Lukas 1:4

1:4 so that you may know for certain ¹  the things you were taught. ² 

Lukas 2:6

2:6 While ³  they were there, the time came for her to deliver her child. ⁴ 

Lukas 3:20

3:20 Herod added this to them all: He locked up John in prison.

Lukas 9:55

9:55 But Jesus ⁵  turned and rebuked them, ⁶ 

Lukas 12:43

12:43 Blessed is that slave ⁷  whom his master finds at work ⁸  when he returns.

Lukas 12:57

Clear the Debts

12:57 “And ⁹  why don’t you judge for yourselves what is right?

[1:4]  ¹ tn Or “know the truth about”; or “know the certainty of.” The issue of the context is psychological confidence; Luke’s work is trying to encourage Theophilus. So in English this is better translated as “know for certain” than “know certainty” or “know the truth,” which sounds too cognitive. “Certain” assumes the truth of the report. On this term, see Acts 2:36; 21:34; 22:30; and 25:26. The meaning “have assurance concerning” is also possible here.

[1:4]  ² tn Or “you heard about.” This term can refer merely to a report of information (Acts 21:24) or to instruction (Acts 18:25). The scope of Luke’s Gospel as a whole, which calls for perseverance in the faith and which assumes much knowledge of the OT, suggests Theophilus had received some instruction and was probably a believer.

[2:6]  ³ tn Grk “And it happened that while.” 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 not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

[2:6]  ⁴ tn The words “her child” are not in the Greek text, but have been supplied to clarify what was being delivered. The wording here is like Luke 1:57. Grk “the days for her to give birth were fulfilled.”

[9:55]  ⁵ tn Grk “he”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[9:55]  ⁶ tc Many mss ([D] K Γ Θ Ë^1,13 [579] 700 2542 pm it) have at the end of the verse (with slight variations) “and he said, ‘You do not know what sort of spirit you are of, for the Son of Man did not come to destroy people’s lives, but to save [them].’” This variant is clearly secondary, as it gives some content to the rebuke. Further, it is difficult to explain how such rich material would have been omitted by the rest of the witnesses, including the earliest and best mss.

[9:55]  sn The point of the rebuke is that now was not the time for judgment but patience; see 2 Pet 3:9.

[12:43]  ⁷ tn See the note on the word “slave” in 7:2.

[12:43]  ⁸ tn That is, doing his job, doing what he is supposed to be doing.

[12:57]  ⁹ tn Jesus calls for some personal reflection. However, this unit probably does connect to the previous one – thus the translation of δέ (de) here as “And” – to make a good spiritual assessment, thus calling for application to the spiritual, rather than personal, realm.