Devine Scripture

Luke 11:51

What does Luke 11:51 mean?

A plain-English look at Luke 11:51 in WEB alongside six other public-domain English translations, with cross-references and chapter context.

What Luke 11:51 means

Jesus specifies the breadth of this historical guilt, tracing it "from the blood of Abel" (the first martyr recorded in Genesis 4) "unto the blood of Zachariah, who perished between the altar and the sanctuary." This encompasses the entire span of Old Testament prophetic martyrdom, from the earliest to a relatively late, well-known instance. Jesus reiterates with certainty, "yea, I say unto you, it shall be required of this generation," sealing their culpability.

Parallel translations

WEB

World English Bible · 2000

from the blood of Abel unto the blood of Zachariah, who perished between the altar and the sanctuary: yea, I say unto you, it shall be required of this generation.

KJV

King James Version · 1611

From the blood of Abel unto the blood of Zacharias, which perished between the altar and the temple: verily I say unto you, It shall be required of this generation.

ASV

American Standard Version · 1901

from the blood of Abel unto the blood of Zachariah, who perished between the altar and the sanctuary: yea, I say unto you, it shall be required of this generation.

BBE

Bible in Basic English · 1949

From the blood of Abel to the blood of Zachariah, who was put to death between the altar and the Temple. Yes, I say to you, It will come on this generation.

YLT

Young's Literal Translation · 1862

from the blood of Abel unto the blood of Zacharias, who perished between the altar and the house; yes, I say to you, It shall be required from this generation.

DRA

Douay-Rheims (Challoner) · 1752

From the blood of Abel unto the blood of Zacharias, who was slain between the altar and the temple. Yea I say to you: It shall be required of this generation.

DBY

Darby Bible · 1890

from the blood of Abel to the blood of Zacharias, who perished between the altar and the house; yea, I say to you, it shall be required of this generation.

Context

This verse punctuates the weighty declaration of the previous verse, providing specific examples to underscore the comprehensive nature of the historical guilt. It offers a concise summary of prophetic martyrdom from the Old Testament. This final reiteration of accountability then transitions to the last woe against the lawyers, connecting their actions to the rejection of knowledge and obstruction of salvation.

v.50that the blood of all the prophets, which was shed from the foundation of the world, may be required of this generation;

v.51This passage

v.52Woe unto you lawyers! for ye took away the key of knowledge: ye entered not in yourselves, and them that were entering in ye hindered.

Cross references

Related passages from across Scripture, drawn from the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge.

  • 2 Chronicles 24:20

    And the Spirit of God came upon Zechariah the son of Jehoiada the priest; and he stood above the people, and said unto them, Thus saith God, Why transgress ye the commandments of Jehovah, so that ye cannot prosper? because ye have forsaken Jehovah, he hath also forsaken you.

  • 1 John 3:12

    not as Cain was of the evil one, and slew his brother. And wherefore slew he him? Because his works were evil, and his brother’s righteous.

  • Matthew 23:35

    that upon you may come all the righteous blood shed on the earth, from the blood of Abel the righteous unto the blood of Zachariah son of Barachiah, whom ye slew between the sanctuary and the altar.

  • Hebrews 12:24

    and to Jesus the mediator of a new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling that speaketh better than that of Abel.

  • Genesis 4:8

    And Cain told Abel his brother. And it came to pass, when they were in the field, that Cain rose up against Abel his brother, and slew him.

  • Zechariah 1:1

    In the eighth month, in the second year of Darius, came the word of Jehovah unto Zechariah the son of Berechiah, the son of Iddo, the prophet, saying,

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