What Does Luke 7:31 Mean in the King James?
And the Lord said, Whereunto then shall I liken the men of this generation? and to what are they like?
The analysis reads the King James wording.
King James Version The King James Version, first published in 1611. Selah Verse shows the standard text.
THE KEY
The same Greek likeness-family appears in both halves of the question: the comparison that fits a people reveals the kind of people they are.
THE MEANING
The question asks what likeness describes the people around you and what their shared responses reveal. It holds the comparison open for a moment, making the image that follows a mirror for the present reader.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
It unsettles the belief that a generation is only an age group: shared time alone does not describe a people; their common responses give them a recognizable likeness.
THE ROOT
ὁμοιώσω
homoiōsō
GROWS FROM
ὁμοιόω (homoioō), stem ὁμοι-
To make like or compare; likeness and resemblance.
“liken / like” in this verse is homoiōsō. The verb “liken” and the adjective “like” belong to the same Greek word family. The question moves from choosing a comparison to recognizing a likeness already visible in the people’s responses.
ALSO GROWS
hómoios: Like, similar.
ὅμοιος
The adjective form names the resemblance the question is asking us to see.
homoíōsis: Likeness, resemblance.
ὁμοίωσις
This related noun appears in James 3:9, where language of likeness describes humanity in relation to God.
homoíōma: Likeness, form, image.
ὁμοίωμα
This branch shows how the same word family can name the form through which a likeness becomes recognizable.
γενεᾶς
geneas
GROWS FROM
γεν-
gen-
A word family centered on birth, coming into being, kind, and lineage.
The Greek word for “generation” can point to people living at the same time, and its word family also carries the sense of kind or lineage. The question “what are they like?” draws attention to the shared character that makes a people recognizable.
ALSO GROWS
genos: Kind, stock, lineage.
γένος
This related word makes the sense of a recognizable kind audible within the idea of a generation.
génesis: Birth, origin, coming into being.
γένεσις
It connects the word family to what comes into being, not just to a span of time.
gennaō: Beget, give birth.
γεννάω
This verb carries the family’s generative sense and helps illuminate why “generation” can suggest lineage.
THE PATTERN
A people become recognizable through the likeness revealed in their shared responses.
They are like unto children sitting in the marketplace, and calling one to another, and saying, We have piped unto you, and ye have not danced; we have mourned to you, and ye have not wept.They that make them are like unto them; so is every one that trusteth in them.And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.THE THREAD
They are like unto children sitting in the marketplace, and calling one to another, and saying, We have piped unto you, and ye have not danced; we have mourned to you, and ye have not wept.The next verse answers the question with ὅμοιοι (homoioi, “like”), from the same Greek word family as “liken” in verse 31. The repeated root turns the question into a frame: the comparison reveals the likeness already present in the people’s response.
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