Luke 9:30-35

9:30 Then ¹  two men, Moses and Elijah, ²  began talking with him. ³  9:31 They appeared in glorious splendor and spoke about his departure ⁴  that he was about to carry out ⁵  at Jerusalem. ⁶  9:32 Now Peter and those with him were quite sleepy, ⁷  but as they became fully awake, ⁸  they saw his glory and the two men standing with him. 9:33 Then ⁹  as the men ¹⁰  were starting to leave, ¹¹  Peter said to Jesus, “Master, it is good for us to be here. Let us make three shelters, ¹²  one for you and one for Moses and one for Elijah” – not knowing what he was saying. 9:34 As ¹³  he was saying this, a cloud ¹⁴  came ¹⁵  and overshadowed ¹⁶  them, and they were afraid as they entered the cloud. 9:35 Then ¹⁷  a voice came from the cloud, saying, “This is my Son, my Chosen One. ¹⁸  Listen to him!” ¹⁹ 

¹ tn Grk “And behold.” Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style. The Greek word ἰδού (idou) at the beginning of this statement has not been translated because it has no exact English equivalent here, but adds interest and emphasis (BDAG 468 s.v. 1).

² sn Commentators and scholars discuss why Moses and Elijah are present. The most likely explanation is that Moses represents the prophetic office (Acts 3:18-22) and Elijah pictures the presence of the last days (Mal 4:5-6), the prophet of the eschaton (the end times).

³ tn Grk “two men were talking with him, who were Moses and Elijah.” The relative clause has been simplified to an appositive and transposed in keeping with contemporary English style.

⁴ tn Grk “his exodus,” which refers to Jesus’ death in Jerusalem and journey back to glory. Here is the first lesson that the disciples must learn. The wondrous rule comes only after suffering.

⁵ tn Or “accomplish,” “bring to completion.”

⁶ map For location see Map5-B1; Map6-F3; Map7-E2; Map8-F2; Map10-B3; JP1-F4; JP2-F4; JP3-F4; JP4-F4.

⁷ tn Grk “weighed down with sleep” (an idiom).

⁸ tn Or “after they became fully awake,” “but they became fully awake and saw.”

⁹ tn Grk “And it happened that as.” 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. Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the narrative.

¹⁰ tn Grk “as they”; the referent (“the men,” referring to Moses and Elijah) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

¹¹ tn Grk “to leave from him.”

¹² tn Or “booths,” “dwellings” (referring to the temporary booths constructed in the celebration of the feast of Tabernacles).

¹³ tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated.

¹⁴ sn This cloud is the cloud of God’s presence and the voice is his as well.

¹⁵ tn Or “appeared.”

¹⁶ tn Or “surrounded.”

¹⁷ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the narrative.

¹⁸ tc Most mss, especially the later ones, have ἀγαπητός (agaphto", “the one I love”; A C* W ˹³ 33 Ï it), or ἀγαπητὸς ἐν ᾧ (ἠ)υδόκησα (agaphto" en |w (h)udokhsa, “the one I love, in whom I am well pleased”; C³ D Ψ pc) here, instead of ἐκλελεγμένος (eklelegmeno", “the Chosen One”), but these variants are probably assimilations to Matt 17:5 and Mark 9:7. The text behind the translation also enjoys excellent support from Ì^45,75 א B L Ξ [phone] pc co.

¹⁹ sn The expression listen to him comes from Deut 18:15 and makes two points: 1) Jesus is a prophet like Moses, a leader-prophet, and 2) they have much yet to learn from him.