“Woe to you!
You build
The tombs
Of the prophets,
Whom your ancestors
Killed.”
οὐαὶ ὑμῖν, ὅτι οἰκοδομεῖτε τὰ μνημεῖα τῶν προφητῶν, οἱ δὲ πατέρες ὑμῶν ἀπέκτειναν αὐτούς.
Luke once again had Jesus curse (οὐαὶ ὑμῖν) the Pharisees, because they built the tombs of the prophets (ὅτι οἰκοδομεῖτε τὰ μνημεῖα τῶν προφητῶν), whom their ancestors or fathers killed (οἱ δὲ πατέρες ὑμῶν ἀπέκτειναν αὐτούς). There is something similar in Matthew, chapter 23:29, where Jesus continued to curse the Pharisees and the Scribes. This diatribe against the hypocritical Scribes and Pharisees was how they and their ancestors had treated the prophets of Israel. They built the tombs of the prophets and decorated the graves or these tombs of the righteous. These Pharisees said that if they had lived in the days of their ancestors or fathers, they would not have participated in the shedding of the blood of these prophets. Luke indicated that Jesus said that the present-day Pharisees participated in the murder of the righteous prophets by decorating the graves of these holy men. The problem was that there were not that many prophets murdered. Do you visit cemeteries much?
Eugene Finnegan Bible Project 