O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, which killest the prophets, and stonest them that are sent unto thee; how often would I have gathered thy children together, as a hen doth gather her brood under her wings, and ye would not!

LUKE 13:34KJV
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Luke 13:34 (KJV)

What does Luke 13:34 mean?

Luke 13:34 expresses Jesus’ grief over Jerusalem’s rejection of those sent to it. Jesus speaks of his repeated desire to bring its people together, but says they were unwilling. His words hold together the city’s history of violence and his longing to gather its people.

Jesus addresses Jerusalem as though the city could hear him, calling its people “thy children.” The picture of a hen gathering her brood under her wings suggests closeness and shelter. The repeated name “Jerusalem” gives his words the sound of a sorrowful cry.

The Greek behind Luke 13:34

  • “would” — θέλω (thelō): This word can express a desire or willingness. The verse uses it both for Jesus’ desire to gather and for the people’s refusal: “ye would not.”
  • “gathered … together” — ἐπισυνάγω (episynagō): This word carries the sense of bringing people together into one place. It helps explain the picture of scattered chicks being brought close to the hen.
  • “sent” — ἀποστέλλω (apostellō): This word means to send someone out. Here it describes people sent to Jerusalem, placing the city’s treatment of them alongside its killing of the prophets.

Why Luke 13:34 matters

  • Jerusalem’s rejection is pictured as a recurring pattern, not a single event. Jesus asks “how often” he wanted to gather its children and refers to the prophets and others sent to the city.
  • Jesus’ words place his own fate within the city’s history of violence. Just before this, in verse 33, he speaks of a prophet being killed in Jerusalem.
  • The cry also leads into a warning. In verse 35, Jesus says, “your house is left unto you desolate,” giving a stark contrast to the shelter pictured in verse 34.

Where else these words appear

“hen” Greek G3733 · used in 2 verses

  • Matthew 23:37 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!

“often” Greek G4212 · used in 3 verses

  • Matthew 18:21 Then came Peter to him, and said, Lord, how oft shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? till seven times?
  • Matthew 23:37 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!

“wings” Greek G4420 · used in 5 verses

  • Matthew 23:37 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!
  • Revelation 4:8 And the four beasts had each of them six wings about him; and they were full of eyes within: and they rest not day and night, saying, Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, which was, and is, and is to come.
  • Revelation 9:9 And they had breastplates, as it were breastplates of iron; and the sound of their wings was as the sound of chariots of many horses running to battle.

“gathered” Greek G1996 · used in 6 verses

  • Matthew 23:37 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!
  • Matthew 24:31 And he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.
  • Mark 13:27 And then shall he send his angels, and shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from the uttermost part of the earth to the uttermost part of heaven.