Discovery BoxLuke 11:50-54 
Context11:50 so that this generation may be held accountable 1 for the blood of all the prophets that has been shed since the beginning 2 of the world, 3 11:51 from the blood of Abel 4 to the blood of Zechariah, 5 who was killed 6 between the altar and the sanctuary. 7 Yes, I tell you, it will be charged against 8 this generation. 11:52 Woe to you experts in religious law! You have taken away 9 the key to knowledge! You did not go in yourselves, and you hindered 10 those who were going in.”
11:53 When he went out from there, the experts in the law 11 and the Pharisees began to oppose him bitterly, 12 and to ask him hostile questions 13 about many things, 11:54 plotting against 14 him, to catch 15 him in something he might say.
1 tn Or “that this generation may be charged with”; or “the blood of all the prophets… may be required from this generation.” This is a warning of judgment. These people are responsible for the shedding of prophetic blood.
2 tn Or “foundation.” However, this does not suggest a time to the modern reader.
3 tn The order of the clauses in this complicated sentence has been rearranged to simplify it for the modern reader.
4 sn Gen 4:10 indicates that Abel’s blood cried out for justice.
5 sn It is not clear which Zechariah is meant here. It is probably the person mentioned in 2 Chr 24:20-25.
6 tn Or “who perished.”
7 tn Or “and the temple”; Grk “and the house,” but in this context a reference to the house of God as a place of sanctuary.
8 tn Or “required from.”
9 sn You have taken away the key to knowledge is another stinging rebuke. They had done the opposite of what they were trying to do.
10 tn Or “you tried to prevent.”
11 tn Or “the scribes.” See the note on the phrase “experts in the law” in 5:21.
12 tn Or “terribly.”
13 tn For this term see L&N 33.183.
14 tn Grk “lying in ambush against,” but this is a figurative extension of that meaning.
15 tn This term was often used in a hunting context (BDAG 455 s.v. θηρεύω; L&N 27.30). Later examples of this appear in Luke 20.
