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Luke 7:32
ESV They are like children sitting in the marketplace and calling to one another, "‘We played the flute for you, and you did not dance; we sang a dirge, and you did not weep.’
NIV They are like children sitting in the marketplace and calling out to each other: " ‘We played the pipe for you, and you did not dance; we sang a dirge, and you did not cry.’
NASB They are like children who sit in the marketplace and call to one another, and say, ‘We played the flute for you, and you did not dance; we sang a song of mourning, and you did not weep.’
CSB They are like children sitting in the marketplace and calling to each other: We played the flute for you, but you didn’t dance; we sang a lament, but you didn’t weep!
NLT They are like children playing a game in the public square. They complain to their friends, ‘We played wedding songs, and you didn’t dance, so we played funeral songs, and you didn’t weep.’
KJV 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.
NKJV They are like children sitting in the marketplace and calling to one another, saying: ‘We played the flute for you, And you did not dance; We mourned to you, And you did not weep.’

What does Luke 7:32 mean?

Verses 32, 33, and 34 present an interesting challenge in interpretation. Some see a chiasm: a pyramid-like expression of ideas mirrored around a central point. This would connect the flute players to Jesus (Luke 7:34) and the dirge singers to John the Baptist (Luke 7:33); the religious leaders reject both. That Matthew does not include the text found in 7:29–30 also leads some to interpret the passage this way. However, this does not seem to match the intent of the writer.

The "children" are "the people of this generation" (Luke 7:31). Specifically, this means the "Pharisees and the lawyers" (Luke 7:30), but also ultimately every respectable Jew who does not recognize they are a sinner and, therefore, rejects John's call to repent. The Pharisees and the lawyers sit in the marketplace, dictating what proper worship looks like: more celebratory than John and more rigid than Jesus. They condemn both Jesus and John for rejecting their direction (Luke 7:33–34).

The part about the flute is included in Aesop's fable The Fisherman Piping. A fisherman played a flute in hopes the fish would be attracted to the music. When that didn't work, he put down his nets and the fish jumped right in. He said, "You wouldn't dance when I piped: but now I've stopped, you can do nothing else!"

The part about the dirge is very poignant considering Luke's previous story (Luke 7:11–17). As Jesus and His followers entered the city of Nain, they crossed paths with a funeral procession for the only son of a widow. Culturally, Jesus' group should have turned around and joined the procession. But Jesus didn't have to. He is God, the creator of the world, and He has the power to raise the dead—so He did. Indeed, the religious leaders may play a dirge, but Jesus—and His followers—do not have to "grieve as others do who have no hope" (1 Thessalonians 4:13).
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