And he answered and said to them, I tell you that, if these should hold their peace, the stones would immediately cry out.
And he answered and said to them, I tell you that, if these should hold their peace, the stones would immediately cry out.
And he answered and said, I tell you that, if these shall hold their peace, the stones will cry out.
And he said in answer, I say to you, if these men keep quiet, the very stones will be crying out.
And he answered and said to them, I tell you, that if these should hold their peace, the stones would immediately cry out.
He answered them, "I tell you that if these were silent, the stones would cry out."
And he answered and said, I tell you that, if these shall hold their peace, the stones will cry out.
If these should hold their peace, the stones would - cry out - Of such importance is my present conduct to you and to others, being expressly predicted by one of your own prophets, Zechariah 9:9, as pointing out the triumph of humility over pride, and of meekness over rage and malice, as signifying the salvation which I bring to the lost souls of men, that, if this multitude were silent, God would give even to the stones a voice, that the advent of the Messiah might be duly celebrated.
The stones would ...cry out - It is "proper" that they should celebrate my coming. Their acclamations "ought" not to be suppressed. So joyful is the event which they celebrate - the coming of the Messiah - that it is not fit that I should attempt to impose silence on them. The expression here seems to be "proverbial," and is not to be taken literally. Proverbs are designed to express the truth "strongly," but are not to be taken to signify as much as if they were to be interpreted literally. The sense is, that his coming was an event of so much importance that it "ought" to be celebrated in some way, and "would" be celebrated. It would be impossible to restrain the people, and improper to attempt it. The language here is strong proverbial language to denote that fact. We are not to suppose, therefore, that our Saviour meant to say that the stones were "conscious" of his coming, or that God would "make" them speak, but only that there was "great joy" among the people; that it was "proper" that they should express it in this manner, and that it was not fit that he should attempt to repress it.
19:40 If these should hold their peace, the stones, which lie before you, would cry out - That is, God would raise up some still more unlikely instruments to declare his praise.For the power of God will not return empty.