Attributed commentary excerpt
John Gill's Exposition on Matthew 23:37
A historical reference excerpt for this verse. Read it alongside the biblical text and other available sources.
Exposition of the Old and New Testament
John Gill (1697–1771) · 18th-century historical commentary
Source: BibleWord.ai's local reference edition of this named work.
O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, etc.] The metropolis of Judea, the seat of the kings of Judah, yea, the city of the great king; the place of divine worship, once the holy and faithful city, the joy of the whole earth; wherefore it was strange that the following things should be said of it. The word is repeated to show our Lord’s affection and concern for that city, as well as to upbraid it with its name, dignity, and privileges; and designs not the building of the city, but the inhabitants of it; and these not all, but the rulers and governors of it, civil and ecclesiastical; especially the great sanhedrim, which were held in it, to whom best belong the descriptive characters of killing the prophets, and stoning them that were sent by God unto them; since it belonged to them to take cognizance of such who called themselves prophets, and to examine, and judge them, and, if false, to condemn them f1338; hence that saying of Christ, (<421333>Luke 13:33) which goes before the same words, as here, “it cannot be that a prophet perish out of Jerusalem”: and who are manifestly distinguished from their “children”: it being usual to call such as were the heads of the people, either in a civil or ecclesiastic sense, “fathers”, and their subjects and disciples, “children”: besides, our Lord’s discourse throughout the whole context is directed to the Scribes and Pharisees, the ecclesiastic guides of the people, and to whom the civil governors paid a special regard. Thou that killest the prophets; that is, with the sword, with which the prophets in Elijah’s time were slain by the children of Israel, (<111910>1 Kings 19:10) and which was one of the capital punishments inflicted by the Jewish sanhedrim f1339; and also that which follows was another of them. And stonest them which were sent unto thee; as particularly Zechariah, the son of Jehoiada, before mentioned. The Jews themselves are obliged to own, that this character belongs to them: say f1340 they, “when the word of God shall come, who is his messenger, we will honour him. Says R. Saul, did not the prophets come, µwngrhw, “and we killed them”, and shed their blood, and how shall we receive his word? or how shall we believe?” And a celebrated writer of their’s, on those words f1341, “but now murderers”, has this note; “they have killed Uriah, they have killed Zechariah.” How often would I have gathered thy children together, as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not! Christ here speaks as a man, and the minister of the circumcision, and expresses an human affection for the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and an human wish, and will for their temporal good; which he very aptly signifies by the hen, which is a very affectionate creature to its young, and which it endeavours to screen from danger, by covering with its wings. So the “Shekinah” with the Jews is called, açydq arpx, “the holy bird” f1342; and that phrase, jnykçh ypnk tjt twsjl, “to betake one’s self, or to come to trust under the wings of the Shekinah”, is often used f1343 for to become a proselyte to the true religion, and worship of God, as Jethro, and Ruth the Moabitess did. An expression much like to this here is used by an apocryphal writer of 2 Esdras: “I gathered you together, as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings: but now, what shall I do unto you? I will cast you out from my face.” (2 Esdras 1:30) It seems to be a simile much in use with that people. Our Lord is to be understood not of his divine will, a…
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