Text -- Luke 14:1-4 (NET)

Healing Again on the Sabbath

14:1 Now one Sabbath when Jesus went to dine at the house of a leader of the Pharisees, they were watching him closely. 14:2 There right in front of him was a man suffering from dropsy. 14:3 So Jesus asked the experts in religious law and the Pharisees, “Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath or not?” 14:4 But they remained silent. So Jesus took hold of the man, healed him, and sent him away.

Commentary -- Verse Notes / Footnotes

NET Notes: Luk 14:1

¹ tn Grk “Now it happened that one.” 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 “now” to indicate the transition to a new topic.

² tn Grk “to eat bread,” an idiom for participating in a meal.

³ tn Grk “a ruler of the Pharisees.” He was probably a synagogue official.

⁴ sn See the note on Pharisees in 5:17.

⁵ sn Watching…closely is a graphic term meaning to lurk and watch; see Luke 11:53-54.

NET Notes: Luk 14:2

¹ tn Grk “And there.” Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

² tn Grk “behold.” The Greek word ἰδού (idou) at the beginning of this statement adds interest and emphasis (BDAG 468 s.v. 1). Here it has been translated as “right” in the phrase “right in front of him,” giving a similar effect of vividness in the translation.

³ sn The condition called dropsy involves swollen limbs resulting from the accumulation of fluid in the body’s tissues, especially the legs.

NET Notes: Luk 14:3

¹ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “so” to indicate the sequence of events (Jesus’ question was prompted by the man’s appearance).

² tn Grk “Jesus, answering, said.” This is redundant in contemporary English. In addition, since the context does not describe a previous question to Jesus (although one may well be implied), the phrase has been translated here as “Jesus asked.”

³ tn That is, experts in the interpretation of the Mosaic law (traditionally, “lawyers”).

⁴ sn “Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath or not?” Will the Pharisees and experts in religious law defend tradition and speak out against doing good on the Sabbath? Has anything at all been learned since Luke 13:10-17? Has repentance come (13:6-9)?

NET Notes: Luk 14:4

¹ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “so” to indicate the sequence of events (Jesus’ healing the man was in response to their refusal to answer).

² tn Grk “he”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

³ tn Grk “taking hold [of the man].” The participle ἐπιλαβόμενος (epilabomeno") has been taken as indicating attendant circumstance.

⁴ tn Or “and let him go.”