New Testament · Gospel

Luke 4:29

Hometown Rejection

They got up, drove Him out of the town, and led Him to the brow of the hill on which the town was built, in order to throw Him over the cliff. Luke 4:29 · Berean Standard Bible

What It Means

Luke 4:29, in plain English

They jumped up, forced Him out of town, and dragged Him to the edge of a cliff, ready to throw Him off.

Why it's here

From hometown synagogue to attempted murder in minutes. This terrifying scene foreshadows what will eventually happen in Jerusalem—rejection and death outside the city walls.

Who's speaking

Luke describes the mob's attempt to kill Jesus.

Where it sits in the story

One minute He is reading Scripture in the synagogue; the next, a mob is shoving Him toward a cliff. His hometown tries to kill Him—the first of many times people will attempt to silence the truth.

A Closer Look

The scholarly reading

The mob drives Jesus out of town and leads Him to the brow of the hill (ophryos tou orous) to throw Him over the cliff. The attempted execution prefigures the eventual crucifixion outside Jerusalem's walls.

Language and setting

Nazareth was built on a hillside with cliff edges. This mob action anticipates the Passion narrative—Jesus rejected and led outside the city to die. The pattern of prophetic rejection continues.

Voice

Luke narrates the attempted mob killing of Jesus.

Significance

The synagogue congregation becomes a lynch mob, dragging Jesus to a cliff to execute Him. This first attempt on His life foreshadows the cross—rejected by His own, led outside the city to die.

In context

Luke 4:27–31

27And there were many lepers in Israel in the time of Elisha the prophet. Yet not one of them was cleansed—only Naaman the Syrian.”

28On hearing this, all the people in the synagogue were enraged.

29They got up, drove Him out of the town, and led Him to the brow of the hill on which the town was built, in order to throw Him over the cliff.

30But Jesus passed through the crowd and went on His way.

31Then He went down to Capernaum, a town in Galilee, and on the Sabbath He began to teach the people.

Read all of Luke 4 — Jesus reads from Isaiah in his hometown synagogue and claims the prophecy is fulfilled in himself. The congregation tries to throw him off a cliff.

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