Bible Strands
Luke 4:28
On hearing this, all the people in the synagogue were enraged.
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — The narrator records the immediate reaction of the synagogue congregation after Jesus concludes his reading with a reference to Elijah and Elisha serving Gentiles. The moment occurs at the climax of his hometown sermon, just before the crowd attempts to execute him.
The words — The text employs ἐπλήσθησαν (eplēsthēsan) for “were filled” and θυμοῦ (thumou) for “anger,” literally describing a state of saturation with rage. These terms mark the precise shift from listening to violent hostility.
The thread — The pattern of enraged rejection upon hearing a message of Gentile inclusion appears in Acts 7:54 and Acts 22:21. A parallel reaction to prophetic words is recorded in Jeremiah 37:15.
Why it lands — The reader must observe that the text states the crowd's rage as a direct consequence of hearing Jesus affirm God's prior grace toward outsiders. The passage demands recognition that prophetic truth often provokes hostility when it threatens entrenched expectations.
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
And all they in the synagogue, when they heard these things, were filled with wrath,
Cross-references
- Jeremiah 37:15 The officials were angry with Jeremiah, and they beat him and placed him in jail in the house of Jonathan the scribe, for it had been made into a prison.
- Acts 7:54 On hearing this, the members of the Sanhedrin were enraged, and they gnashed their teeth at him.
- Acts 22:21 Then He said to me, ‘Go! I will send you far away to the Gentiles.’”
- 2 Chronicles 24:20 Then the Spirit of God came upon Zechariah son of Jehoiada the priest, who stood up before the people and said to them, “This is what God says: ‘Why do you transgress the commandments of the LORD so that you cannot prosper? Because you have forsaken the LORD, He has forsaken you.’”
- Jeremiah 38:6 So they took Jeremiah and dropped him into the cistern of Malchiah, the king’s son, which was in the courtyard of the guard. They lowered Jeremiah with ropes into the cistern, which had no water but only mud, and Jeremiah sank down into the mud.
- Luke 6:11 But the scribes and Pharisees were filled with rage and began to discuss with one another what they might do to Jesus.
- Luke 11:53 As Jesus went on from there, the scribes and Pharisees began to oppose Him bitterly and to ply Him with questions about many things,
- Acts 5:33 When the Council members heard this, they were enraged, and they resolved to put the apostles to death.
- 1 Thessalonians 2:15 who killed both the Lord Jesus and their own prophets and drove us out as well. They are displeasing to God and hostile to all men,
- 2 Chronicles 16:10 Asa was angry with the seer and became so enraged over this matter that he put the man in prison. And at the same time Asa oppressed some of the people.