Charles Ellicott Commentary Luke 18:34

"And they understood none of these things; and this saying was hid from them, and they perceived not the things that were said." — Luke 18:34 (ASV)

They understood none of these things.—The whole verse is peculiar to St. Luke and reproduces what had been said before in Luke 9:45 (see the note for that passage). It is as though his professional habit of analysis led him to dwell on these psychological phenomena as explaining the subsequent bewilderment of the disciples and their slowness to believe that their Lord had risen from the dead (Luke 24:11; Luke 24:21; Luke 24:25; Luke 24:38). They heard the words but, as we say, did not “take in” their meaning. For a like analysis, see the note on Luke 22:45.

This saying was hid from them.—The verb rendered this way occurs only here in the New Testament. Its precise meaning is “covered” or “veiled,” rather than “hidden.” Some such thought of dimmed perception was in St. Paul’s mind when he said of the unbelieving Jews that, as they heard the Law and the Prophets, the veil was upon their hearts (2 Corinthians 3:15).