Expositor's Bible Commentary Commentary Luke 13:34

"O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, that killeth the prophets, and stoneth them that are sent unto her! how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen [gathereth] her own brood under her wings, and ye would not!" — Luke 13:34 (ASV)

Luke draws the reader’s attention to Jerusalem, that city of destiny, both as the place of our Lord’s passion and as the pathetic, unwilling object of his love. The “house,” perhaps specifically the temple, will now lose him till Ps 118:26 is fulfilled. The substance of this quotation is recorded by all four gospels in their account of the Triumphal Entry; but the words are said, not by the Jerusalemites, but by Jesus’ supporters (19:37–38).