Lukas 23:28-29

23:28 But Jesus turned to them and said, “Daughters of Jerusalem, ¹  do not weep for me, but weep for yourselves ²  and for your children. 23:29 For this is certain: ³  The days are coming when they will say, ‘Blessed are the barren, the wombs that never bore children, and the breasts that never nursed!’ ⁴ 

[23:28]  ¹ sn The title Daughters of Jerusalem portrays these women mourning as representatives of the nation.

[23:28]  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.

[23:28]  ² 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.

[23:29]  ³ tn Grk “For behold.”

[23:29]  ⁴ tn Grk “Blessed are the barren, and the wombs that have not borne, and the breasts that have not nursed!”

[23:29]  sn Normally barrenness is a sign of judgment, because birth would be seen as a sign of blessing. The reversal of imagery indicates that something was badly wrong.