Lukas 7:19-29

7:19 and sent them to Jesus ¹  to ask, ²  “Are you the one who is to come, ³  or should we look for another?” 7:20 When ⁴  the men came to Jesus, ⁵  they said, “John the Baptist has sent us to you to ask, ⁶  ‘Are you the one who is to come, or should we look for another?’” ⁷  7:21 At that very time ⁸  Jesus ⁹  cured many people of diseases, sicknesses, ¹⁰  and evil spirits, and granted ¹¹  sight to many who were blind. 7:22 So ¹²  he answered them, ¹³  “Go tell ¹⁴  John what you have seen and heard: ¹⁵  The blind see, the lame walk, lepers are cleansed, the ¹⁶  deaf hear, the dead are raised, the poor have good news proclaimed to them. 7:23 Blessed is anyone ¹⁷  who takes no offense at me.”

7:24 When ¹⁸  John’s messengers had gone, Jesus ¹⁹  began to speak to the crowds about John: “What did you go out into the wilderness ²⁰  to see? A reed shaken by the wind? ²¹  7:25 What ²²  did you go out to see? A man dressed in fancy ²³  clothes? ²⁴  Look, those who wear fancy clothes and live in luxury ²⁵  are in kings’ courts! ²⁶  7:26 What did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I tell you, and more ²⁷  than a prophet. 7:27 This is the one about whom it is written, ‘Look, I am sending my messenger ahead of you, ²⁸  who will prepare your way before you.’ ²⁹  7:28 I tell you, among those born of women no one is greater ³⁰  than John. ³¹  Yet the one who is least ³²  in the kingdom of God ³³  is greater than he is.” 7:29 (Now ³⁴  all the people who heard this, even the tax collectors, ³⁵  acknowledged ³⁶  God’s justice, because they had been baptized ³⁷  with John’s baptism.

[7:19]  ¹ tc ‡ Although most mss (א A W Θ Ψ Ë¹ Ï it sy bo) read πρὸς τὸν ᾿Ιησοῦν (pro" ton Ihsoun, “to Jesus”), other important witnesses (B L Ξ Ë¹³ 33 pc sa) read πρὸς τὸν κύριον (pro" ton kurion, “to the Lord”). A decision is difficult in this instance, as there are good witnesses on both sides. In light of this, that “Jesus” is more widespread than “the Lord” with almost equally important witnesses argues for its authenticity.

[7:19]  ² tn Grk “to Jesus, saying,” but since this takes the form of a question, it is preferable to use the phrase “to ask” in English.

[7:19]  ³ sn Aspects of Jesus’ ministry may have led John to question whether Jesus was the promised stronger and greater one who is to come that he had preached about in Luke 3:15-17.

[7:20]  ⁴ tn Grk “And when.” Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

[7:20]  ⁵ tn Grk “him”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[7:20]  ⁶ tn Grk “to you, saying,” but since this takes the form of a question, it is preferable to use the phrase “to ask” in English.

[7:20]  ⁷ tn This question is repeated word for word from v. 19.

[7:21]  ⁸ tn Grk “In that hour.”

[7:21]  ⁹ tn Grk “he”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[7:21]  ¹⁰ tn Grk “and sicknesses,” 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.

[7:21]  ¹¹ tn Or “and bestowed (sight) on.”

[7:22]  ¹² tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “so” to indicate the relationship to Jesus’ miraculous cures in the preceding sentence.

[7:22]  ¹³ 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]  ¹⁴ sn The same verb has been translated “inform” in 7:18.

[7:22]  ¹⁵ 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]  ¹⁶ 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.

[7:23]  ¹⁷ tn Grk “whoever.”

[7:24]  ¹⁸ tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated.

[7:24]  ¹⁹ tn Grk “he”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[7:24]  ²⁰ tn Or “desert.”

[7:24]  ²¹ tn There is a debate as to whether one should read this figuratively (“to see someone who is easily blown over?”) or literally (Grk “to see the wilderness vegetation?…No, to see a prophet”). Either view makes good sense, but the following examples suggest the question should be read literally and understood to point to the fact that a prophet drew them to the desert.

[7:25]  ²² tn Grk “But what.” Here ἀλλά (alla, a strong contrastive in Greek) produces a somewhat awkward sense in English, and has not been translated. The same situation occurs at the beginning of v. 26.

[7:25]  ²³ tn Or “soft”; see L&N 79.100.

[7:25]  ²⁴ sn The reference to fancy clothes makes the point that John was not rich or powerful, in that he did not come from the wealthy classes.

[7:25]  ²⁵ tn See L&N 88.253, “to revel, to carouse, to live a life of luxury.”

[7:25]  ²⁶ tn Or “palaces.”

[7:26]  ²⁷ tn John the Baptist is “more” because he introduces the one (Jesus) who brings the new era. The term is neuter, but may be understood as masculine in this context (BDAG 806 s.v. περισσότερος b.).

[7:27]  ²⁸ tn Grk “before your face” (an idiom).

[7:27]  ²⁹ sn The quotation is primarily from Mal 3:1 with pronouns from Exod 23:20. Here is the forerunner who points the way to the arrival of God’s salvation. His job is to prepare and guide the people, as the cloud did for Israel in the desert.

[7:28]  ³⁰ sn In the Greek text greater is at the beginning of the clause in the emphatic position. John the Baptist was the greatest man of the old era.

[7:28]  ³¹ tc The earliest and best mss read simply ᾿Ιωάννου (Iwannou, “John”) here (Ì⁷⁵ א B L W Ξ Ë¹ 579 pc). Others turn this into “John the Baptist” (K 33 565 al it), “the prophet John the Baptist” (A [D] Θ Ë¹³ Ï lat), or “the prophet John” (Ψ 700 [892 1241] pc). “It appears that προφήτης was inserted by pedantic copyists who wished thereby to exclude Christ from the comparison, while others added τοῦ βαπτιστοῦ, assimilating the text to Mt 11.11” (TCGNT 119).

[7:28]  ³² sn After John comes a shift of eras. The new era is so great that the lowest member of it (the one who is least in the kingdom of God) is greater than the greatest one of the previous era.

[7:28]  ³³ sn The kingdom of God is a major theme of Jesus’ proclamation. It is a realm in which Jesus rules and to which those who trust him belong. See Luke 6:20; 11:20; 17:20-21. It is not strictly future, though its full manifestation is yet to come. That is why membership in it starts right after John the Baptist.

[7:29]  ³⁴ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “now” to indicate the parenthetical nature of the comment by the author.

[7:29]  ³⁵ sn See the note on tax collectors in 3:12.

[7:29]  ³⁶ tn Or “vindicated God”; Grk “justified God.” This could be expanded to “vindicated and responded to God.” The point is that God’s goodness and grace as evidenced in the invitation to John was justified and responded to by the group one might least expect, tax collector and sinners. They had more spiritual sensitivity than others. The contrastive response is clear from v. 30.

[7:29]  ³⁷ tn The participle βαπτισθέντες (baptisqente") has been translated as a causal adverbial participle.