Luke 1:6

1:6 They ¹  were both righteous in the sight of God, following ²  all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord blamelessly. ³ 

Luke 1:39

Mary and Elizabeth

1:39 In those days ⁴  Mary got up and went hurriedly into the hill country, to a town of Judah, ⁵ 

Luke 2:1

The Census and the Birth of Jesus

2:1 Now ⁶  in those days a decree ⁷  went out from Caesar ⁸  Augustus ⁹  to register ¹⁰  all the empire ¹¹  for taxes.

Luke 5:35

5:35 But those days are coming, and when the bridegroom is taken from them, ¹²  at that time ¹³  they will fast.”

Luke 13:26

13:26 Then you will begin to say, ‘We ate and drank in your presence, and you taught in our streets.’ ¹⁴ 

Luke 17:28

17:28 Likewise, just as it was ¹⁵  in the days of Lot, people ¹⁶  were eating, drinking, buying, selling, planting, building;

Luke 24:27

24:27 Then ¹⁷  beginning with Moses and all the prophets, ¹⁸  he interpreted to them the things written about ¹⁹  himself in all the scriptures.

¹ tn Grk “And they.” Because of the difference between Greek style, which often begins sentences or clauses with “and,” and English style, which generally does not, καί (kai) has not been translated here.

² tn Grk “walking in” (an idiom for one’s lifestyle).

³ tn The predicate adjective has the effect of an adverb here (BDF §243).

⁴ sn The expression In those days is another general time reference, though the sense of the context is that the visit came shortly after Mary miraculously conceived and shortly after the announcement about Jesus.

⁵ sn The author does not say exactly where Elizabeth stayed. The location is given generally as a town of Judah. Judah is about a three day trip south of Nazareth.

⁷ tn Grk “Now it happened that.” 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.

⁸ sn This decree was a formal decree from the Roman Senate.

⁹ tn Or “from the emperor” (“Caesar” is a title for the Roman emperor).

¹⁰ sn Caesar Augustus refers to Octavian, who was Caesar from 27 b.c. to a.d. 14. He was known for his administrative prowess.

¹¹ tn Grk “that all the empire should be registered for taxes.” The passive infinitive ἀπογράφεσθαι (apografesqai) has been rendered as an active in the translation to improve the English style. The verb is regarded as a technical term for official registration in tax lists (BDAG 108 s.v. ἀπογράφω a).

¹² tn Grk “the whole (inhabited) world,” but this was a way to refer to the Roman empire (L&N 1.83).

¹⁰ sn The statement when the bridegroom is taken from them is a veiled allusion by Jesus to his death, which he did not make explicit until the incident at Caesarea Philippi in 9:18ff.

¹¹ tn Grk “then in those days.”

¹³ sn This term refers to wide streets, and thus suggests the major streets of a city.

¹⁶ tn Or “as it happened.”

¹⁷ tn Grk “they.” The plural in Greek is indefinite, referring to people in general.

¹⁹ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the narrative.

²⁰ sn The reference to Moses and all the prophets is a way to say the promise of Messiah runs throughout OT scripture from first to last.

²¹ tn Or “regarding,” “concerning.” “Written” is implied by the mention of the scriptures in context; “said” could also be used here, referring to the original utterances, but by now these things had been committed to writing.