Luke 24:47-53

24:47 and repentance ¹  for the forgiveness of sins would be proclaimed ²  in his name to all nations, ³  beginning from Jerusalem. ⁴  24:48 You are witnesses ⁵  of these things. 24:49 And look, I am sending you ⁶  what my Father promised. ⁷  But stay in the city ⁸  until you have been clothed with power ⁹  from on high.”

Jesus’ Departure

24:50 Then ¹⁰  Jesus ¹¹  led them out as far as Bethany, ¹²  and lifting up his hands, he blessed them. 24:51 Now ¹³  during the blessing ¹⁴  he departed ¹⁵  and was taken up into heaven. ¹⁶  24:52 So ¹⁷  they worshiped ¹⁸  him and returned to Jerusalem with great joy, ¹⁹  24:53 and were continually in the temple courts ²⁰  blessing ²¹  God. ²² 

¹ sn This repentance has its roots in declarations of the Old Testament. It is the Hebrew concept of a turning of direction.

² tn Or “preached,” “announced.”

³ sn To all nations. The same Greek term (τὰ ἔθνη, ta eqnh) may be translated “the Gentiles” or “the nations.” The hope of God in Christ was for all the nations from the beginning.

⁴ sn Beginning from Jerusalem. See Acts 2, which is where it all starts.

⁵ sn You are witnesses. This becomes a key concept of testimony in Acts. See Acts 1:8.

⁶ tn Grk “sending on you.”

⁷ tn Grk “the promise of my Father,” with τοῦ πατρός (tou patros) translated as a subjective genitive. This is a reference to the Holy Spirit and looks back to how one could see Messiah had come with the promise of old (Luke 3:15-18). The promise is rooted in Jer 31:31 and Ezek 36:26.

⁸ sn The city refers to Jerusalem.

⁹ sn Until you have been clothed with power refers to the coming of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost. What the Spirit supplies is enablement. See Luke 12:11-12; 21:12-15. The difference the Spirit makes can be seen in Peter (compare Luke 22:54-62 with Acts 2:14-41).

¹⁰ tn Here δέ (de) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the narrative.

¹¹ tn Grk “he”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

¹² sn Bethany was village on the Mount of Olives about 2 mi (3 km) from Jerusalem; see John 11:1, 18.

¹³ tn Grk “And it happened that while.” 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.

¹⁴ tn Grk “while he blessed them.”

¹⁵ tn Grk “he departed from them.”

¹⁶ tc The reference to the ascension (“and was taken up into heaven”) is lacking in א* D it sy^s, but it is found in Ì⁷⁵ and the rest of the ms tradition. The authenticity of the statement here seems to be presupposed in Acts 1:2, for otherwise it is difficult to account for Luke’s reference to the ascension there. For a helpful discussion, see TCGNT 162-63.

¹⁷ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “so” to indicate the result of Jesus’ ascension and the concluding summary of Luke’s Gospel.

¹⁸ tc The reference to worship is lacking in the Western ms D, its last major omission in this Gospel.

¹⁹ sn Joy is another key theme for Luke: 1:14; 2:10; 8:13; 10:17; 15:7, 10; 24:41.

²⁰ tn Grk “in the temple.”

²¹ tc The Western text (D it) has αἰνοῦντες (ainounte", “praising”) here, while the Alexandrian mss (Ì⁷⁵ א B C* L) have εὐλογοῦντες (eulogounte", “blessing”). Most mss, especially the later Byzantine mss, evidently combine these two readings with αἰνοῦντες καὶ εὐλογοῦντες (A C² W Θ Ψ Ë^1,13 33 Ï lat). It is more difficult to decide between the two earlier readings. Internal arguments can go either way, but what seems decisive in this instance are the superior witnesses for εὐλογοῦντες.

²² tc The majority of Greek mss, some of which are important witnesses (A B C² Θ Ψ Ë¹³ Ï lat), add “Amen” to note the Gospel’s end. Such a conclusion is routinely added by scribes to NT books because a few of these books originally had such an ending (cf. Rom 16:27; Gal 6:18; Jude 25). A majority of Greek witnesses have the concluding ἀμήν in every NT book except Acts, James, and 3 John (and even in these books, ἀμήν is found in some witnesses). It is thus a predictable variant. Further, since significant witnesses lack the word (Ì⁷⁵ א C* D L W 1 33 pc it co ), it is evidently not original.