Luke 23:29 is Jesus speaking on the road to Golgotha, warning that a time of terrible suffering is coming to Jerusalem. He says that in those days people will count the childless and those who never bore or nursed children as fortunate, because they will be spared the grief of watching their children suffer. The words were spoken to the women of Jerusalem who were following him and weeping for him as he was led out to be crucified.
For behold, the days are coming in which they will say, ‘Blessed are the barren, the wombs that never bore, and the breasts that never nursed.’
Luke 23:29 (WEB)
What Luke 23:29 Means
The verse opens with “For behold,” a phrase that draws attention to what is about to be said. Jesus is not speaking of a distant future but of days that are already on their way. The phrase “the days are coming” points to a specific period of disaster, which the Gospel readers would have connected with the destruction of Jerusalem that came about forty years later in AD 70.
The strange blessing in the middle of the verse is the heart of it. Normally a woman who could not bear children, or whose body never nursed a baby, would be pitied in the ancient world, since having children was a source of security, honor and family continuity. Jesus reverses that expectation. In a time of catastrophe, the childless will look like the fortunate ones, because they will not have to bear the pain of watching a child starve, be killed or be taken into captivity.
The verse does not promise that childlessness is good in general, and it does not make a moral judgment about women who have no children. It describes how unbearable the coming suffering will be. Read carefully, it is a statement about the depth of the sorrow ahead, not a teaching about marriage or family life.
The Context of Luke 23:29
Luke wrote his Gospel to a Gentile audience, probably a believer named Theophilus, and he often gives special attention to women, the poor and those on the margins of society. The verse appears in the account of the crucifixion, where a large crowd follows Jesus, including women who mourn and lament for him. Luke alone records Jesus turning to these women and addressing them directly as “daughters of Jerusalem.”
Just before the verse, Jesus tells them not to weep for him but to weep for themselves and their children. Just after it, he speaks of the green tree and the dry tree, asking what will happen when such severe things come upon the innocent, which suggests the grief of Jerusalem will be far greater than anything he now faces. Seen this way, the verse is a warning of judgment that turns the women’s compassion back toward the city and its coming hardship.
Key Phrases in Luke 23:29
Luke 23:28
But Jesus, turning to them, said, “Daughters of Jerusalem, don’t weep for me, but weep for yourselves and for your children.
(WEB)
This verse comes just before Luke 23:29 and shows Jesus asking the women to weep for themselves and their children. Reading it alongside the verse makes clear that his words are an invitation to compassion turned toward the coming trouble.
Matthew 24:19
But woe to those who are with child and to nursing mothers in those days!
(WEB)
Here Jesus speaks of the distress of women who are pregnant or nursing in the days of trouble to come. The parallel in Matthew reinforces the same concern for mothers and children in the sorrow Jesus describes.
A Short Prayer From Luke 23:29
Lord Jesus, you walked toward the cross while women wept for you, and you turned their tears toward the suffering ahead. Help me to take seriously the pain that is real in my life and in the lives of the people I love. When I feel afraid for those I care about, remind me that you see every coming day and that nothing is hidden from you. Give me the honesty to weep where weeping is needed and the trust to bring my children, my family and my city into your loving care. Amen.
