Luke 1:38

1:38 So ¹  Mary said, “Yes, ²  I am a servant ³  of the Lord; let this happen to me ⁴  according to your word.” ⁵  Then ⁶  the angel departed from her.

Luke 5:13

5:13 So ⁷  he stretched out his hand and touched ⁸  him, saying, “I am willing. Be clean!” And immediately the leprosy left him.

Luke 5:25

5:25 Immediately ⁹  he stood up before them, picked ¹⁰  up the stretcher ¹¹  he had been lying on, and went home, glorifying ¹²  God.

Luke 7:24

7:24 When ¹³  John’s messengers had gone, Jesus ¹⁴  began to speak to the crowds about John: “What did you go out into the wilderness ¹⁵  to see? A reed shaken by the wind? ¹⁶ 

Luke 9:59-60

9:59 Jesus ¹⁷  said to another, “Follow me.” But he replied, ¹⁸  “Lord, first let me go and bury my father.” 9:60 But Jesus ¹⁹  said to him, “Let the dead bury their own dead, ²⁰  but as for you, go and proclaim the kingdom of God.” ²¹ 

Luke 24:24

24:24 Then ²²  some of those who were with us went to the tomb, and found it just as the women had said, but they did not see him.” ²³ 

¹ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “so” to indicate the transition to a new topic.

² tn Grk “behold.”

³ tn Traditionally, “handmaid”; Grk “slave woman.” Though δούλη (doulh) is normally translated “woman servant,” the word does not bear the connotation of a free woman serving another. BDAG notes that “‘servant’ for ‘slave’ is largely confined to Biblical transl. and early American times… in normal usage at the present time the two words are carefully distinguished” (BDAG 260 s.v. δοῦλος). The most accurate translation is “bondservant,” sometimes found in the ASV for δοῦλος (doulos), in that it often indicates one who sells himself or herself into slavery to another. But as this is archaic, few today understand its force.

⁴ tn Grk “let this be to me.”

⁵ sn The remark according to your word is a sign of Mary’s total submission to God’s will, a response that makes her exemplary.

⁶ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the narrative.

⁷ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “so” to indicate the response of Jesus to the man’s request.

⁸ sn Touched. This touch would have rendered Jesus ceremonially unclean (Lev 14:46; also Mishnah, m. Nega’im 3.1; 11.1; 12.1; 13.6-12).

¹³ tn Grk “And immediately.” Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

¹⁴ tn Grk “and picked up.” Here καί (kai) has not been translated because contemporary English normally places a coordinating conjunction only between the last two elements in a series.

¹⁵ tn Grk “picked up what he had been lying on”; the referent of the relative pronoun (the stretcher) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

¹⁶ sn Note the man’s response, glorifying God. Joy at God’s work is also a key theme in Luke: 2:20; 4:15; 5:26; 7:16; 13:13; 17:15; 18:43; 23:47.

¹⁹ tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated.

²⁰ tn Grk “he”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

²¹ tn Or “desert.”

²² tn There is a debate as to whether one should read this figuratively (“to see someone who is easily blown over?”) or literally (Grk “to see the wilderness vegetation?…No, to see a prophet”). Either view makes good sense, but the following examples suggest the question should be read literally and understood to point to the fact that a prophet drew them to the desert.

²⁵ tn Grk “And he”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity. Here δέ (de) has not been translated.

²⁶ tn Grk “said.”

³¹ tn Grk “he”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

³² sn There are several options for the meaning of Jesus’ reply Leave the dead to bury their own dead: (1) Recent research suggests that burial customs in the vicinity of Jerusalem from about 20 b.c. to a.d. 70 involved a reinterment of the bones a year after the initial burial, once the flesh had rotted away. At that point the son would have placed his father’s bones in a special box known as an ossuary to be set into the wall of the tomb. Thus Jesus could well be rebuking the man for wanting to wait around for as much as a year before making a commitment to follow him. In 1st century Jewish culture, to have followed Jesus rather than burying one’s father would have seriously dishonored one’s father (cf. Tobit 4:3-4). (2) The remark is an idiom (possibly a proverbial saying) that means, “The matter in question is not the real issue,” in which case Jesus was making a wordplay on the wording of the man’s (literal) request (see L&N 33.137). (3) This remark could be a figurative reference to various kinds of people, meaning, “Let the spiritually dead bury the dead.” (4) It could also be literal and designed to shock the hearer by the surprise of the contrast. Whichever option is preferred, it is clear that the most important priority is to preach the gospel (proclaim the kingdom of God).

³³ sn The kingdom of God is a major theme of Jesus. It is a realm in which Jesus rules and to which those who trust him belong. See Luke 6:20; 11:20; 17:20-21.

³⁷ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the narrative.

³⁸ tn Here the pronoun αὐτόν (auton), referring to Jesus, is in an emphatic position. The one thing they lacked was solid evidence that he was alive.