WHAT DOES LUKE 7:35 MEAN?

Even translators of this verse into English do not seem to agree:

    “Nevertheless wisdom is vindicated by all her children.” (NRSV, ESV, AB)

    “But wisdom is justified of all her children.” (KJV)

    “And yet God's wisdom is proved right by all who are her children.” (NEB, NIV, JB)

    And the Jerusalem Bible appends the following explanatory footnote: “The children of Wisdom, i.e., of the all-wise God, cf. Pr 8:22+, appreciate and welcome God's works.”

    “Ah, well, wisdom's reputation is entirely in the hands of her children!” (J.B. Phillips)

    “But I am sure you can always justify your inconsistencies.” (The Living Bible)

    “The proof of the pudding is in the eating.” (The Message)

    “God's wisdom, however, is shown to be true by all who accept it.” (TEV)

Confusing the matter even more is the fact that the parallel passage in Matthew 11:19b reads, “Yet wisdom is justified by her deeds,” although there are a number of ancient manuscripts which attempted to bring the wording more in line with that in Luke 7:35. Metzger expresses the opinion of most NT scholars that these harmonizing attempts came from a later date. Thus, we are left with “deeds” as another possible understanding of Jesus' words.

But there are two good reasons for feeling that Matthew has changed Luke's account here and that even “deeds” was not in Jesus' original words. For one, according to Burnett and Bennema, it is the opinion of a majority of scholars that Luke's account is the earlier one. Secondly, they add, “It appears that Matthew has framed this passage [Matt. 11:2-19] to equate the phrase 'the works [erga] of the Christ (Mt 11:2) with the phrase 'wisdom is vindicated by her works [erga]' (Mt 11:19b). This change virtually identifies Jesus...with God's divine Wisdom. If this is the case, then in Matthew Jesus is no longer just Wisdom's messenger; he is Wisdom incarnate.”

However, there is one more difference between the words of Matthew and Luke at this point. And in this case it is Luke's version is in doubt. Whereas Matthew says “her children,” Luke has “all her children.” Fitzmyer feels that Luke has added “all,” as he commonly does in several other passages. If so, then Luke is trying to clarify that the children do not primarily refer to John and Jesus, but to all who follow them.

Generally, the context of a given problem verse will give strong clues as to its meaning. But in this case, the only real context we have for this saying in Luke is found in verses 34-35: “For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say, 'He has a demon'; the Son of man came eating and drinking, and they say, 'Behold a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners.” The connection between that brief context and the saying in question is not transparently obvious either. The best I can do at this point is to throw myself on the mercy of the scholars whom I quote below.

    I will start with the comments of Pao and Schnabel since they apparently had the same problem as I had in trying to understand these cryptic words: “The final saying of this pericope...[7:35] is difficult, especially when the identity of the teknon ('children') is unclear. D.P. Moessner...represents many by arguing for the connection between vv. 29 and 35, concluding therefore that those who accept John and Jesus in general...are the intended references behind teknon. In light of the flow of the narrative, however, an equally strong case can be made that the teknon refers primarily to Jesus and John the Baptist.”

    And in a note concerning the actual translation of v. 35, J.K. Brown states, “The verb dekaioo indicates proving oneself or others right – that is, vindication [also present in Lk. 7:29].”

So getting down to the heart of the actual message of Jesus, we have the following diverse opinions:

    “Amidst the socioreligious games of accusations and counter-accusations, Jesus and John will be vindicated as God's children because their respective messages, though in some ways diverse, are part of the one purpose of God that can be identified with divine wisdom.” (Bird)

    “Geldenhuys says that “whatever attitude and behavior may be adopted by the foolish Jewish leaders and others, wisdom is recognized and honored by all her children in whatever form she appears. He who loves God and believes in Him observes, accepts and honors His wisdom as revealed through John, the preacher of repentance; but especially as revealed supremely in Christ, the Son of Man.”

    Ellis: “Children of God's 'wisdom' probably are contrasted with children of 'this generation' (31f). They are not Jesus and the Baptist but rather those who 'justify God' (29) by accepting their message. On this interpretation 'wisdom' is the Holy Spirit's action in the work and words of Jesus.”

    “Just as Luke said earlier that God was justified by those who accepted God's purpose as expressed in John's baptism (vv. 29-30), so here wisdom is justified by those who accept John and Jesus. Wisdom or truth cannot be confirmed at a distance except by those who embrace wisdom. There is a kind of knowing which does not precede a decision or an act but which comes in the deciding, in the acting.” (Craddock)

    Fitzmyer comments, “God's wise salvific plan has become madness or foolishness for some of Jesus' contemporaries; his wisdom is manifested as a mother whose children are not only John and Jesus, but 'all' the prople who, like toll-collectors and sinners, are willing to listen to John or Jesus...Both John and Jesus arrive as such on the Palestinian scene with a critical, eschatological message, and what they announce, heard at first as insane and offensive, turns out to be the mark of Wisdom. The 'people of this generation' turn out to be not the children of Wisdom, but sulking spoil- sports who fail to recognize her.”

Marshall feels that “behind the saying lies rather the Jewish tradition concerning wisdom as a quasi-personal hypostasis in heaven, a divine agent expressing the mind of God, who preaches to men and longs to dwell among them but is rejected by them...In the present passage, however, there is little to suggest that wisdom is thought of as a personal being, and the thought is rather that the rightness of God's plan (boule, 7:30) is demonstrated by those who accept it...But the construction is uncertain...”

Thus, we can see that there is a great deal of uncertainty regarding the meaning of this pronouncement of Jesus. In conclusion, you are free to adopt any of the above comments as a reasonable explanation of v. 35. Or perhaps we should just include it among what are called his “dark sayings,” those expressed in such concise terms that the actual intended meaning is somewhat shrouded in darkness.