Luke 7:29-30

Luke 7:29-30. These verses have been regarded as, either a part of our Lord's discourse, or a comment of the Evangelist. Each view has able supporters. The latter seems more natural. But the words: ‘And the Lord said' (Luke 7:31), are to be omitted. The early insertion of the phrase shows that the verses were very early regarded as an explanation of the Evangelist. If they belong to our Lord's discourse, they were introduced to show the different reception accorded to John, and thus to furnish a historical ground for the reproach which follows (Luke 7:31-34). If an observation of the Evangelist, they explain for the benefit of distant readers the different reception given to John's baptism, and the consequent difference in the effect produced by the Lord's discourse at this time. The first view takes ‘him' as referring to John, and ‘justified God,' ‘rejected,' as applying to what happened under John's preaching; the latter refers ‘Him' to Christ, and the actions to the result of His preaching.

Toward themselves, i.e., with respect to themselves.