Bible Strands
Luke 7:33
For John the Baptist came neither eating bread nor drinking wine, and you say, ‘He has a demon!’
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — Jesus addresses the crowd and religious leaders, using the marketplace children analogy to explain their rejection of both John and himself. He highlights their contradictory judgment of John’s asceticism versus his own social participation.
The words — The Greek term ἐλήλυθεν (elēluthen) means “has come,” establishing John’s prophetic arrival as a completed action. The participle ἐσθίων (esthiōn) translates literally to “eating,” underscoring the physical lifestyle the people condemned.
The thread — John’s refusal to eat bread or drink wine aligns with his ascetic calling in Luke 1:15 and his desert diet described in Mark 1:6. This pattern echoes the prophetic warning in Jeremiah 16:8 against participating in feasting.
Why it lands — The text demands recognition that the people’s criticism stems from a refusal to accept God’s messengers regardless of their methods. It requires the reader to examine whether their own judgments reject divine purpose based on superficial lifestyle preferences.
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
For John the Baptist came neither eating bread nor drinking wine; and ye say, He hath a devil.
Cross-references
- Luke 1:15 for he will be great in the sight of the Lord. He shall never take wine or strong drink, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit even from his mother’s womb.
- Mark 1:6 John was clothed in camel’s hair, with a leather belt around his waist. His food was locusts and wild honey.
- Jeremiah 16:8 You must not enter a house where there is feasting and sit down with them to eat and drink.
- Matthew 3:4 John wore a garment of camel’s hair, with a leather belt around his waist. His food was locusts and wild honey.
- John 8:48 The Jews answered Him, “Are we not right to say that You are a Samaritan and You have a demon?”
- John 8:52 “Now we know that You have a demon!” declared the Jews. “Abraham died, and so did the prophets, yet You say that anyone who keeps Your word will never taste death.
- John 10:20 Many of them said, “He is demon-possessed and insane. Why would you listen to Him?”
- Acts 2:13 But others mocked them and said, “They are drunk on new wine!”
- Matthew 10:25 It is enough for a disciple to be like his teacher, and a servant like his master. If the head of the house has been called Beelzebul, how much more the members of his household!