5:17 Now on 6 one of those days, while he was teaching, there were Pharisees 7 and teachers of the law 8 sitting nearby (who had come from every village of Galilee and Judea and from Jerusalem), 9 and the power of the Lord was with him 10 to heal.
6:17 Then 11 he came down with them and stood on a level place. 12 And a large number 13 of his disciples had gathered 14 along with 15 a vast multitude from all over Judea, from 16 Jerusalem, 17 and from the seacoast of Tyre 18 and Sidon. 19 They came to hear him and to be healed 20 of their diseases,
1 tn Grk “answered them all, saying.” The participle λέγων (legwn) is redundant and has not been translated.
2 tc A few
3 tn Grk “of whom I am not worthy.”
4 tn The term refers to the leather strap or thong used to bind a sandal. This is often viewed as a collective singular and translated as a plural, “the straps of his sandals,” but it may be more emphatic to retain the singular here.
5 sn With the Holy Spirit and fire. There are differing interpretations for this phrase regarding the number of baptisms and their nature. (1) Some see one baptism here, and this can be divided further into two options. (a) The baptism of the Holy Spirit and fire could refer to the cleansing, purifying work of the Spirit in the individual believer through salvation and sanctification, or (b) it could refer to two different results of Christ’s ministry: Some accept Christ and are baptized with the Holy Spirit, but some reject him and receive judgment. (2) Other interpreters see two baptisms here: The baptism of the Holy Spirit refers to the salvation Jesus brings at his first advent, in which believers receive the Holy Spirit, and the baptism of fire refers to the judgment Jesus will bring upon the world at his second coming. One must take into account both the image of fire and whether individual or corporate baptism is in view. A decision is not easy on either issue. The image of fire is used to refer to both eternal judgment (e.g., Matt 25:41) and the power of the Lord’s presence to purge and cleanse his people (e.g., Isa 4:4-5). The pouring out of the Spirit at Pentecost, a fulfillment of this prophecy no matter which interpretation is taken, had both individual and corporate dimensions. It is possible that since Holy Spirit and fire are governed by a single preposition in Greek, the one-baptism view may be more likely, but this is not certain. Simply put, there is no consensus view in scholarship at this time on the best interpretation of this passage.
6 tn Grk “And it happened that on.” 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.
7 sn Pharisees were members of one of the most important and influential religious and political parties of Judaism in the time of Jesus. There were more Pharisees than Sadducees (according to Josephus, Ant. 17.2.4 [17.42] there were more than 6,000 Pharisees at about this time). Pharisees differed with Sadducees on certain doctrines and patterns of behavior. The Pharisees were strict and zealous adherents to the laws of the OT and to numerous additional traditions such as angels and bodily resurrection.
8 tn That is, those who were skilled in the teaching and interpretation of the OT law. These are called “experts in the law” (Grk “scribes”) in v. 21.
9 sn Jesus was now attracting attention outside of Galilee as far away as Jerusalem, the main city of Israel.
10 tc Most
11 tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the narrative.
12 tn Or “on a plateau.” This could refer to a message given in a flat locale or in a flat locale in the midst of a more mountainous region (Jer 21:13; Isa 13:2). It is quite possible that this sermon is a summary version of the better known Sermon on the Mount from Matt 5-7.
13 tn Grk “large crowd.”
14 tn There is no verb in Greek at this point, but since “a large crowd” (see preceding tn) is in the nominative case, one needs to be supplied.
15 tn Grk “and.”
16 tn Grk “and from,” but καί (kai) has not been translated since English normally uses a coordinating conjunction only between the last two elements in a series of three or more.
17 map For location see Map5-B1; Map6-F3; Map7-E2; Map8-F2; Map10-B3; JP1-F4; JP2-F4; JP3-F4; JP4-F4.
18 map For location see Map1-A2; Map2-G2; Map4-A1; JP3-F3; JP4-F3.
19 sn These last two locations, Tyre and Sidon, represented an expansion outside of traditional Jewish territory. Jesus’ reputation continued to expand into new regions.
20 sn To hear him and to be healed. Jesus had a two-level ministry: The word and then wondrous acts of service that showed his message of God’s care were real.
16 tn Here the pronoun ὑμεῖς (Jumeis) is used, making “you” in the translation emphatic.
17 tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated.
18 tn Grk “said.”
19 tn This possibility is introduced through a conditional clause, but it is expressed with some skepticism (BDF §376).
20 tn The participle πορευθέντες (poreuqente") has been taken as indicating attendant circumstance.
21 sn Not only would going and buying food have been expensive and awkward at this late time of day, it would have taken quite a logistical effort to get the food back out to this isolated location.
21 tn This verb, δέχομαι (decomai), is a term of hospitality (L&N 34.53).
22 sn Children were very insignificant in ancient culture, so this child would be the perfect object lesson to counter the disciples’ selfish ambitions.
23 tn Grk “among you all, this one is great.” The absence of a comparative term here makes the point that comparison should not be done.
26 sn This verse has been noted for its conceptual similarity to teaching in John’s Gospel (10:15; 17:2). The authority of the Son and the Father are totally intertwined.
27 tn Or “wishes”; or “intends”; or “plans” (cf. BDAG 182 s.v. βούλομαι 2.b). Here it is the Son who has sovereignty.