Matthew 23:37 · Bible study
Matthew 23:37 Commentary: Christ's Lament
Greek · 10 what the commentators say
Meaning in one sentence
Matthew 23:37 reveals Christ's deep longing for Jerusalem's salvation and the tragic human refusal. A study on divine desire and human stubbornness.
Research Summary
- Meaning: Christ genuinely desired to gather Jerusalem under His protection, but the people's persistent refusal brought divine judgment.
- Key words: ornis (hen, generic bird, v.37); ēthelēsa (I willed, aorist, repeated desire); ēthelēsate (you were willing, plural, focusing response).
- Main debate: Whether this verse supports universal atonement (God desires all to be saved) or limited atonement (God's desire is genuine but His saving will is particular), both traditions affirm the genuine offer.
- Theological theme: The interplay of divine compassion and human responsibility; the cost of rejecting repeated calls to repentance.
- Best use: A lens for understanding the heart of God, grief over sin, longing for restoration, and the sober reality of judgment rejected.
Translation Comparison
BSB Berean Standard Bible 2020
O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, who kills the prophets and stones those sent to her, how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were unwilling!
WEB World English Bible 2000
“Jerusalem, Jerusalem, who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her! How often I would have gathered your children together, even as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you would not!
KJV King James Version 1769
O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them which are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not!
ASV American Standard Version 1901
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 chickens under her wings, and ye would not!
YLT Young's Literal Translation 1898
`Jerusalem, Jerusalem, that art killing the prophets, and stoning those sent unto thee, how often did I will to gather thy children together, as a hen doth gather her own chickens under the wings, and ye did not will.
Darby Darby Bible 1890
Jerusalem, Jerusalem, [the city] that kills the prophets and stones those that are sent unto her, how often would I have gathered thy children as a hen gathers her chickens under her wings, and ye would not!
Douay-Rheims Douay-Rheims Bible 1899
Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets and stonest them that are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered together thy children, as the hen doth gather her chickens under her wings, and thou wouldst not?
Translations in other languages (10 available)
¡ Jerusalem, Jerusalem, que matas á los profetas, y apedreas á los que son enviados á ti! ¡ cuántas veces quise juntar tus hijos, como la gallina junta sus pollos debajo de las alas, y no quisiste!
Jerusalém, Jerusalém, que matas os profetas, e apedrejas os que te são enviados! Quantas vezes eu quis ajuntar os teus filhos, como a galinha ajunta os seus pintos debaixo das asas; porém não quisestes!
Jérusalem, Jérusalem, qui tues les prophètes et qui lapides ceux qui te sont envoyés, combien de fois ai-je voulu rassembler tes enfants, comme une poule rassemble ses poussins sous ses ailes, et vous ne l’ avez pas voulu!
Jerusalem, Jerusalem, die du tötest die Propheten und steinigst, die zu dir gesandt sind! wie oft habe ich deine Kinder versammeln wollen, wie eine Henne versammelt ihre Küchlein unter ihre Flügel; und ihr habt nicht gewollt!
Jeruzalem, Jeruzalem! gij, die de profeten doodt, en stenigt, die tot u gezonden zijn! hoe menigmaal heb Ik uw kinderen willen bijeenvergaderen, gelijkerwijs een hen haar kiekens bijeenvergadert onder de vleugels; en gijlieden hebt niet gewild.
Gerusalemme, Gerusalemme, che uccidi i profeti e lapidi quelli che ti sono mandati, quante volte ho voluto raccogliere i tuoi figliuoli, come la gallina raccoglie i suoi pulcini sotto le ali; e voi non avete voluto!
Jeruzalem! Jeruzalem! które zabijasz proroki, i które kamionujesz te, którzy do ciebie byli posyłani: ilekroć chciałem zgromadzić dzieci twoje, tak jako zgromadza kokosz kurczęta swoje pod skrzydła, a nie chcieliście?
Иерусалим, Иерусалим, избивающий пророков и камнями побивающий посланных к тебе! сколько раз хотел Я собрать детей твоих, как птица собирает птенцов своих под крылья, и вы не захотели!
「耶路撒冷啊，耶路撒冷啊，你常殺害 先知，又 用石頭打死 那奉差遣 到 你這裡來的人。我多次 願意 聚集 你的 兒女，好像 母雞 把小雞 聚集 在 翅膀底下，只是 你們不 願意。
O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, putting to death the prophets, and stoning those who are sent to her! Again and again would I have taken your children to myself as a bird takes her young ones under her wings, and you would not!
Verse in Context
Original Language (Koine Greek)
New Testament · Koine Greek · Matthew 23:37
Source: STEPBible TAGNT/TEHB (CC-BY 4.0). Click or tap a morphology code to see the full parsing.
Scholars' Consensus
Commentators across traditions agree this verse expresses Christ's genuine sorrow and desire for Jerusalem's salvation. The repetition of 'Jerusalem' is not mere rhetoric; Calvin calls it 'a pathetic exclamation' at the city's monstrous impiety. The metaphor of a hen gathering her chicks portrays protective, self-sacrificing love (Barnes, Gill). The shift from singular 'who kills' to plural 'you would not' (Cambridge) shows the collective guilt of the people and their leaders. Adam Clarke stresses that Christ 'did everything that could be done' consistent with His perfections, yet the people 'would not be gathered.' The verse leaves an open wound: divine love fully extended, human will fully resistant. Jamieson-Fausset-Brown calls this 'the very heart of God pouring itself forth through human flesh and speech.'
How settled is the interpretation?
Interpretive difficulty: Medium
Main views:
- Reformed/Calvinist: God's revealed will desires obedience, but His secret will ordains the election; the verse shows genuine compassion without compromising sovereignty.
- Arminian/Wesleyan: The verse demonstrates that Christ desires all to be saved, but human free will can resist grace, leading to judgment.
- Catholic/Orthodox: Christ's desire is sincere, and human cooperation is required; the refusal is a mystery of sin that grieves God.
What is clear: Jesus genuinely grieved over Jerusalem's refusal and earnestly desired to gather her people under His protection—His love was not indifferent or powerless, but rejected.
What Scholars Agree and Debate
| Topic | Agreed | Debated |
|---|---|---|
| Jesus' desire vs. human unwillingness | Jesus genuinely longed to gather Jerusalem, and the people freely refused. | Calvinists see this as God's revealed will (wishing obedience) but not His secret, decretive will; Arminians see it as proof of universal offer and human free will; Catholic tradition stresses human cooperation with grace. |
| Identity of 'children' | Jesus speaks to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, especially the rulers and religious leaders. | Some (e.g., Gill) limit 'children' to the people under the leaders, distinguishing the 'fathers' from the 'children'; others include all Jerusalem's inhabitants. |
| The metaphor of the hen | The hen portrays protective, vulnerable love, sheltering her young from danger. | Some see it as an image of the Shechinah (divine presence) gathering converts; others emphasize the contrast with the Roman eagle (judgment). |
| The scope of Christ's gathering | Christ offered gathering to the Jewish nation, but they refused. | Dispensationalists apply this primarily to Israel's national rejection; covenant theologians see it as a pattern for all who resist grace. |
Historical & Cultural Context
Jerusalem was the center of Jewish worship, the city of the temple, the seat of the Sanhedrin, the place where God's presence dwelt. Yet it had a long history of rejecting God's messengers. Matthew's context (23:34, 36) echoes 2 Chronicles 24:21, where Zechariah son of Jehoiada was stoned in the temple court. Nehemiah 9:26 summarizes this pattern: 'They killed your prophets.' Jesus speaks just after a devastating indictment of the Pharisees, and just before leaving the temple (24:1). He knows judgment is coming, the Roman eagle, as Clarke notes, is about to fall. The hen metaphor would resonate deeply in a culture where converts were said to come 'under the wings of the Shechinah' (Cambridge Bible). Jesus presents Himself as the true Shechinah, longing to shelter His people. The Aramaic form 'Hierousalēm' may preserve Jesus' actual words (Cambridge), adding to the raw intimacy. This is not abstract theology; it is a tearful farewell to the city He loves.
Textual Notes
The consulted sources note no significant textual variants for Matthew 23:37. The reading is consistent across major manuscripts. The Aramaic form ‘Hierousalēm’ appears here only in Matthew (Cambridge), but this is not a variant, it is likely a preservation of Jesus’ own pronunciation.
Reception History
This verse has been a source of deep comfort and sober warning throughout church history. Early Syriac and Greek commentaries used it to show Christ's full humanity and sorrow. During the Reformation, it was cited in debates over free will, Calvin pointed to it as evidence of God's genuine offer even to the reprobate, while Arminians saw it as proof of universal grace. In hymnody, the image of the hen has appeared in children's hymns and prayers for protection. Modern preachers often use it to call congregations to respond to Christ's open arms, lest they hear the tragic 'you would not' over their own city or church. Catholics have meditated on it in the context of Christ's tears over Jerusalem (Luke 19:41) as part of the Passion narrative.
Preaching This Verse
Three-point outline
- The City That Kills Its Messengers. Jesus names Jerusalem's characteristic sin: killing prophets and stoning the sent. This isn't a single event but a legacy of rejection (2 Chronicles 36:15, 16).
- The Heart of the Shepherd. Christ's longing is shown in the repeated 'how often' and the intimate metaphor of a hen gathering chicks, vulnerable, protective, persistent. He identifies with God's own compassion (Deuteronomy 32:11).
- The Tragedy of Refused Grace. 'You would not.' The door stands open, but the latch is on the inside. Divine desire and human will collide, and the consequence is desolation (v.38).
Five-point outline
- Repetition of the Name. The double 'Jerusalem' signals grief and shock at what the holy city has become.
- Indictment of the Past. The killing of prophets reveals a pattern: God sends, man refuses.
- The Offer Extended. 'How often I would have gathered', the aorist tense sums repeated, genuine calls to repentance.
- The Shelter of Wings. The hen imagery recalls Ruth 2:12 and the protective presence of God. Jesus offers Himself as that refuge.
- The Refusal and Its Cost. 'You would not' leads to the house left desolate, a warning that persistent rejection has consequences.
Illustration hooks
- A mother hen with chicks in a storm. She spreads her wings and calls them close. The chicks must run to her; she cannot force them. One chick refuses and is lost, not because the hen didn't care, but because it would not come.
- A city warned before a disaster. Emergency sirens blare. Evacuation routes are open. Officials plead. Some stay, stubbornly, and are overtaken by the flood. The warning was real, the rescue prepared.
- A parent calling a child from danger. The child is playing near a cliff. The parent calls again and again, arms open, voice urgent. The child turns away. The parent's love is not diminished, but the choice remains.
Questions your congregation is asking
- If God really wanted to save Jerusalem, why didn't He overpower their will? (How does divine sovereignty relate to human freedom?)
- Can I reject Christ's gathering and still be safe? (What does this verse say about Jesus as the only refuge?)
- Does God still grieve over those who refuse Him today? (How should we respond to the 'you would not' in our own hearts?)
Leading a Discussion
This small-group guide explores Matthew 23:37, a verse that shows both the passionate heart of Christ and the stark reality of human rejection. The goal is not to resolve the tension between God's desire and our choices, but to feel the weight of both, and to respond.
Discussion questions
- Read Matthew 23:37 together. What word or image stood out to you first? Why?
- Jesus repeats 'Jerusalem' once. Why does this double address matter? What does it reveal about His emotions?
- The description 'who kills the prophets and stones those sent to her' is not about one incident. Based on 2 Chronicles 24:21 and Nehemiah 9:26, what pattern does Jesus see?
- Imagine a hen gathering her chicks (v.37b). What does this image teach you about how God protects? Read Ruth 2:12 and Deuteronomy 32:11 for Old Testament echoes.
- Jesus says 'I would have gathered … and you would not.' Who is the subject of the last verb? What does the shift from 'her' to 'ye' (plural) imply about responsibility?
- How does this verse challenge the idea that God's love can be sterile or indifferent? What does it say about the cost of refusing grace?
- In what areas of your own life might you be resisting Christ's gathering? How can the group pray for you to respond to His call?
Word Study
The key original-language words in this verse. Select any word for its full lexicon entry — meaning, every occurrence in Scripture, and related words.
Cross-References
Source: Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (TSK, public domain)
| Deuteronomy 32:11 | As an eagle that stirs up her nest, that flutters over her young, he spread abroad his wings, he took them, he bore them on his feathers. |
| Deuteronomy 32:12 | Yahweh alone led him. There was no foreign god with him. |
| Ruth 2:12 | May Yahweh repay your work, and a full reward be given to you from Yahweh, the God of Israel, under whose wings you have come to take refuge.” |
| II Chronicles 24:21 | They conspired against him, and stoned him with stones at the commandment of the king in the court of Yahweh’s house. |
| II Chronicles 24:22 | Thus Joash the king didn’t remember the kindness which Jehoiada his father had done to him, but killed his son. When he died, he said, “May Yahweh look at it, and repay it.” |
| II Chronicles 36:15 | Yahweh, the God of their fathers, sent to them by his messengers, rising up early and sending, because he had compassion on his people and on his dwelling place; |
| II Chronicles 36:16 | but they mocked the messengers of God, despised his words, and scoffed at his prophets, until Yahweh’s wrath arose against his people, until there was no remedy. |
| Nehemiah 9:26 | “Nevertheless they were disobedient and rebelled against you, cast your law behind their back, killed your prophets that testified against them to turn them again to you, and they committed awful blasphemies. |
Interlinear and lexical data from STEPBible (CC BY 4.0). Cross-reference data from OpenBible.info (CC BY 4.0). Commentaries are public domain.
For personal reflection
Read the devotional page — prayer, application, and "for families"
What the Commentators Say
9 public-domain commentaries, condensed into plain language.
Adam Clarke's Commentary Methodist/Wesleyan 1826
Clarke draws five clear points from this verse: Christ genuinely desired the salvation of the Jews, did everything consistent with his nature and human freedom to save them, wept over Jerusalem, yet they still perished. The reason was their refusal to be gathered under his protection. He illustrates this with the beautiful metaphor of a hen gathering her chicks from a bird of prey, comparing the approaching Roman eagle to the imminent judgment on the Jewish state.
Barnes' Notes on the Bible Protestant 1832
Barnes clarifies that the phrase "I would have gathered" expresses God's desire to protect and save Jerusalem. For him, the gathering is not a simple collection but a deliberate act of refuge and deliverance that God longed to provide for His people.
Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges Anglican 1880
The commentator notes that Jesus likely used the Aramaic form of Jerusalem here, preserving His actual words. The image of gathering under wings may echo a Jewish phrase about converts coming under the Shechinah, suggesting Christ calls as the true Shekinah. The shift to plural in "ye would not" shows the city's collective refusal.
Geneva Bible Notes Reformed 1599
Christ repeats Jerusalem's name to express deep sorrow over the city that killed the prophets sent to
Gill's Exposition of the Bible Baptist 1748
Gill distinguishes Christ's human affection as a man and minister from his divine will. He argues the unwillingness to be gathered belonged to Jerusalem's rulers, not the common people, who seemed inclined to follow him. This distinction, for Gill, shows the passage does not support free will or resistance to God's saving grace.
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Commentary Protestant 1871
JFB reads this lament as the very heart of God pouring out through human flesh. He explains that "Jerusalem" represents the whole covenant family, not just the city. The doubled name and the hen gathering her chicks show Christ's tender, protective love and the staggering mystery of human resistance to such grace.
Lange's Commentary Reformed 1857
Lange presents this discourse as the deliberate counterpart to the Sermon on the Mount: eight woes answer eight beatitudes, and the missing ninth woe turns into Christ's own lament over Jerusalem. He reads Christ's departure
Matthew Henry's Commentary Reformed/Presbyterian 1710
Henry highlights the surprising logic of Christ's judgment: even as he condemns the Jewish leaders as a brood of vipers headed for hell, he still sends them prophets. This is not a second chance but a final demonstration that their ruin is fully deserved. Christ sends them, showing his divine authority to commission messengers, and their rejection leaves them without excuse.
Vincent's Word Studies Evangelical 1887
Vincent notes the Greek word behind "hen" is a generic term for any bird or fowl. The translation "hen" is used broadly to mean the mother bird of all species, not just a domestic chicken.