Luke 13:31-32

Going to Jerusalem

13:31 At that time, ¹  some Pharisees ²  came up and said to Jesus, ³  “Get away from here, ⁴  because Herod ⁵  wants to kill you.” 13:32 But ⁶  he said to them, “Go ⁷  and tell that fox, ⁸  ‘Look, I am casting out demons and performing healings today and tomorrow, and on the third day ⁹  I will complete my work. ¹⁰ 

Luke 23:8

23:8 When ¹¹  Herod saw Jesus, he was very glad, for he had long desired to see him, because he had heard about him and was hoping to see him perform ¹²  some miraculous sign. ¹³ 

¹ tn Grk “At that very hour.”

² sn See the note on Pharisees in 5:17.

³ tn Grk “him”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

⁴ tn Grk “Go away and leave from here,” which is redundant in English and has been shortened to “Get away from here.”

⁵ sn Herod refers here to Herod Antipas. See the note on Herod Antipas in 3:1.

⁶ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “but” to indicate the contrast present in this context.

⁷ tn The participle πορευθέντες (poreuqente") has been taken as indicating attendant circumstance.

⁸ sn That fox. This is not fundamentally a figure for cleverness as in modern western culture, but could indicate (1) an insignificant person (Neh 4:3; 2 Esd 13:35 LXX); (2) a deceiver (Song Rabbah 2.15.1 on 2:15); or someone destructive, a destroyer (Ezek 13:4; Lam 5:18; 1 En. 89:10, 42-49, 55). Luke’s emphasis seems to be on destructiveness, since Herod killed John the Baptist, whom Luke calls “the greatest born of women” (Luke 7:28) and later stands opposed to Jesus (Acts 4:26-28). In addition, “a person who is designated a fox is an insignificant or base person. He lacks real power and dignity, using cunning deceit to achieve his aims” (H. W. Hoehner, Herod Antipas [SNTSMS], 347).

⁹ sn The third day is a figurative reference to being further on in time, not a reference to three days from now. Jesus is not even in Jerusalem yet, and the events of the last days in Jerusalem take a good week.

¹⁰ tn Or “I reach my goal.” The verb τελειόω (teleiow) is a key NT term for the completion of God’s plan: See Luke 12:50; 22:37; John 19:30; and (where it has the additional component of meaning “to perfect”) Heb 2:10; 5:8-9; 7:28.

¹¹ tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated.

¹² tn Grk “to see some sign performed by him.” Here the passive construction has been translated as an active one in keeping with contemporary English style.

¹³ sn Herod, hoping to see him perform some miraculous sign, seems to have treated Jesus as a curiosity (cf. 9:7-9).