Lukas 1:53

1:53 he has filled the hungry with good things, ¹  and has sent the rich away empty. ² 

Lukas 2:7

2:7 And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in strips of cloth ³  and laid him in a manger, ⁴  because there was no place for them in the inn. ⁵ 

Lukas 6:20

6:20 Then ⁶  he looked up ⁷  at his disciples and said:

“Blessed ⁸  are you who are poor, ⁹  for the kingdom of God belongs ¹⁰  to you.

Lukas 7:22

7:22 So ¹¹  he answered them, ¹²  “Go tell ¹³  John what you have seen and heard: ¹⁴  The blind see, the lame walk, lepers are cleansed, the ¹⁵  deaf hear, the dead are raised, the poor have good news proclaimed to them.

[1:53]  ¹ sn Good things refers not merely to material blessings, but blessings that come from knowing God.

[1:53]  ² sn Another fundamental contrast of Luke’s is between the hungry and the rich (Luke 6:20-26).

[2:7]  ³ sn The strips of cloth (traditionally, “swaddling cloths”) were strips of linen that would be wrapped around the arms and legs of an infant to keep the limbs protected.

[2:7]  ⁴ tn Or “a feeding trough.”

[2:7]  ⁵ tn The Greek word κατάλυμα is flexible, and usage in the LXX and NT refers to a variety of places for lodging (see BDAG 521 s.v.). Most likely Joseph and Mary sought lodging in the public accommodations in the city of Bethlehem (see J. Nolland, Luke [WBC], 1:105), which would have been crude shelters for people and animals. However, it has been suggested by various scholars that Joseph and Mary were staying with relatives in Bethlehem (e.g., C. S. Keener, The IVP Bible Background Commentary: New Testament, 194; B. Witherington, “Birth of Jesus,” DJG, 69-70); if that were so the term would refer to the guest room in the relatives’ house, which would have been filled beyond capacity with all the other relatives who had to journey to Bethlehem for the census.

[2:7]  sn There was no place for them in the inn. There is no drama in how this is told. There is no search for a variety of places to stay or a heartless innkeeper. (Such items are later, nonbiblical embellishments.) Bethlehem was not large and there was simply no other place to stay. The humble surroundings of the birth are ironic in view of the birth’s significance.

[6:20]  ⁶ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the narrative.

[6:20]  ⁷ tn Grk “lifting up his eyes” (an idiom). The participle ἐπάρας (epara") has been translated as a finite verb due to requirements of contemporary English style.

[6:20]  ⁸ sn The term Blessed introduces the first of several beatitudes promising blessing to those whom God cares for. They serve as an invitation to come into the grace God offers.

[6:20]  ⁹ sn You who are poor is a reference to the “pious poor” for whom God especially cares. See Ps 14:6; 22:24; 25:16; 34:6; 40:17; 69:29.

[6:20]  ¹⁰ sn The present tense (belongs) here is significant. Jesus makes the kingdom and its blessings currently available. This phrase is unlike the others in the list with the possessive pronoun being emphasized. Jesus was saying, in effect, “the kingdom belongs even now to people like you.”

[7:22]  ¹¹ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “so” to indicate the relationship to Jesus’ miraculous cures in the preceding sentence.

[7:22]  ¹² tn Grk “answering, he said to them.” This is redundant in English and has been simplified in the translation to “he answered them.”

[7:22]  ¹³ sn The same verb has been translated “inform” in 7:18.

[7:22]  ¹⁴ sn What you have seen and heard. The following activities all paraphrase various OT descriptions of the time of promised salvation: Isa 35:5-6; 26:19; 29:18-19; 61:1. Jesus is answering not by acknowledging a title, but by pointing to the nature of his works, thus indicating the nature of the time.

[7:22]  ¹⁵ tn Grk “and the,” but καί (kai) has not been translated since English normally uses a coordinating conjunction only between the last two elements in a series of three or more.