Albert Barnes Commentary Luke 19:40

"And he answered and said, I tell you that, if these shall hold their peace, the stones will cry out." — Luke 19:40 (ASV)

The stones would—cry out. It is proper that they should celebrate my coming. Their acclamations ought not to be suppressed. So joyful is the event which they celebrate—the coming of the Messiah—that it is not fitting that I should attempt to impose silence on them. The expression here seems to be proverbial, and is not to be taken literally.

Proverbs are designed to express the truth strongly, but are not to be taken to signify as much as if they were to be interpreted literally. The sense is, that his coming was an event of so much importance that it ought to be celebrated in some way, and would be celebrated.

It would be impossible to restrain the people, and improper to attempt it. The language here is strong proverbial language to denote that fact. We are not to suppose, therefore, that our Saviour meant to say that the stones were conscious of his coming, or that God would make them speak, but only that there was great joy among the people; that it was proper that they should express it in this manner, and that it was not fitting that he should attempt to repress it.