Luke 8:13-14

8:13 Those ¹  on the rock are the ones who receive the word with joy when they hear it, but they have no root. They believe for a while, ²  but ³  in a time of testing ⁴  fall away. ⁵  8:14 As for the seed that ⁶  fell among thorns, these are the ones who hear, but ⁷  as they go on their way they are choked ⁸  by the worries and riches and pleasures of life, ⁹  and their fruit does not mature. ¹⁰ 

Luke 21:4

21:4 For they all offered their gifts out of their wealth. ¹¹  But she, out of her poverty, put in everything she had to live on.” ¹² 

Luke 24:44

Jesus’ Final Commission

24:44 Then ¹³  he said to them, “These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you, that everything written about me ¹⁴  in the law of Moses and the prophets and the psalms ¹⁵  must be fulfilled.”

¹ tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated.

² sn This time of temporary faith represented by the description believe for a while is presented rather tragically in the passage. The seed does not get a chance to do all it can.

³ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “but” to indicate the contrast present in this context.

⁴ tn Traditionally, “temptation.” Such a translation puts the emphasis on temptation to sin rather than testing of faith, which is what the context seems to indicate.

⁵ sn Fall away. On the idea of falling away and the warnings against it, see 2 Tim 3:1; Heb 3:12; Jer 3:14; Dan 9:9.

⁶ tn Grk “What”; the referent (the seed) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

⁷ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “but” to indicate the contrast present in this context.

⁸ sn That is, their concern for spiritual things is crowded out by material things.

⁹ sn On warnings about the dangers of excessive material attachments, described here as the worries and riches and pleasures of life, see Luke 12:12-21; 16:19-31.

¹⁰ tn The verb τελεσφορέω (telesforew) means “to produce mature or ripe fruit” (L&N 23.203). Once again the seed does not reach its goal.

¹¹ tn Grk “out of what abounded to them.”

¹² tn Or “put in her entire livelihood.”

¹⁶ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the narrative.

¹⁷ sn Everything written about me. The divine plan, events, and scripture itself are seen here as being one.

¹⁸ sn For a similar threefold division of the OT scriptures, see the prologue to Sirach, lines 8-10, and from Qumran, the epilogue to 4QMMT, line 10.