Luke 23:27-28

23:27 A great number of the people followed him, among them women 1  who were mourning 2  and wailing for him. 23:28 But Jesus turned to them and said, “Daughters of Jerusalem, 3  do not weep for me, but weep for yourselves 4  and for your children.

Luke 23:48-49

23:48 And all the crowds that had assembled for this spectacle, when they saw what had taken place, returned home beating their breasts. 5  23:49 And all those who knew Jesus 6  stood at a distance, and the women who had followed him from Galilee saw 7  these things.

1 sn The background of these women is disputed. Are they “official” mourners of Jesus’ death, appointed by custom to mourn death? If so, the mourning here would be more pro forma. However, the text seems to treat the mourning as sincere, so their tears and lamenting would have been genuine.

2 tn Or “who were beating their breasts,” implying a ritualized form of mourning employed in Jewish funerals. See the note on the term “women” earlier in this verse.

3 sn The title Daughters of Jerusalem portrays these women mourning as representatives of the nation.

map For the location of Jerusalem see Map5-B1; Map6-F3; Map7-E2; Map8-F2; Map10-B3; JP1-F4; JP2-F4; JP3-F4; JP4-F4.

4 sn Do not weep for me, but weep for yourselves. Judgment now comes on the nation (see Luke 19:41-44) for this judgment of Jesus. Ironically, they mourn the wrong person – they should be mourning for themselves.

5 sn Some apparently regretted what had taken place. Beating their breasts was a sign of lamentation.

6 tn Grk “him”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

7 tn Technically the participle ὁρῶσαι (Jorwsai) modifies only γυναῖκες (gunaike") since both are feminine plural nominative, although many modern translations refer this as well to the group of those who knew Jesus mentioned in the first part of the verse. These events had a wide array of witnesses.