4:1 When the enemies of Judah and Benjamin learned that the former exiles 32 were building a temple for the Lord God of Israel, 4:2 they came to Zerubbabel and the leaders 33 and said to them, “Let us help you build, 34 for like you we seek your God and we have been sacrificing to him 35 from the time 36 of King Esarhaddon 37 of Assyria, who brought us here.” 38 4:3 But Zerubbabel, Jeshua, and the rest of the leaders of Israel said to them, “You have no right 39 to help us build the temple of our God. We will build it by ourselves for the Lord God of Israel, just as King Cyrus, the king of Persia, has commanded us.” 4:4 Then the local people 40 began to discourage 41 the people of Judah and to dishearten them from building. 4:5 They were hiring advisers to oppose them, so as to frustrate their plans, throughout the time 42 of King Cyrus of Persia until the reign of King Darius 43 of Persia. 44
8:48 The Judeans 45 replied, 46 “Aren’t we correct in saying 47 that you are a Samaritan and are possessed by a demon?” 48
1 tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “but” to indicate the contrast present in this context between the previous characters (considered by society to be examples of piety and religious duty) and a hated Samaritan.
2 tn This is at the beginning of the clause, in emphatic position in the Greek text.
3 tn The participle ὁδεύων (Jodeuwn) has been translated as an adjectival participle (cf. NAB, NASB, TEV); it could also be taken temporally (“while he was traveling,” cf. NRSV, NIV).
4 tn Grk “he”; the referent (the injured man) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
5 tn “Him” is not in the Greek text but is implied. The verb means “to feel compassion for,” and the object of the compassion is understood.
6 tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.
7 tn Grk “he fell on his face” (an idiom for complete prostration).
8 sn And thanked him. This action recognized God’s healing work through Jesus.
9 tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “now” to indicate the introduction of a parenthetical comment.
10 sn This is a parenthetical note by the author. The comment that the man was a Samaritan means that to most Jews of Jesus’ day he would have been despised as a half-breed and a heretic. The note adds a touch of irony to the account (v. 18).
11 tn This term refers to the heavy upper stone of a grinding mill (L&N 7.70; BDAG 660 s.v. μυλικός).
12 tn Grk “if a millstone were tied…and he were thrown.” The conditional construction in Greek has been translated by English infinitives: “to have… and be thrown.”
13 tn Or “to stumble.” This verb, σκανδαλίσῃ (skandalish), has the same root as the noun σκάνδαλον (skandalon) in 17:1, translated “stumbling blocks”; this wordplay is difficult to reproduce in English. It is possible that the primary cause of offense here would be leading disciples (“little ones”) astray in a similar fashion.
14 sn The Son of Man’s coming in power will be sudden and obvious like lightning. No one will need to point it out.
15 tc Some very important
16 sn The Son of Man’s suffering and rejection by this generation is another “it is necessary” type of event in God’s plan (Luke 4:43; 24:7, 26, 44) and the fifth passion prediction in Luke’s account (9:22, 44; 12:50; 13:32-33; for the last, see 18:32-33).
17 tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.
18 tn Or “as it happened.”
19 sn Like the days of Noah, the time of the flood in Gen 6:5-8:22, the judgment will come as a surprise as people live their day to day lives.
20 tn Grk “They.” The plural in Greek is indefinite, referring to people in general.
21 tn These verbs (“eating… drinking… marrying… being given in marriage”) are all progressive imperfects, describing action in progress at that time.
22 tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the narrative.
23 sn Like that flood came and destroyed them all, the coming judgment associated with the Son of Man will condemn many.
24 tn Or “as it happened.”
25 tn Grk “they.” The plural in Greek is indefinite, referring to people in general.
26 sn And destroyed them all. The coming of the Son of Man will be like the judgment on Sodom, one of the most immoral places of the OT (Gen 19:16-17; Deut 32:32-33; Isa 1:10).
27 sn Most of the roofs in the NT were flat roofs made of pounded dirt, sometimes mixed with lime or stones, supported by heavy wooden beams. They generally had an easy means of access, either a sturdy wooden ladder or stone stairway, sometimes on the outside of the house.
28 sn The swiftness and devastation of the judgment will require a swift escape. There is no time to come down from one’s roof and pick up anything from inside one’s home.
29 sn An allusion to Gen 19:26. The warning about Lot’s wife is not to look back and long to be where one used to be. The world is being judged, and the person who delays or turns back will be destroyed.
30 tn Or “tries to preserve”; Grk “seeks to gain.”
31 sn Whoever loses his life. Suffering and persecution caused by the world, even to death, cannot stop God from saving (Luke 12:4-6).
32 tn Heb “the sons of the exile.”
33 tn Heb “the heads of the fathers.” So also in v. 3.
34 tn Heb “Let us build with you.”
35 tc The translation reads with the Qere, a Qumran
36 tn Heb “days.”
37 sn Esarhaddon was king of Assyria ca. 681-669
38 sn The Assyrian policy had been to resettle Samaria with peoples from other areas (cf. 2 Kgs 17:24-34). These immigrants acknowledged Yahweh as well as other deities in some cases. The Jews who returned from the Exile regarded them with suspicion and were not hospitable to their offer of help in rebuilding the temple.
39 tn Heb “not to you and to us.”
40 tn Heb “the people of the land.” Elsewhere this expression sometimes has a negative connotation, referring to a lay population that was less zealous for Judaism than it should have been. Here, however, it seems to refer to the resident population of the area without any negative connotation.
41 tn Heb “were making slack the hands of.”
42 tn Heb “all the days of.”
43 sn Darius ruled Persia ca. 522-486
44 sn The purpose of the opening verses of this chapter is to summarize why the Jews returning from the exile were unable to complete the rebuilding of the temple more quickly than they did. The delay was due not to disinterest on their part but to the repeated obstacles that had been placed in their path by determined foes.
45 tn Grk “the Jews.” See the note on this term in v. 31. Here the phrase refers to the Jewish people in Jerusalem (“Judeans”; cf. BDAG 479 s.v. ᾿Ιουδαῖος 2.e) who had been listening to Jesus’ teaching in the temple courts (8:20) and had initially believed his claim to be the Messiah (cf. 8:31). They had become increasingly hostile as Jesus continued to teach. Now they were ready to say that Jesus was demon-possessed.
46 tn Grk “answered and said to him.”
47 tn Grk “Do we not say rightly.”
48 tn Grk “and have a demon.” It is not clear what is meant by the charge Σαμαρίτης εἶ σὺ καὶ δαιμόνιον ἔχεις (Samarith" ei su kai daimonion ecei"). The meaning could be “you are a heretic and are possessed by a demon.” Note that the dual charge gets one reply (John 8:49). Perhaps the phrases were interchangeable: Simon Magus (Acts 8:14-24) and in later traditions Dositheus, the two Samaritans who claimed to be sons of God, were regarded as mad, that is, possessed by demons.