Matthew 23:37 (WEB)
“Jerusalem, Jerusalem, who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her! How often I would have gathered your children together, even as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you would not!
Catechism · 1
“Nevertheless he persists in calling Jerusalem to gather around him: "How often would I have gathered your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you would not!"” — Catechism footnote: Mt 23:37.
Fathers and councils · 37
Origen
“Behold, your house is left unto you desolate.”” — editor's note: Matt. xxiii. 29–38.
Read the whole comment
Irenaeus of Lyons
“Behold, your house shall be left unto you desolate.”” — editor's note: Luke xiii. 34; Matt. xxiii. 37.
Read the whole comment“This expression [of our Lord], “How often would I have gathered thy children together, and thou wouldest not,” set forth the ancient law of human liberty, because God made man a free [agent] from the beginning, possessing his own power, even as he does his own soul, to…” — editor's note: Matt. xxiii. 37.
Read the whole comment
Cyril of Jerusalem
“They forgot that our Lord Jesus Christ, the Only-begotten, speaks in like manner concerning Himself to Jerusalem, How often would I have gathered thy children together even as a hen doth gather her chickens under her wings, and ye would not.” — editor's note: Matt. xxiii. 37.
Read the whole comment
John Cassian
- John Cassian, Conferences XI–XVII XIII.7Conference XIII
“They have hardened their faces and refused to return.”” — editor's note: S. Matt. xxiii. 37; Jer. viii. 5.
Read the whole comment
Augustine of Hippo
“Something else I am admonished to say in this place of the loftiness of our Head Himself: for He was made weak even unto death, and He took on Him the weakness of flesh, in order that the chickens of Jerusalem He might gather under His wings, like a hen showing herself weak with her little ones.” — editor's note: Matt. xxiii. 37.
Read the whole comment“For our Lord Himself saith in a certain place to that Jerusalem, a certain city, where He was crucified: “Jerusalem,” He saith, “Jerusalem, how often I have willed to gather thy sons, as though a hen her chickens, and thou wouldest not.”” — editor's note: Matt. xxiii. 37.
Read the whole comment“Behold there is left to you your house forsaken.”…” — editor's note: Matt. xxiii. 37, 38.
Read the whole comment“…is not without ground; for Christ Himself, our Lord and Saviour, speaks of Himself as likened to a hen; “how often would I have gathered thy children,” etc. That Jerusalem would not: let us be willing.…If you consider other birds, brethren, you will find many that hatch their eggs, and keep their young warm: but…” — editor's note: Matt. xxiii. 37.
Read the whole comment“For He calleth Himself a hen brooding over her young.…If, then, it be so truly, this bird doth closely resemble the flesh of Christ, by whose blood we have been called to life.” — editor's note: Matt. xxiii. 37.
Read the whole comment“This love He mentioneth in the Gospel, when He saith, “How often would I have gathered thy children together, and thou wouldest not!”” — editor's note: Matt. xxiii. 37.
Read the whole comment“Is not it that Jerusalem, unto whom the Lord said, “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the Prophets,” etc. What great thing then did he desire; to stand among those who slew the Prophets, and stoned them that were sent unto them?” — editor's note: Matt. xxiii. 37.
Read the whole comment“In like manner, accordingly, let not the thought of the hen recede from your heart, who covers her tender brood with her drooping feathers, and with broken voice calls her chirping young ones to her, while they that turn away from her fostering wings in their pride become a prey to birds.” — editor's note: Illius gallinœ,—in reference to Matt. xxiii. 37
Read the whole comment“Let us put our egg under the wings of that Hen of the Gospel, which crieth out to that false and abandoned city, “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen her chickens, and thou wouldest not!”” — editor's note: Matt. xxiii. 37.
Read the whole comment“…upbraiding the impious city: “How often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not!” as if the will of God had been overcome by the will of men, and when the weakest stood in the way with their want of will, the will of the strongest could not…” — editor's note: Matt. xxiii. 37
Read the whole comment“As weak, then, He nourishes the weak, as a hen her chickens; for He likened Him self to a hen: “How often,” He saith to Jerusalem, “would I have gathered thy children under my wings, as a hen her chickens; but thou wouldest not!”” — editor's note: Matt. xxiii. 37.
Read the whole comment
John Chrysostom
“Therefore He saith, “How often would I have gathered your children together, and ye would not?” ( Matt. xxiii. 37.)” — the author cites it
Read the whole comment“Then He directs His speech unto the city, in this way too being minded to correct His hearers, and saith, “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem!”” — editor's note: Matt. xxiii. 37.
Read the whole comment
Jerome
“As a hen gathers her chickens, so did you take us under your wing.” — editor's note: 2 Esdras. i. 30; Matt. xxiii. 37.
Read the whole comment“The city which we are to praise and to seek is not that which has slain the prophets and shed the blood of Christ, but that which is made glad by the streams of the river, which is set upon a mountain and so cannot be hid, which the apostle…” — editor's note: Matt. xxiii. 37.
Read the whole comment
Hilary of Poitiers
“Which would so often have gathered the chickens together under the shadow of His wings?” — editor's note: St. Matt. xxiii. 37; St. Luke xiii. 34.
Read the whole comment
Clement of Alexandria
“And that He calls us chickens the Scripture testifies: “As a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings.”” — editor's note: Matt. xxiii. 37.
Read the whole comment“Such is the Instructor in His admonitions, as when He says in the Gospel, “How often would I have gathered thy children, as a bird gathers her young ones under her wings, and ye would not!”” — editor's note: Matt. xxiii. 37.
Read the whole comment““Jerusalem, Jerusalem, how often would I have gathered thy children, as a hen her chickens!”” — editor's note: Matt. xxiii. 37; Luke xiii. 34.
Read the whole comment
Cyprian of Carthage
“Behold, your house shall be left unto you desolate.”” — editor's note: Matt. xxiii. 37, 38.
Read the whole comment
Catena Aurea on Matthew
- John ChrysostomCatena Aurea on Matthew
The Lord next turns to address the city, desiring to instruct His bearers thereby. “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem:” this repetition of the name is a mark of compassion and intense love.
Read the whole comment - JeromeCatena Aurea on Matthew
By “Jerusalem” He means not the stones and buildings, but the dwellers there, over whom He laments with the feeling of a Father.
Read the whole comment - Pseudo-ChrysostomCatena Aurea on Matthew
Foreseeing the destruction of the city, and the blow it would receive from the Romans, He called to mind the blood of the saints which had been, and should yet be, shed in it. Thou killedst Esaias who was sent unto…
Read the whole comment - John ChrysostomCatena Aurea on Matthew
Having thus addressed her, and spoken of her cruel murders, He said, as justifying Himself, “How often would I have gathered thy children together?” as much as to say, Notwithstanding, these thy murders have not…
Read the whole comment - Augustine of HippoCatena Aurea on Matthew
This species has the greatest affection for its brood, insomuch that when they are sick the mother sickens also; and what you will hardly find in any other animal, it will fight against the kite, protecting its young…
Read the whole comment - OrigenCatena Aurea on Matthew
He calls them children of Jerusalem, just as we call each generation of citizens the sons of the preceding generation. And He says, “How often,” though it is well known that once only did He teach the Jews in the…
Read the whole comment - Rabanus MaurusCatena Aurea on Matthew
Let heretics then cease to assign to Christ a beginning from the Virgin; let them leave off to preach one God of the Law and another of the Prophets. Aug., Euch. 97:. Where is that omnipotence, by the which He did…
Read the whole comment - John ChrysostomCatena Aurea on Matthew
Then He threatens the punishment of which they were ever in fear, to wit, the overthrow of the city and temple, saying, “Behold, your house is left unto you desolate.”
Read the whole comment - Pseudo-ChrysostomCatena Aurea on Matthew
As the body, when the spirit departs, first becomes cold, and then decays and decomposes; so also your temple, when God’s Spirit shall have withdrawn, shall be first filled with strife and anarchy, and after shall…
Read the whole comment - OrigenCatena Aurea on Matthew
In like manner to all such as would not be gathered under His wings Christ speaks this threat; “Behold, your house is left unto you desolate;” i.e. your soul and your body. But if any one of you will not be gathered…
Read the whole comment - JeromeCatena Aurea on Matthew
“I say unto you, Ye shall not see Me, &c.” That is to say, Unless ye shall do penitence, and shall confess that I am He of whom the Prophets have spoken, the Son of the Almighty Father, ye shall not see My face. Thus…
Read the whole comment - John ChrysostomCatena Aurea on Matthew
Otherwise; In this He covertly alludes to His second coming, when surely they shall worship Him. “Henceforth,” means from the time of His crucifixion.
Read the whole comment
Cross-references · 17
Parallel passages
Matthew 23:37 and Luke 13:34 share the same wording (24 words).
Cited together with
Cited together in Catechism §558.
Cited together in Catechism §558.
Cited together in On the Catechising of the Uninstructed Chapter 10.
Cited together in On the Catechising of the Uninstructed Chapter 10.
Cited together in On the Catechising of the Uninstructed Chapter 10.
Cited together in On the Catechising of the Uninstructed Chapter 10.
Cited together in On the Catechising of the Uninstructed Chapter 10.
Cited together in On the Catechising of the Uninstructed Chapter 10.
Cited together in The Enchiridion Chapter 97 and 1 other place.
Cited together in On the Catechising of the Uninstructed Chapter 10.
Cited together in Conferences XI–XVII XIII.7.
Cited together in Three Books of Testimonies Against the Jews I.7.
Cited together in Three Books of Testimonies Against the Jews I.7.
Cited together in Three Books of Testimonies Against the Jews I.7.
Cited together in Conferences XI–XVII XIII.7.
Cited together in Conferences XI–XVII XIII.7.