Lukas 2:34

2:34 Then ¹  Simeon blessed them and said to his mother Mary, “Listen carefully: ²  This child ³  is destined to be the cause of the falling and rising ⁴  of many in Israel and to be a sign that will be rejected. ⁵ 

Lukas 3:16

3:16 John answered them all, ⁶  “I baptize you with water, ⁷  but one more powerful than I am is coming – I am not worthy ⁸  to untie the strap ⁹  of his sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. ¹⁰ 

Lukas 4:18

4:18 “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,

because he has anointed ¹¹  me to proclaim good news ¹²  to the poor. ¹³ 

He has sent me ¹⁴  to proclaim release ¹⁵  to the captives

and the regaining of sight ¹⁶  to the blind,

to set free ¹⁷  those who are oppressed, ¹⁸ 

Lukas 8:14

8:14 As for the seed that ¹⁹  fell among thorns, these are the ones who hear, but ²⁰  as they go on their way they are choked ²¹  by the worries and riches and pleasures of life, ²²  and their fruit does not mature. ²³ 

Lukas 11:29

The Sign of Jonah

11:29 As ²⁴  the crowds were increasing, Jesus ²⁵  began to say, “This generation is a wicked generation; it looks for a sign, ²⁶  but no sign will be given to it except the sign of Jonah. ²⁷ 

Lukas 13:34

13:34 O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, ²⁸  you who kill the prophets and stone those who are sent to you! ²⁹  How often I have longed ³⁰  to gather your children together as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but ³¹  you would have none of it! ³² 

[2:34]  ¹ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the narrative.

[2:34]  ² tn Grk “behold.”

[2:34]  ³ tn Grk “this one”; the referent (the child) is supplied in the translation for clarity.

[2:34]  ⁴ sn The phrase the falling and rising of many emphasizes that Jesus will bring division in the nation, as some will be judged (falling) and others blessed (rising) because of how they respond to him. The language is like Isa 8:14-15 and conceptually like Isa 28:13-16. Here is the first hint that Jesus’ coming will be accompanied with some difficulties.

[2:34]  ⁵ tn Grk “and for a sign of contradiction.”

[3:16]  ⁶ tn Grk “answered them all, saying.” The participle λέγων (legwn) is redundant and has not been translated.

[3:16]  ⁷ tc A few mss (C D 892 1424 pc it ) add εἰς μετάνοιαν (ei" metanoian, “for repentance”). Although two of the mss in support are early and important, it is an obviously motivated reading to add clarification, probably representing a copyist’s attempt to harmonize Luke’s version with Matt 3:11.

[3:16]  ⁸ tn Grk “of whom I am not worthy.”

[3:16]  sn The humility of John is evident in the statement I am not worthy. This was considered one of the least worthy tasks of a slave, and John did not consider himself worthy to do even that for the one to come, despite the fact he himself was a prophet!

[3:16]  ⁹ tn The term refers to the leather strap or thong used to bind a sandal. This is often viewed as a collective singular and translated as a plural, “the straps of his sandals,” but it may be more emphatic to retain the singular here.

[3:16]  ¹⁰ sn With the Holy Spirit and fire. There are differing interpretations for this phrase regarding the number of baptisms and their nature. (1) Some see one baptism here, and this can be divided further into two options. (a) The baptism of the Holy Spirit and fire could refer to the cleansing, purifying work of the Spirit in the individual believer through salvation and sanctification, or (b) it could refer to two different results of Christ’s ministry: Some accept Christ and are baptized with the Holy Spirit, but some reject him and receive judgment. (2) Other interpreters see two baptisms here: The baptism of the Holy Spirit refers to the salvation Jesus brings at his first advent, in which believers receive the Holy Spirit, and the baptism of fire refers to the judgment Jesus will bring upon the world at his second coming. One must take into account both the image of fire and whether individual or corporate baptism is in view. A decision is not easy on either issue. The image of fire is used to refer to both eternal judgment (e.g., Matt 25:41) and the power of the Lord’s presence to purge and cleanse his people (e.g., Isa 4:4-5). The pouring out of the Spirit at Pentecost, a fulfillment of this prophecy no matter which interpretation is taken, had both individual and corporate dimensions. It is possible that since Holy Spirit and fire are governed by a single preposition in Greek, the one-baptism view may be more likely, but this is not certain. Simply put, there is no consensus view in scholarship at this time on the best interpretation of this passage.

[4:18]  ¹¹ sn The phrase he has anointed me is an allusion back to Jesus’ baptism in Luke 3:21-22.

[4:18]  ¹² tn Grk “to evangelize,” “to preach the gospel.”

[4:18]  ¹³ sn The poor is a key term in Luke. It refers to the pious poor and indicates Jesus’ desire to reach out to those the world tends to forget or mistreat. It is like 1:52 in force and also will be echoed in 6:20 (also 1 Pet 2:11-25). Jesus is commissioned to do this.

[4:18]  ¹⁴ tc The majority of mss, especially the later Byzantines, include the phrase “to heal the brokenhearted” at this point (A Θ Ψ 0102 ˹ Ï). The phrase is lacking in several weighty mss (א B D L W Ξ Ë¹³ 33 579 700 892* pc lat sy^s co), including representatives from both the Alexandrian and Western texttypes. From the standpoint of external evidence, the omission of the phrase is more likely original. When internal evidence is considered, the shorter reading becomes almost certain. Scribes would be much more prone to add the phrase here to align the text with Isa 61:1, the source of the quotation, than to remove it from the original.

[4:18]  ¹⁵ sn The release in view here is comprehensive, both at a physical level and a spiritual one, as the entire ministry of Jesus makes clear (Luke 1:77-79; 7:47; 24:47; Acts 2:38; 5:31; 10:43).

[4:18]  ¹⁶ sn Again, as with the previous phrase, regaining of sight may well mean more than simply miraculously restoring physical sight, which itself pictures a deeper reality (Luke 1:77-79; 18:35-43).

[4:18]  ¹⁷ sn The essence of Jesus’ messianic work is expressed in the phrase to set free. This line from Isa 58 says that Jesus will do what the nation had failed to do. It makes the proclamation messianic, not merely prophetic, because Jesus doesn’t just proclaim the message – he brings the deliverance. The word translated set free is the same Greek word (ἄφεσις, afesi") translated release earlier in the verse.

[4:18]  ¹⁸ sn Again, as with the previous phrases, oppressed may well mean more than simply political or economic oppression, but a deeper reality of oppression by sin (Luke 1:77-79; 18:35-43).

[8:14]  ¹⁹ tn Grk “What”; the referent (the seed) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[8:14]  ²⁰ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “but” to indicate the contrast present in this context.

[8:14]  ²¹ sn That is, their concern for spiritual things is crowded out by material things.

[8:14]  ²² sn On warnings about the dangers of excessive material attachments, described here as the worries and riches and pleasures of life, see Luke 12:12-21; 16:19-31.

[8:14]  ²³ tn The verb τελεσφορέω (telesforew) means “to produce mature or ripe fruit” (L&N 23.203). Once again the seed does not reach its goal.

[11:29]  ²⁴ tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated.

[11:29]  ²⁵ tn Grk “he”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[11:29]  ²⁶ sn The mention of a sign alludes back to Luke 11:16. Given what Jesus had done, nothing would be good enough. This leads to the rebuke that follows.

[11:29]  ²⁷ sn As the following comparisons to Solomon and Jonah show, in the present context the sign of Jonah is not an allusion to Jonah being three days in the belly of the fish, but to Jesus’ teaching about wisdom and repentance.

[13:34]  ²⁸ sn The double use of the city’s name betrays intense emotion.

[13:34]  ²⁹ tn Although the opening address (“Jerusalem, Jerusalem”) is direct (second person), the remainder of this sentence in the Greek text is third person (“who kills the prophets and stones those sent to her”). The following sentences then revert to second person (“your… you”), so to keep all this consistent in English, the third person pronouns in the present verse were translated as second person (“you who kill… sent to you”).

[13:34]  ³⁰ sn How often I have longed to gather your children. Jesus, like a lamenting prophet, speaks for God here, who longed to care tenderly for Israel and protect her.

[13:34]  ³¹ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “but” to indicate the contrast present in this context.

[13:34]  ³² tn Grk “you were not willing.”