Lukas 24:49-51

24:49 And look, I am sending you ¹  what my Father promised. ²  But stay in the city ³  until you have been clothed with power ⁴  from on high.”

Jesus’ Departure

24:50 Then ⁵  Jesus ⁶  led them out as far as Bethany, ⁷  and lifting up his hands, he blessed them. 24:51 Now ⁸  during the blessing ⁹  he departed ¹⁰  and was taken up into heaven. ¹¹ 

[24:49]  ¹ tn Grk “sending on you.”

[24:49]  ² tn Grk “the promise of my Father,” with τοῦ πατρός (tou patros) translated as a subjective genitive. This is a reference to the Holy Spirit and looks back to how one could see Messiah had come with the promise of old (Luke 3:15-18). The promise is rooted in Jer 31:31 and Ezek 36:26.

[24:49]  ³ sn The city refers to Jerusalem.

[24:49]  ⁴ sn Until you have been clothed with power refers to the coming of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost. What the Spirit supplies is enablement. See Luke 12:11-12; 21:12-15. The difference the Spirit makes can be seen in Peter (compare Luke 22:54-62 with Acts 2:14-41).

[24:50]  ⁵ tn Here δέ (de) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the narrative.

[24:50]  ⁶ tn Grk “he”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[24:50]  ⁷ sn Bethany was village on the Mount of Olives about 2 mi (3 km) from Jerusalem; see John 11:1, 18.

[24:51]  ⁸ 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.

[24:51]  ⁹ tn Grk “while he blessed them.”

[24:51]  ¹⁰ tn Grk “he departed from them.”

[24:51]  ¹¹ tc The reference to the ascension (“and was taken up into heaven”) is lacking in א* D it sy^s, but it is found in Ì⁷⁵ and the rest of the ms tradition. The authenticity of the statement here seems to be presupposed in Acts 1:2, for otherwise it is difficult to account for Luke’s reference to the ascension there. For a helpful discussion, see TCGNT 162-63.

[24:51]  tn For the translation of ἀνεφέρετο (anefereto) as “was taken up” see BDAG 75 s.v. ἀναφέρω 1.

[24:51]  sn There is great debate whether this event equals Acts 1:9-11 so that Luke has telescoped something here that he describes in more detail later. The text can be read in this way because the temporal marker in v. 50 is vague.