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Prophecy

“Daughters of Jerusalem, weep for yourselves and for your children” (Luke 23:28-31)

Jesus carrying his cross speaks to the weeping women of Jerusalem (Luke 23:27-28): artist’s impression by Théophile Lybaert (1886-1887).
Artist’s impression Jesus carrying his cross speaks to the weeping women of Jerusalem (Luke 23:27-28): artist’s impression by Théophile Lybaert (1886-1887). — Théophile Lybaert, Wikimedia Commons · Domaine public

○ Written after the events, according to historians; tradition dates it before

Written c. 30–62 AD according to tradition; c. 80–90 AD according to historians. Event: 70 AD.

See the full entry: sources, objections, answers

In short

The announcement. In the Gospel of Luke, Jesus, led to crucifixion around 30-33, tells the women of Jerusalem to weep for themselves and for their children, for days will come when people will say “blessed are the barren”.

What happened. In 70, during the siege of Jerusalem by the Roman army of Titus, the city suffers a terrible famine. The Jewish historian Josephus, present in the Roman camp, reports that a starving mother killed and roasted her own child.

What is still debated. most historians date the Gospel of Luke to around 80-90, after the siege, and the scene may have been written in the light of what happened in 70.

What would be striking if the text came first

The detail in view, the misery of mothers, is the one that Josephus, a non-Christian Jewish historian and witness of the siege, chooses to convey the horror of 70. But most historians date Luke to after 70, which takes away the saying’s value as an announcement.

Main objection (in French for now)

Prophétie après coup : Luc est daté par la critique vers 80-90, après le siège. La scène, propre à Luc (absente de Marc et de Matthieu), peut avoir été composée à la lumière de 70.

The text (World English Bible)

But Jesus, turning to them, said, “Daughters of Jerusalem, don’t weep for me, but weep for yourselves and for your children. For behold, the days are coming in which they will say, ‘Blessed are the barren, the wombs that never bore, and the breasts that never nursed.’ Then they will begin to tell the mountains, ‘Fall on us!’ and tell the hills, ‘Cover us.’ For if they do these things in the green tree, what will be done in the dry?”

Luke 23:28-31

Sources