Luke 7:32 Meaning and Explanation
“They are like unto children sitting in the marketplace, and calling one to another, and saying, We have piped unto you, and ye have not danced; we have mourned to you, and ye have not wept.”
King James Version (KJV)
Read this verse in context with translation switching:
Read Full Chapter →This generation is like children complaining that their playmates would join neither the wedding game nor the funeral game.
What Does Luke 7:32 Mean?
The picture: children sitting in the marketplace, calling to their fellows in complaint — we played the flute for a wedding game and you would not dance; we wailed a funeral dirge and you would not weep. Nothing offered would please them.
The generation is the sulking group: God sent them the mournful call of John and the joyful call of Jesus, and they folded their arms at both. The deepest problem was never the style of the messenger but the settled unwillingness of the hearers. Hearts determined not to respond will always find the music wrong — too stern, too glad, too strange, too plain. It is a warning against the critic's chair, where every invitation from God can be reviewed and none obeyed.
Frequently Asked Questions About Luke 7:32
What does Luke 7:32 mean?
This generation is like children complaining that their playmates would join neither the wedding game nor the funeral game.