John Calvin Commentary Luke 7:30

"But the Pharisees and the lawyers rejected for themselves the counsel of God, being not baptized of him." — Luke 7:30 (ASV)

Despised the counsel of God within themselves. The counsel of God is mentioned respectfully, as contrasted with the wicked pride of the scribes; for the term counsel carries with it a dignity that protects the doctrine of God against human contempt.

Literally, Luke says that they despised "Against Themselves": and indeed I do not disapprove of the meaning preferred by some, that the scribes were rebellious to their own destruction.

But as Luke’s narrative is simple, and as the preposition εἰς is often used in the sense of ἐν, I have chosen rather to translate it within themselves; meaning that although they did not openly and expressly contradict, yet because they inwardly swelled with hidden pride, they despised within themselves.