
27-31. women--not the precious Galilean women (Lu 23:49), but part of the crowd.
Barnes' Notes
"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 for ever. 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 for ever and ever. The meaning is, that if the innocent Saviour suffered so much, the sufferings of the sinner for ever 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 for ever 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?
(a) "For if they" Prov 11:31, Jer 25:29, Eze 20:47, 21:4, 1Pet 4:17
Albert Barnes, 1834 · public domain
Adam Clarke's Commentary
Adam Clarke, 1831 · public domain
Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on Luke 23:26-31
We have here the blessed Jesus, the Lamb of God, led as a lamb to the slaughter, to the sacrifice. Though many reproached and reviled him, yet some pitied him. But the death of Christ was his victory and triumph over his enemies: it was our deliverance, the purchase of eternal life for us. Therefore weep not for him, but let us weep for our own sins, and the sins of our children, which caused his death; and weep for…
Luke 23:31 in the original Greek
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Cross references for Luke 23:31
- 1 Peter 4:17-18
For the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God: and if it first begin at us, what shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of God? And if the righteous scarcely be saved, where shall the ungodly and the sinner appear?
- Proverbs 11:31
Behold, the righteous shall be recompensed in the earth: much more the wicked and the sinner.
- John 15:6
If a man abide not in me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered; and men gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are burned.
- Ezekiel 20:47-48
And say to the forest of the south, Hear the word of the Lord; Thus saith the Lord God; Behold, I will kindle a fire in thee, and it shall devour every green tree in thee, and every dry tree: the flaming flame shall not be quenched, and all faces from the south to the north shall be burned therein. And all flesh shall see that I the Lord have kindled it: it shall not be quenched.
- Ezekiel 15:2-7
Son of man, What is the vine tree more than any tree, or than a branch which is among the trees of the forest? Shall wood be taken thereof to do any work? or will men take a pin of it to hang any vessel thereon? Behold, it is cast into the fire for fuel; the fire devoureth both the ends of it, and the midst of it is burned. Is it meet for any work? Behold, when it was whole, it was meet for no work: how much less shall it be meet yet for any work, when the fire hath devoured it, and it is burned? …
- Matthew 3:12
Whose fan is in his hand, and he will throughly purge his floor, and gather his wheat into the garner; but he will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.
- Ezekiel 21:3-4
And say to the land of Israel, Thus saith the Lord; Behold, I am against thee, and will draw forth my sword out of his sheath, and will cut off from thee the righteous and the wicked. Seeing then that I will cut off from thee the righteous and the wicked, therefore shall my sword go forth out of his sheath against all flesh from the south to the north:
- Jeremiah 25:29
For, lo, I begin to bring evil on the city which is called by my name, and should ye be utterly unpunished? Ye shall not be unpunished: for I will call for a sword upon all the inhabitants of the earth, saith the Lord of hosts.
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Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Context
- Luke 23:30
Then shall they begin to say to the mountains, Fall on us; and to the hills, Cover us.
- Luke 23:31
For if they do these things in a green tree, what shall be done in the dry?
- Luke 23:32
And there were also two other, malefactors, led with him to be put to death.
Luke 23:31 in other languages
| Spanish Reina-Valera 1909 | Porque si en el árbol verde hacen estas cosas, ¿en el seco, qué se hará? |
|---|---|
| French Bible J.N. Darby 1885 | car s’ils font ces choses au bois vert, que sera-t-il fait au bois sec? |
| German Elberfelder 1871 | Denn wenn man dies tut an dem grünen Holze, was wird an dem dürren geschehen? |
| Latin Clementine Vulgate | Quia si in viridi ligno hæc faciunt, in arido quid fiet? |