Lukas 4:25

4:25 But in truth I tell you, there were many widows in Israel in Elijah’s days, ¹  when the sky ²  was shut up three and a half years, and ³  there was a great famine over all the land.

Lukas 9:27

9:27 But I tell you most certainly, ⁴  there are some standing here who will not ⁵  experience ⁶  death before they see the kingdom of God.” ⁷ 

Lukas 12:44

12:44 I tell you the truth, ⁸  the master ⁹  will put him in charge of all his possessions.

[4:25]  ¹ sn Elijah’s days. Jesus, by discussing Elijah and Elisha, pictures one of the lowest periods in Israel’s history. These examples, along with v. 24, also show that Jesus is making prophetic claims as well as messianic ones. See 1 Kgs 17-18.

[4:25]  ² tn Or “the heaven”; the Greek word οὐρανός (ouranos) may be translated “sky” or “heaven,” depending on the context. Since the context here refers to a drought (which produced the famine), “sky” is preferable.

[4:25]  ³ tn Grk “as.” The particle ὡς can also function temporally (see BDAG 1105-6 s.v. 8).

[9:27]  ⁴ tn Grk “I tell you truly” (λέγω δὲ ὑμῖν ἀληθῶς, legw de Jumin alhqw").

[9:27]  ⁵ tn The Greek negative here (οὐ μή, ou mh) is the strongest possible.

[9:27]  ⁶ tn Grk “will not taste.” Here the Greek verb does not mean “sample a small amount” (as a typical English reader might infer from the word “taste”), but “experience something cognitively or emotionally; come to know something” (cf. BDAG 195 s.v. γεύομαι 2).

[9:27]  ⁷ sn The meaning of the statement that some will not taste death before they see the kingdom of God is clear at one level, harder at another. Jesus predicts some will experience the kingdom before they die. When does this happen? (1) An initial fulfillment is the next event, the transfiguration. (2) It is also possible in Luke’s understanding that all but Judas experience the initial fulfillment of the coming of God’s presence and rule in the work of Acts 2. In either case, the “kingdom of God” referred to here would be the initial rather than the final phase.

[12:44]  ⁸ tn Grk “Truly (ἀληθῶς, alhqw"), I say to you.”

[12:44]  ⁹ tn Grk “he”; the referent (the master) has been specified in the translation for clarity. See also Luke 19:11-27.