Lukas 3:1

The Ministry of John the Baptist

3:1 In the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar, ¹  when Pontius Pilate ²  was governor of Judea, and Herod ³  was tetrarch ⁴  of Galilee, and his brother Philip ⁵  was tetrarch of the region of Iturea and Trachonitis, and Lysanias ⁶  was tetrarch of Abilene,

Lukas 3:16

3:16 John answered them all, ⁷  “I baptize you with water, ⁸  but one more powerful than I am is coming – I am not worthy ⁹  to untie the strap ¹⁰  of his sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. ¹¹ 

Lukas 5:17

Healing and Forgiving a Paralytic

5:17 Now on ¹²  one of those days, while he was teaching, there were Pharisees ¹³  and teachers of the law ¹⁴  sitting nearby (who had come from every village of Galilee and Judea and from Jerusalem), ¹⁵  and the power of the Lord was with him ¹⁶  to heal.

Lukas 9:12

9:12 Now the day began to draw to a close, ¹⁷  so ¹⁸  the twelve came and said to Jesus, ¹⁹  “Send the crowd away, so they can go into the surrounding villages and countryside and find lodging ²⁰  and food, because we are in an isolated place.” ²¹ 

Lukas 9:33

9:33 Then ²²  as the men ²³  were starting to leave, ²⁴  Peter said to Jesus, “Master, it is good for us to be here. Let us make three shelters, ²⁵  one for you and one for Moses and one for Elijah” – not knowing what he was saying.

Lukas 9:48

9:48 and said to them, “Whoever welcomes ²⁶  this child ²⁷  in my name welcomes me, and whoever welcomes me welcomes the one who sent me, for the one who is least among you all is the one who is great.” ²⁸ 

Lukas 10:21

10:21 On that same occasion ²⁹  Jesus ³⁰  rejoiced ³¹  in the Holy Spirit and said, “I praise ³²  you, Father, Lord ³³  of heaven and earth, because ³⁴  you have hidden these things from the wise ³⁵  and intelligent, and revealed them to little children. Yes, Father, for this was your gracious will. ³⁶ 

Lukas 12:58

12:58 As you are going with your accuser before the magistrate, ³⁷  make an effort to settle with him on the way, so that he will not drag you before the judge, and the judge hand you over to the officer, ³⁸  and the officer throw you into prison.

[3:1]  ¹ tn Or “Emperor Tiberius” (“Caesar” is a title for the Roman emperor).

[3:1]  sn Tiberius Caesar was the Roman emperor Tiberius Claudius Caesar Augustus, who ruled from a.d. 14-37.

[3:1]  ² sn The rule of Pontius Pilate is also described by Josephus, J. W. 2.9.2-4 (2.169-177) and Ant. 18.3.1 (18.55-59).

[3:1]  ³ sn Herod refers here to Herod Antipas, son of Herod the Great. He ruled from 4 b.c.-a.d. 39, sharing the rule of his father’s realm with his two brothers. One brother, Archelaus (Matt 2:22) was banished in a.d. 6 and died in a.d. 18; the other brother, Herod Philip (mentioned next) died in a.d. 34.

[3:1]  ⁴ sn A tetrarch was a ruler with rank and authority lower than a king, who ruled only with the approval of the Roman authorities. This was roughly equivalent to being governor of a region. Several times in the NT, Herod tetrarch of Galilee is called a king (Matt 14:9, Mark 6:14-29), reflecting popular usage.

[3:1]  ⁵ sn Philip refers to Herod Philip, son of Herod the Great and brother of Herod Antipas. Philip ruled as tetrarch of Iturea and Trachonitis from 4 b.c.-a.d. 34.

[3:1]  ⁶ sn Nothing else is known about Lysanias tetrarch of Abilene.

[3:16]  ⁷ tn Grk “answered them all, saying.” The participle λέγων (legwn) is redundant and has not been translated.

[3:16]  ⁸ 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]  ⁹ 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]  ¹⁰ 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]  ¹¹ 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.

[5:17]  ¹² tn Grk “And it happened that on.” 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.

[5:17]  ¹³ sn Pharisees were members of one of the most important and influential religious and political parties of Judaism in the time of Jesus. There were more Pharisees than Sadducees (according to Josephus, Ant. 17.2.4 [17.42] there were more than 6,000 Pharisees at about this time). Pharisees differed with Sadducees on certain doctrines and patterns of behavior. The Pharisees were strict and zealous adherents to the laws of the OT and to numerous additional traditions such as angels and bodily resurrection.

[5:17]  ¹⁴ tn That is, those who were skilled in the teaching and interpretation of the OT law. These are called “experts in the law” (Grk “scribes”) in v. 21.

[5:17]  ¹⁵ sn Jesus was now attracting attention outside of Galilee as far away as Jerusalem, the main city of Israel.

[5:17]  map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

[5:17]  ¹⁶ tc Most mss (A C D [K] Θ Ψ Ë^1,13 33 Ï latt bo) read αὐτούς (autous) instead of αὐτόν (auton) here. If original, this plural pronoun would act as the direct object of the infinitive ἰᾶσθαι (iasqai, “to heal”). However, the reading with the singular pronoun αὐτόν, which acts as the subject of the infinitive, is to be preferred. Externally, it has support from better mss (א B L W al sa). Internally, it is probable that scribes changed the singular αὐτόν to the plural αὐτούς, expecting the object of the infinitive to come at this point in the text. The singular as the harder reading accounts for the rise of the other reading.

[9:12]  ¹⁷ tn Grk “the day began to decline,” looking to the approach of sunset.

[9:12]  ¹⁸ tn Here δέ (de) has been translated as “so” to indicate that the disciples’ request was related to the approach of sunset.

[9:12]  ¹⁹ tn Grk “him”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[9:12]  ²⁰ tn That is, find someone to show them hospitality. L&N 34.61 has “find lodging,” using this verse as an example.

[9:12]  ²¹ tn Or “in a desert” (meaning a deserted or desolate area with sparse vegetation). Here ὧδε (Jwde) has not been translated.

[9:33]  ²² tn Grk “And it happened that as.” 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 been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the narrative.

[9:33]  ²³ tn Grk “as they”; the referent (“the men,” referring to Moses and Elijah) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[9:33]  ²⁴ tn Grk “to leave from him.”

[9:33]  ²⁵ tn Or “booths,” “dwellings” (referring to the temporary booths constructed in the celebration of the feast of Tabernacles).

[9:33]  sn By making three shelters Peter apparently wanted to celebrate the Feast of Tabernacles or Booths that looked forward to the end and to treat Moses, Elijah, and Jesus as equals. It was actually a way of expressing honor to Jesus, but the remark at the end of the verse makes it clear that it was not enough honor.

[9:48]  ²⁶ tn This verb, δέχομαι (decomai), is a term of hospitality (L&N 34.53).

[9:48]  ²⁷ sn Children were very insignificant in ancient culture, so this child would be the perfect object lesson to counter the disciples’ selfish ambitions.

[9:48]  ²⁸ tn Grk “among you all, this one is great.” The absence of a comparative term here makes the point that comparison should not be done.

[10:21]  ²⁹ tn Grk “In that same hour” (L&N 67.1).

[10:21]  ³⁰ tn Grk “he”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[10:21]  ³¹ sn Jesus rejoiced. The account of the mission in 10:1-24 ends with several remarks about joy.

[10:21]  ³² tn Or “thank.”

[10:21]  ³³ sn The title Lord is an important name for God, showing his sovereignty, but it is interesting that it comes next to a reference to the Father, a term indicative of God’s care. The two concepts are often related in the NT; see Eph 1:3-6.

[10:21]  ³⁴ tn Or “that.”

[10:21]  ³⁵ sn See 1 Cor 1:26-31.

[10:21]  ³⁶ tn Grk “for (to do) thus was well pleasing before you,” BDAG 325 s.v. ἔμπροσθεν 1.δ; speaking of something taking place “before” God is a reverential way of avoiding direct connection of the action to him.

[12:58]  ³⁷ sn The term magistrate (ἄρχων, arcwn) refers to an official who, under the authority of the government, serves as judge in legal cases (see L&N 56.29).

[12:58]  ³⁸ sn The officer (πράκτωρ, praktwr) was a civil official who functioned like a bailiff and was in charge of debtor’s prison. The use of the term, however, does not automatically demand a Hellenistic setting (BDAG 859 s.v.; K. H. Rengstorf, TDNT 8:539; C. Maurer, TDNT 6:642).