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As a result, this generation will be charged with the blood of all the prophets that has been shed since the foundation of the world,
Luke 11:50 · Berean Standard Bible
Parallel translations
  • WEB that the blood of all the prophets, which was shed from the foundation of the world, may be required of this generation;
  • KJV That the blood of all the prophets, which was shed from the foundation of the world, may be required of this generation;
  • NKJV that the blood of all the prophets which was shed from the foundation of the world may be required of this generation,
  • NASB so that the blood of all the prophets, shed since the foundation of the world, may be charged against this generation,
  • NLT “As a result, this generation will be held responsible for the murder of all God’s prophets from the creation of the world—

Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org

Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Quick answer

The guilt for all the prophets' blood, shed since the world's foundation, will be required of this generation. It warns that persistent, climactic rejection of God's messengers brings accumulated judgment.

Overview

Jesus declares that the generation rejecting Him would face the reckoning for the long history of murdered prophets, because in spurning the Son they bring the rebellion to its head. This is not arbitrary but the just consequence of refusing the fullest revelation of God. It underscores the seriousness of rejecting Christ, who is the climax of all God had been saying through His prophets.

Cross-references & the web

Cross-references · 9

  • Gen 9:5–6And surely I will require the life of any man or beast by whose hand your lifeblood is shed. I will demand an accounting from anyone who takes the life of his fellow man:
  • Rev 18:20–24Rejoice over her, O heaven, O saints and apostles and prophets, because God has pronounced for you His judgment against her.
  • 2 Kgs 24:4and also for the innocent blood he had shed. For he had filled Jerusalem with innocent blood, and the LORD was unwilling to forgive.
  • Num 35:33Do not pollute the land where you live, for bloodshed pollutes the land, and no atonement can be made for the land on which the blood is shed, except by the blood of the one who shed it.
  • Jer 7:29Cut off your hair and throw it away. Raise up a lamentation on the barren heights, for the LORD has rejected and forsaken the generation of His wrath.’
  • Isa 26:21For behold, the LORD is coming out of His dwelling to punish the inhabitants of the earth for their iniquity. The earth will reveal her bloodshed and will no longer conceal her slain.
  • Jer 51:56For a destroyer is coming against her—against Babylon. Her warriors will be captured, and their bows will be broken, for the LORD is a God of retribution; He will repay in full.
  • Ps 9:12For the Avenger of bloodshed remembers; He does not ignore the cry of the afflicted.
  • Exod 20:5You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on their children to the third and fourth generations of those who hate Me,

Themes, concepts, people & topics

Topics (10)

Resources, by level

Commentaries & study tools

  • VideoBibleProject — Luke videosBibleProject · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.

  • VideoWatch teaching on Luke 11:50YouTube · Lay · Free

    Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.

  • CommentaryEnduring Word — verse-by-verseDavid Guzik · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.

  • CommentaryClassic commentaries for this verseBibleHub (20+ works) · Pastoral · Free

    Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.

  • CommentaryMatthew Henry on LukeMatthew Henry · Pastoral · Free · evangelical

    The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).

  • ReferenceInterlinear, lexicon & Strong'sBlue Letter Bible · Seminary · Free

    Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.

Christ at the center

Luke shows Jesus the Savior for all — outsiders, the poor, the nations — the one who, on the Emmaus road, opened all the Scriptures to show they were about himself.

How Luke 11:50 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.

Original language

Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Greek word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.