Luke 23:31 BSB — MannaFest

Luke 23:31

For if men do these things while the tree is green, what will happen when it is dry?”

BSB

Parallel translations (2) ▾

ASV

For if they do these things in the green tree, what shall be done in the dry?

KJV

For if they do these things in a green tree, what shall be done in the dry?

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Commentary

1 voice

Tertullian

On Repentance (220)

Seize the opportunity of unexpected felicity: that you, who sometime were in God's sight nothing but "a drop of a bucket," and "dust of the threshing-floor," and "a potter's vessel," may thenceforward become that "tree which is sown beside the waters, is perennial in leaves, bears fruit at its own time," and shall not see fire," nor "axe.

The record, by era

The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice

John Wesley

1703–1791

Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament (1755)

If they do these things in the green tree, what shall be done in the dry? - Our Lord makes use of a proverbial expression, frequent among the Jews, who compare a good man to a green tree, and a bad man to a dead one: as if he had said, If an innocent person suffer thus, what will become of the wicked? Of those who are as ready for destruction as dry wood for the fire?

The Nineteenth Century1 voice

Albert Barnes

1798–1870

Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)

For if they do these things in a green tree ... - This seems to be a proverbial expression. A “green” tree is not easily set on fire; a dry one is easily kindled and burns rapidly; and the meaning of the passage is - “If they, the Romans, do these things to me, who am innocent and blameless; if they punish me in this manner in the face of justice, what will they not do in relation to this guilty nation? What security have they that heavier judgments will not come upon them?

Voices on this verse

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Original language & word study

13 tagged words

Original	Transliteration	Meaning	Word study
ὅτι	hoti	For	G3754 →
εἰ	ei	if	G1487 →
ἐν	en	in	G1722 →
τῷ	tō	the	G3588 →
ὑγρῷ	hugrō	green	G5200 →
ξύλῳ	xulō	tree	G3586 →
ταῦτα	tauta	these things	G3778 →
ποιοῦσιν,	poiousin	they do,	G4160 →
ἐν	en	in	G1722 →
τῷ	tō	the	G3588 →
ξηρῷ	xērō	dry	G3584 →
τί	ti	what	G5101 →
γένηται;¶	genētai	may happen?	G1096 →

Rare words are the text's own signal of a deliberate thread: the fewer the occurrences, the more the places it appears belong together.

G3584xerodry8×

The walk

The walk8

Where the connections lead

Follow this verse’s cross-references two steps out. Each card is a verse this one points to, and beneath it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several different paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it. Every stop shows its own words, and every stop is a page.

Through
John 15:6
If anyone does not remain in Me, he is like a branch that is thrown away and withers. Such branches are gathered up, thrown into the fire, and burned.
leads to
- Matthew 7:19
  Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.
- Hebrews 6:7–8
  For land that drinks in the rain often falling on it and that produces a crop useful to those for whom it is tended receives the blessing of God.
- Matthew 13:41
  The Son of Man will send out His angels, and they will weed out of His kingdom every cause of sin and all who practice lawlessness.
- John 15:2
  He cuts off every branch in Me that bears no fruit, and every branch that does bear fruit, He prunes to make it even more fruitful.
- Matthew 3:10
  The axe lies ready at the root of the trees, and every tree that does not produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire.
Through
Matthew 3:12
His winnowing fork is in His hand to clear His threshing floor and to gather His wheat into the barn; but He will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.”
leads to
- Malachi 4:1
  “For behold, the day is coming, burning like a furnace, when all the arrogant and every evildoer will be stubble; the day is coming when I will set them ablaze,” says the LORD of…
- Matthew 13:30
  Let both grow together until the harvest. At that time I will tell the harvesters: First collect the weeds and tie them in bundles to be burned; then gather the wheat into my barn.’”
- Luke 3:17
  His winnowing fork is in His hand to clear His threshing floor and to gather the wheat into His barn; but He will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.”

Featured studies on this passage

On Luke 23:31

The Tree

Jesus uses the word Himself, on the road to His own execution, speaking to the women who were weeping for Him.

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Walks through Luke 23

Afterlife Vocabulary

Sheol, Hades, Gehenna, Tartarus, the Abyss, and Paradise — six words English hid inside one, disambiguated and sourced.

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Walks through Luke 23

The Intermediate State

Between death and resurrection, Scripture says the Christian dead are both with Christ and asleep — set the passages side by side and see how they resolve.

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Walks through Luke 23

Paul before Agrippa — Acts 26

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The Ecstasy of Saint Paul — Nicolas Poussin

Walks through Luke 23

Power Made Perfect in Weakness — 2 Corinthians 12:7–10

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Walks through Luke 23

The Trial of Jesus, MannaFest

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About Luke

The Arrival at Calvary — Gustave Doré (engraving), public domain

Luke: the study guide →Read chapter 23 →The featured study →

Continue: Luke 23 →

01Commentary

The record, by era

Voices on this verse

02Original language & word study

03The walk

Where the connections lead

04Related verses

05Featured studies on this passage

06About Luke

The record, by era

Where the connections lead

Commentary

Original language & word study

The walk

Related verses

Featured studies on this passage

About Luke