The Meaning of Luke 19:43 Explained

Luke 19:43

KJV: For the days shall come upon thee, that thine enemies shall cast a trench about thee, and compass thee round, and keep thee in on every side,

YLT: 'Because days shall come upon thee, and thine enemies shall cast around thee a rampart, and compass thee round, and press thee on every side,

Darby: for days shall come upon thee, that thine enemies shall make a palisaded mound about thee, and shall close thee around, and keep thee in on every side,

ASV: For the days shall come upon thee, when thine enemies shall cast up a bank about thee, and compass thee round, and keep thee in on every side,

KJV Reverse Interlinear

For  the days  shall come  upon  thee,  that  thine  enemies  shall cast  a trench  about  thee,  and  compass  thee  round,  and  keep  thee  in  on every side, 

What does Luke 19:43 Mean?

Context Summary

Luke 19:41-48 - The Doom Of The Royal City
Our Lord loved the city of His race; and when it finally rejected His appeals, He knew that nothing could avert its downfall. Hence His tears! Each nation, city and individual has one day which is the crisis of existence. We cross the equator without knowing it. There is one hour in each God-forsaken life when, as in the Temple before its fall, watchers hear the words, "Let us depart," and there is the rustle of wings! Notice that God visits us in mercy before He comes to us in wrath.
It was a startling act when Christ cleansed the Temple for the second time, John 2:13, etc. If there had been daily papers in those days, they would have chronicled it in great headlines. Extraordinary that this meek and lowly man should break out so vehemently! But His zeal for God's house sustained and bore Him along. Let us ask Him to cleanse the temple of our heart.
These priests and scribes had vested interests to conserve, which blinded them to the beauty and glory of Christ. If we place a coin, however valueless, against the eye, it will blind us to the sun. [source]

Chapter Summary: Luke 19

1  Of Zacchaeus a tax collector
11  The ten minas
28  Jesus rides into Jerusalem with triumph;
41  weeps over it;
45  drives the buyers and sellers out of the temple;
47  Teaching daily in it The rulers seek to destroy him, but fear the people

Greek Commentary for Luke 19:43

Shall cast up a bank [παρεμβαλουσιν χαρακα]
Future active indicative of παρεμβαλλω — paremballō a double compound (παρα εν βαλλω — para χαρακα — en χαραχ — ballō) of long usage, finally in a military sense of line of battle or in camp. Here alone in the N.T. So also the word περικυκλωσουσιν σε — charaka (κυκλος — charax) for bank, stake, palisade, rampart, is here alone in the N.T., though common enough in the old Greek. [source]
Compass thee round [περι]
Future active indicative. Another common compound to make a circle Shall hold thee together on every side (pantothen). See about sunechō on Luke 4:38. [source]
Keep thee in [συνεχω]
Shall hold thee together on every side See about sunechō on Luke 4:38. [source]
A trench [χάρακα]
Rev., correctly, as Tynd., a bank. Only here in New Testament. The word literally means a pointed stake, used in fortifying the intrenchments of a camp, and thence the palisade itself. In fortifying a camp or besieging a city, a ditch was dug round the entire circuit, and the earth from it thrown up into a wall, upon which sharp stakes were fixed. Every Roman soldier carried three or four of these stakes on the march. Wyc., with pale. [source]
Keep thee in [συνέξουσιν]
See on Luke 4:38. [source]

Reverse Greek Commentary Search for Luke 19:43

Luke 22:63 That held [οι συνεχοντες]
See note on Luke 8:45; and the note on Luke 19:43 for this verb συνεχω — sunechō Here alone in the N.T. for holding a prisoner (holding together). The servants or soldiers, not the Sanhedrin. [source]
Luke 4:38 Into the house of Simon [εις την οικιαν Σιμωνος]
“Peter‘s house” (Matthew 8:14). “The house of Simon and Andrew” (Mark 1:29). Paul‘s reference to Peter‘s wife (1 Corinthians 9:5) is pertinent. They lived together in Capernaum. This house came also to be the Capernaum home of Jesus.Simon‘s wife‘s mother (πεντερα του Σιμωνος — penthera tou Simōnos). The word πεντερα — penthera for mother-in-law is old and well established in usage. Besides the parallel passages (Mark 1:30; Matthew 8:14; Luke 4:38) it occurs in the N.T. only in Luke 12:53. The corresponding word πεντερος — pentheros father-in-law, occurs in John 18:13 alone in the N.T.Was holden with a great fever Periphrastic imperfect passive, the analytical tense accenting the continuous fever, perhaps chronic and certainly severe. Luke employs this verb nine times and only three others in the N.T. (Matthew 4:24 passive with diseases here; 2 Corinthians 5:14 active; Philemon 1:23 passive). In Acts 28:8 the passive “with dysentery” is like the construction here and is a common one in Greek medical writers as in Greek literature generally. Luke uses the passive with “fear,” Luke 8:37, the active for holding the hands over the ears (Acts 7:57) and for pressing one or holding together (Luke 8:45; Luke 19:43; Luke 22:63), the direct middle for holding oneself to preaching (Acts 18:5). It is followed here by the instrumental case. Hobart (Medical Language of Luke, p. 3) quotes Galen as dividing fevers into “great” (μεγαλοι — megaloi) and “small” (σμικροι — smikroi). [source]
Luke 4:38 Was holden with a great fever [ην συνεχομενη πυρετωι μεγαλωι]
Periphrastic imperfect passive, the analytical tense accenting the continuous fever, perhaps chronic and certainly severe. Luke employs this verb nine times and only three others in the N.T. (Matthew 4:24 passive with diseases here; 2 Corinthians 5:14 active; Philemon 1:23 passive). In Acts 28:8 the passive “with dysentery” is like the construction here and is a common one in Greek medical writers as in Greek literature generally. Luke uses the passive with “fear,” Luke 8:37, the active for holding the hands over the ears (Acts 7:57) and for pressing one or holding together (Luke 8:45; Luke 19:43; Luke 22:63), the direct middle for holding oneself to preaching (Acts 18:5). It is followed here by the instrumental case. Hobart (Medical Language of Luke, p. 3) quotes Galen as dividing fevers into “great” (μεγαλοι — megaloi) and “small” (σμικροι — smikroi). [source]
Acts 21:34 When he could not know [μη δυναμενου αυτου γνωναι]
Genitive absolute of present middle participle of δυναμαι — dunamai with negative μη — mē and second aorist active infinitive of γινωσκω — ginōskō The certainty (το ασπαλες — to asphales). Neuter articular adjective from α — a privative and σπαλλω — sphallō to make totter or fall. Old word, in the N.T. only in Acts 21:34; Acts 22:30; Acts 25:26; Philemon 3:1; Hebrews 6:19. Into the castle Koiné{[28928]}š word from παρεμβαλλω — paremballō to cast in by the side of, to assign soldiers a place, to encamp (see note on Luke 19:43). So παρεμβολη — parembolē comes to mean an interpolation, then an army drawn up (Hebrews 11:34), but mainly an encampment (Hebrews 13:11, Hebrews 13:13), frequent in Polybius and lxx. So here barracks of the Roman soldiers in the tower of Antonia as in Acts 21:37; Acts 21:22: Acts 21:24; Acts 23:10, Acts 23:16, Acts 23:32. [source]
Acts 21:34 Into the castle [εις την παρεμβολην]
Koiné{[28928]}š word from παρεμβαλλω — paremballō to cast in by the side of, to assign soldiers a place, to encamp (see note on Luke 19:43). So παρεμβολη — parembolē comes to mean an interpolation, then an army drawn up (Hebrews 11:34), but mainly an encampment (Hebrews 13:11, Hebrews 13:13), frequent in Polybius and lxx. So here barracks of the Roman soldiers in the tower of Antonia as in Acts 21:37; Acts 21:22: Acts 21:24; Acts 23:10, Acts 23:16, Acts 23:32. [source]

What do the individual words in Luke 19:43 mean?

For will come days upon you that will cast around the enemies of you a barricade you and they will surround you will hem in on every side
ὅτι ἥξουσιν ἡμέραι ἐπὶ σὲ καὶ παρεμβαλοῦσιν οἱ ἐχθροί σου χάρακά σοι καὶ περικυκλώσουσίν σε συνέξουσίν πάντοθεν

ἥξουσιν  will  come 
Parse: Verb, Future Indicative Active, 3rd Person Plural
Root: ἥκω  
Sense: to have come, have arrived, be present.
ἡμέραι  days 
Parse: Noun, Nominative Feminine Plural
Root: ἡμέρα  
Sense: the day, used of the natural day, or the interval between sunrise and sunset, as distinguished from and contrasted with the night.
ἐπὶ  upon 
Parse: Preposition
Root: ἐπί  
Sense: upon, on, at, by, before.
καὶ  that 
Parse: Conjunction
Root: καί  
Sense: and, also, even, indeed, but.
παρεμβαλοῦσιν  will  cast  around 
Parse: Verb, Future Indicative Active, 3rd Person Plural
Root: παρεμβολή  
Sense: an encampment.
ἐχθροί  enemies 
Parse: Adjective, Nominative Masculine Plural
Root: ἐχθρός  
Sense: hated, odious, hateful.
σου  of  you 
Parse: Personal / Possessive Pronoun, Genitive 2nd Person Singular
Root: σύ  
Sense: you.
χάρακά  a  barricade 
Parse: Noun, Accusative Masculine Singular
Root: χάραξ  
Sense: a pale or stake, a palisade.
περικυκλώσουσίν  they  will  surround 
Parse: Verb, Future Indicative Active, 3rd Person Plural
Root: περικυκλόω  
Sense: to encircle, compass about.
συνέξουσίν  will  hem  in 
Parse: Verb, Future Indicative Active, 3rd Person Plural
Root: συνέχω  
Sense: to hold together.
πάντοθεν  on  every  side 
Parse: Adverb
Root: πάντοθεν  
Sense: from all sides, from every quarter.