Lukas 13:19

13:19 It is like a mustard seed ¹  that a man took and sowed ²  in his garden. It ³  grew and became a tree, ⁴  and the wild birds ⁵  nested in its branches.” ⁶ 

Lukas 20:1

The Authority of Jesus

20:1 Now one ⁷  day, as Jesus ⁸  was teaching the people in the temple courts ⁹  and proclaiming ¹⁰  the gospel, the chief priests and the experts in the law ¹¹  with the elders came up ¹² 

Lukas 21:24

21:24 They ¹³  will fall by the edge ¹⁴  of the sword and be led away as captives ¹⁵  among all nations. Jerusalem ¹⁶  will be trampled down by the Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled. ¹⁷ 

[13:19]  ¹ sn The mustard seed was noted for its tiny size.

[13:19]  ² tn Grk “threw.”

[13:19]  ³ tn Grk “garden, and it.” Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style. Because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, a new sentence was started here in the translation.

[13:19]  ⁴ sn Calling the mustard plant a tree is rhetorical hyperbole, since technically it is not one. This plant could be one of two types of mustard popular in Palestine and would be either 10 or 25 ft (3 or 7.5 m) tall.

[13:19]  ⁵ tn Grk “the birds of the sky” or “the birds of the heaven”; the Greek word οὐρανός (ouranos) may be translated either “sky” or “heaven,” depending on the context. The idiomatic expression “birds of the sky” refers to wild birds as opposed to domesticated fowl (cf. BDAG 809 s.v. πετεινόν).

[13:19]  ⁶ sn The point of the parable seems to be that while the kingdom of God may appear to have insignificant and unnoticeable beginnings (i.e., in the ministry of Jesus), it will someday (i.e., at the second advent) be great and quite expansive. The kingdom, however, is not to be equated with the church, but rather the church is an expression of the kingdom. Also, there is important OT background in the image of the mustard seed that grew and became a tree: Ezek 17:22-24 pictures the reemergence of the Davidic house where people can find calm and shelter. Like the mustard seed, it would start out small but grow to significant size.

[20:1]  ⁷ tn Grk “Now it happened that one.” The introductory phrase ἐγένετο (egeneto, “it happened that”), common in Luke (69 times) and Acts (54 times), is redundant in contemporary English and has not been translated. Here καί (kai) has been translated as “now” to indicate the transition to a new topic.

[20:1]  ⁸ tn Grk “he”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[20:1]  ⁹ tn Grk “the temple.”

[20:1]  ¹⁰ tn Or “preaching.”

[20:1]  ¹¹ tn Or “and the scribes.” See the note on the phrase “experts in the law” in 5:21.

[20:1]  ¹² sn The chief priests and the experts in the law with the elders came up. The description is similar to Luke 19:47. The leaders are really watching Jesus at this point.

[21:24]  ¹³ tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

[21:24]  ¹⁴ tn Grk “by the mouth of the sword” (an idiom for the edge of a sword).

[21:24]  ¹⁵ sn Here is the predicted judgment against the nation until the time of Gentile rule has passed: Its people will be led away as captives.

[21:24]  ¹⁶ tn Grk “And Jerusalem.” Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

[21:24]  ¹⁷ sn Until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled implies a time when Israel again has a central role in God’s plan.