Lukas 2:15

2:15 When ¹  the angels left them and went back to heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let us go over to Bethlehem ²  and see this thing that has taken place, that the Lord ³  has made known to us.”

Lukas 13:7

13:7 So ⁴  he said to the worker who tended the vineyard, ‘For ⁵  three years ⁶  now, I have come looking for fruit on this fig tree, and each time I inspect it ⁷  I find none. Cut ⁸  it down! Why ⁹  should it continue to deplete ¹⁰  the soil?’

Lukas 20:28

20:28 They asked him, ¹¹  “Teacher, Moses wrote for us that if a man’s brother dies leaving a wife but no children, that man ¹²  must marry ¹³  the widow and father children ¹⁴  for his brother. ¹⁵ 

[2:15]  ¹ tn Grk “And it happened that when.” 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.

[2:15]  ² map For location see Map5 B1; Map7 E2; Map8 E2; Map10 B4.

[2:15]  ³ sn Note how although angels delivered the message, it was the Lord whose message is made known, coming through them.

[13:7]  ⁴ tn Here δέ (de) has been translated as “so” to indicate the man’s response as a result of the lack of figs in the preceding clause.

[13:7]  ⁵ tn Grk “Behold, for.”

[13:7]  ⁶ sn The elapsed time could be six years total since planting, since often a fig was given three years before one even started to look for fruit. The point in any case is that enough time had been given to expect fruit.

[13:7]  ⁷ tn The phrase “each time I inspect it” is not in the Greek text but has been supplied to indicate the customary nature of the man’s search for fruit.

[13:7]  ⁸ tc ‡ Several witnesses (Ì⁷⁵ A L Θ Ψ 070 ˹³ 33 579 892 al lat co) have “therefore” (οὖν, oun) here. This conjunction has the effect of strengthening the logical connection with the preceding statement but also of reducing the rhetorical power and urgency of the imperative. In light of the slightly greater internal probability of adding a conjunction to an otherwise asyndetic sentence, as well as significant external support for the omission (א B D W ˹ Ï), the shorter reading appears to be more likely as the original wording here. NA²⁷ puts the conjunction in brackets, indicating some doubts as to its authenticity.

[13:7]  ⁹ tn Grk “Why indeed.” Here καί (kai) has not been translated.

[13:7]  ¹⁰ sn Such fig trees would deplete the soil, robbing it of nutrients needed by other trees and plants.

[20:28]  ¹¹ tn Grk “asked him, saying.” The participle λέγοντες (legontes) is redundant in contemporary English and has not been translated.

[20:28]  ¹² tn Grk “his brother”; but this would be redundant in English with the same phrase “his brother” at the end of the verse, so most modern translations render this phrase “the man” (so NIV, NRSV).

[20:28]  ¹³ tn The use of ἵνα (Jina) with imperatival force is unusual (BDF §470.1).

[20:28]  ¹⁴ tn Grk “and raise up seed,” an idiom for procreating children (L&N 23.59).

[20:28]  ¹⁵ sn A quotation from Deut 25:5. Because the OT quotation does not include “a wife” as the object of the verb, it has been left as normal type. This practice is called levirate marriage (see also Ruth 4:1-12; Mishnah, m. Yevamot; Josephus, Ant. 4.8.23 [4.254-256]). The levirate law is described in Deut 25:5-10. The brother of a man who died without a son had an obligation to marry his brother’s widow. This served several purposes: It provided for the widow in a society where a widow with no children to care for her would be reduced to begging, and it preserved the name of the deceased, who would be regarded as the legal father of the first son produced from that marriage.