Charles Ellicott Commentary Luke 11:49-51

"Therefore also said the wisdom of God, I will send unto them prophets and apostles; and [some] of them they shall kill and persecute; that the blood of all the prophets, which was shed from the foundation of the world, may be required of this generation; 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." — Luke 11:49-51 (ASV)

Therefore also said the wisdom of God.—The words that follow are largely the same as those of Matthew 23:34-36, where see Notes. There are, however, some remarkable variations, each of which suggests some questions of interest:

1. The words here appear at first sight as if they were a quotation from a book recognized as of divine authority, and not a few critics have supposed that there was such a book, bearing the title of “The Wisdom of God,” either when our Lord spoke, or when St. Luke wrote.

   On the other hand, there is no trace of the existence of a book with that name; and if it had been prominent enough to be quoted, as it seems to be quoted here, it could scarcely have failed to have left its impression elsewhere.

   On the whole, then, it seems best to look on the words as a solemn utterance which our Lord’s human soul had received as an oracle from God, and which was therefore proclaimed by Him as coming from His Wisdom. His words that Wisdom is justified of her children (Matthew 11:19), present, it is obvious, another example of the same way of speaking of the divine purpose.

2. For the prophets, and wise men, and scribes of St. Matthew, we have here prophets and apostles. The combination points to a Christian, not a pre-Christian, terminology, and is the first example of the union of the two terms that afterwards became normal. (See Note on Luke 10:1.) It goes some way, it may be remarked, to confirm the view suggested in that Note, that two distinct bodies, known respectively as “Prophets” and “Apostles,” had already been appointed, and that as the Twelve answered to the latter, so did the Seventy to the former.

Some of them shall they slay and persecute.—Note, as perhaps characteristic of St. Luke, the absence of the specific forms of persecution, “crucifying” and “scourging in the synagogues.”

The blood of all the prophets.—Here again we note a variation from all the righteous blood of Matthew 23:35.

From the blood of Abel. . . .—See Note on Matthew 23:35. We note the absence here of the description “Zacharias, son of Barachias,” which causes so much perplexity in St. Matthew’s report. So far as it goes, the omission favors the view that the additional words were inserted by the reporter of our Lord’s discourse there, or by some early transcriber.