Text -- Luke 3:11 (NET)

3:11 John answered them, “The person who has two tunics must share with the person who has none, and the person who has food must do likewise.”

Commentary -- Verse Notes / Footnotes

NET Notes: Luk 3:11

¹ tn Grk “he”; the referent (John) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

² tn Grk “Answering, he said to them.” This construction with passive participle and finite verb is pleonastic (redundant) and has been simplified in the translation to “answered them.”

³ tn Or “shirt” (a long garment worn under the cloak next to the skin). The name for this garment (χιτών, citwn) presents some difficulty in translation. Most modern readers would not understand what a ‘tunic’ was any more than they would be familiar with a ‘chiton.’ On the other hand, attempts to find a modern equivalent are also a problem: “Shirt” conveys the idea of a much shorter garment that covers only the upper body, and “undergarment” (given the styles of modern underwear) is more misleading still. “Tunic” was therefore employed, but with a note to explain its nature.