Yesaya 42:7

42:7 to open blind eyes, ¹ 

to release prisoners ²  from dungeons,

those who live in darkness from prisons.

Yesaya 42:22

42:22 But these people are looted and plundered;

all of them are trapped in pits ³ 

and held captive ⁴  in prisons.

They were carried away as loot with no one to rescue them;

they were carried away as plunder, and no one says, “Bring that back!” ⁵ 

Lukas 8:31

8:31 And they began to beg ⁶  him not to order ⁷  them to depart into the abyss. ⁸ 

Lukas 20:7-10

20:7 So ⁹  they replied that they did not know ¹⁰  where it came from. 20:8 Then ¹¹  Jesus said to them, “Neither will I tell you ¹²  by whose authority ¹³  I do these things.”

The Parable of the Tenants

20:9 Then ¹⁴  he began to tell the people this parable: “A man ¹⁵  planted a vineyard, ¹⁶  leased it to tenant farmers, ¹⁷  and went on a journey for a long time. 20:10 When harvest time came, he sent a slave ¹⁸  to the tenants so that they would give ¹⁹  him his portion of the crop. ²⁰  However, the tenants beat his slave ²¹  and sent him away empty-handed.

[42:7]  ¹ sn This does not refer to literal physical healing of the blind. As the next two lines suggest, this refers metonymically to freeing captives from their dark prisons where their eyes have grown unaccustomed to light.

[42:7]  ² sn This does not refer to hardened, dangerous criminals, who would have been executed for their crimes in ancient Near Eastern society. This verse refers to political prisoners or victims of social injustice.

[42:22]  ³ tc The Hebrew text has בַּחוּרִים (bakhurim, “young men”), but the text should be emended to בְּהוֹרִים (bÿhorim, “in holes”).

[42:22]  ⁴ tn Heb “and made to be hidden”; NAB, NASB, NIV, TEV “hidden away in prisons.”

[42:22]  ⁵ tn Heb “they became loot and there was no one rescuing, plunder and there was no one saying, ‘Bring back’.”

[8:31]  ⁶ tn One could also translate the imperfect tense here with a repetitive force like “begged him repeatedly.”

[8:31]  ⁷ tn Or “command.”

[8:31]  ⁸ tn This word, ἄβυσσος (abusso"), is a term for the place where the dead await the judgment. It also could hold hostile spirits according to Jewish belief (Jub. 5:6-7; 1 En. 10:4-6; 18:11-16).

[20:7]  ⁹ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “so” to indicate the implied result of the dilemma Jesus’ opponents faced.

[20:7]  ¹⁰ sn Very few questions could have so completely revealed the wicked intentions of the religious leaders. Jesus’ question revealed the motivation of the religious leaders and exposed them for what they really were – hypocrites. They indicted themselves when they cited only two options and chose neither of them. The point of Luke 20:1-8 is that no matter what Jesus said in response to their question they were not going to believe it and would in the end use it against him.

[20:8]  ¹¹ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the narrative.

[20:8]  ¹² sn Neither will I tell you. Though Jesus gave no answer, the analogy he used to their own question makes his view clear. His authority came from heaven.

[20:8]  ¹³ tn On this phrase, see BDAG 844 s.v. ποῖος 2.a.γ. This is exactly the same phrase as in v. 2.

[20:9]  ¹⁴ tn Here δέ (de) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the narrative. The parable Jesus tells here actually addresses the question put to him by the leaders.

[20:9]  ¹⁵ tc ‡ There are several variants here, most of which involve variations in word order that do not affect translation. However, the presence or absence of τις (ti") after ἄνθρωπος (anqrwpo"), which would be translated “a certain man,” does affect translation. The witnesses that have τις include A W Θ Ë¹³ 1241 2542 al sy. Those that lack it include א B C D L Ψ Ë¹ 33 Ï it. Externally, the evidence is significantly stronger for the omission. Internally, however, there is some pause. A feature unique to Luke-Acts in the NT is to use the construction ἄνθρωπος τις (cf. 10:30; 12:16; 14:2, 16; 15:11; 16:1; 19:12; Acts 9:33). However, scribes who were familiar with this idiom may have inserted it here. In light of the overwhelming external support for the omission of τις, the shorter reading is preferred. NA²⁷ places τις in brackets, indicating some doubts as to its authenticity.

[20:9]  ¹⁶ sn The vineyard is a figure for Israel in the OT (Isa 5:1-7). The nation and its leaders are the tenants, so the vineyard here may well refer to the promise that resides within the nation. The imagery is like that in Rom 11:11-24.

[20:9]  ¹⁷ sn The leasing of land to tenant farmers was common in this period.

[20:10]  ¹⁸ sn This slave (along with the next two) represent the prophets God sent to the nation, who were mistreated and rejected.

[20:10]  ¹⁹ tc Instead of the future indicative δώσουσιν (dwsousin, “they will give”), most witnesses (C D W Θ Ψ Ë¹ Ï) have the aorist subjunctive δῶσιν (dwsin, “they might give”). The aorist subjunctive is expected following ἵνα ({ina, “so that”), so it is almost surely a motivated reading. Further, early and excellent witnesses, as well as a few others (א A B ˹³ 33 579 1241 2542 al), have δώσουσιν. It is thus more likely that the future indicative is authentic. For a discussion of this construction, see BDF §369.2.

[20:10]  ²⁰ tn Grk “from the fruit of the vineyard.”

[20:10]  ²¹ tn Grk “him”; the referent (the slave sent by the owner) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[20:10]  sn The image of the tenants beating up the owner’s slave pictures the nation’s rejection of the prophets and their message.