Bible Strands
Luke 11:50
As a result, this generation will be charged with the blood of all the prophets that has been shed since the foundation of the world,
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — Jesus speaks to the crowds and religious leaders during His public ministry, immediately after declaring that God would send prophets and apostles whom they would kill and persecute.
The words — The Greek verb ἐκζητηθήσεται (ekzētēthēsetai) literally means “will be required” or “will be charged,” standing alongside αἷμα (haima), “blood,” to form a legal demand for accountability.
The thread — The text states that shed blood will be required as Genesis 9:5 declares God will demand an accounting for any life taken, and 2 Kings 24:4 records God’s refusal to overlook innocent blood in Jerusalem. Revelation 18:20 shows God pronouncing judgment against Babylon while addressing the prophets as witnesses to that verdict.
Why it lands — The verse demands that readers acknowledge the cumulative guilt of rejecting God’s messengers and face the reality of divine accountability without minimizing historical violence.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Greek words
King James Version
That the blood of all the prophets, which was shed from the foundation of the world, may be required of this generation;
Cross-references
- Genesis 9:5 And surely I will require the life of any man or beast by whose hand your lifeblood is shed. I will demand an accounting from anyone who takes the life of his fellow man:
- 2 Kings 24:4 and also for the innocent blood he had shed. For he had filled Jerusalem with innocent blood, and the LORD was unwilling to forgive.
- Revelation 18:20 Rejoice over her, O heaven, and you saints and apostles and prophets, because God has pronounced for you His judgment against her.
- Numbers 35:33 Do not pollute the land where you live, for bloodshed pollutes the land, and no atonement can be made for the land on which the blood is shed, except by the blood of the one who shed it.
- Psalms 9:12 For the Avenger of bloodshed remembers; He does not ignore the cry of the afflicted.
- Isaiah 26:21 For behold, the LORD is coming out of His dwelling to punish the inhabitants of the earth for their iniquity. The earth will reveal her bloodshed and will no longer conceal her slain.
- Jeremiah 7:29 Cut off your hair and throw it away. Raise up a lamentation on the barren heights, for the LORD has rejected and forsaken the generation of His wrath.’
- Jeremiah 51:56 For a destroyer is coming against her—against Babylon. Her warriors will be captured, and their bows will be broken, for the LORD is a God of retribution; He will repay in full.
- Exodus 20:5 You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on their children to the third and fourth generations of those who hate Me,