Luke 2:14-16

2:14 “Glory ¹  to God in the highest,

and on earth peace among people ²  with whom he is pleased!” ³ 

2:15 When ⁴  the angels left them and went back to heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let us go over to Bethlehem ⁵  and see this thing that has taken place, that the Lord ⁶  has made known to us.” 2:16 So they hurried off and located Mary and Joseph, and found the baby lying in a manger. ⁷ 

[2:14]  ¹ sn Glory here refers to giving honor to God.

[2:14]  ² tn This is a generic use of ἄνθρωπος (anqrwpo") referring to both males and females.

[2:14]  ³ tc Most witnesses (א² B² L Θ Ξ Ψ Ë^1,13 Ï sy bo) have ἐν ἀνθρώποις εὐδοκία (en anqrwpoi" eudokia, “good will among people”) instead of ἐν ἀνθρώποις εὐδοκίας (en anqrwpoi" eudokia", “among people with whom he is pleased”), a reading attested by א* A B* D W pc (sa). Most of the Itala witnesses and some other versional witnesses reflect a Greek text which has the genitive εὐδοκίας but drops the preposition ἐν. Not only is the genitive reading better attested, but it is more difficult than the nominative. “The meaning seems to be, not that divine peace can be bestowed only where human good will is already present, but that at the birth of the Saviour God’s peace rests on those whom he has chosen in accord with his good pleasure” (TCGNT 111).

[2:15]  ⁴ 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]  ⁵ map For location see Map5 B1; Map7 E2; Map8 E2; Map10 B4.

[2:15]  ⁶ sn Note how although angels delivered the message, it was the Lord whose message is made known, coming through them.

[2:16]  ⁷ tn Or “a feeding trough.”