19:3 Then some Pharisees 1 came to him in order to test him. They asked, “Is it lawful 2 to divorce a wife for any cause?” 3
22:18 But Jesus realized their evil intentions and said, “Hypocrites! Why are you testing me?
10:25 Now 12 an expert in religious law 13 stood up to test Jesus, 14 saying, “Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” 15
11:53 When he went out from there, the experts in the law 20 and the Pharisees began to oppose him bitterly, 21 and to ask him hostile questions 22 about many things, 11:54 plotting against 23 him, to catch 24 him in something he might say.
1 tn Grk “And Pharisees.”
2 tc ‡ Most
3 sn The question of the Pharisees was anything but sincere; they were asking it to test him. Jesus was now in the jurisdiction of Herod Antipas (i.e., Judea and beyond the Jordan) and it is likely that the Pharisees were hoping he might answer the question of divorce in a way similar to John the Baptist and so suffer the same fate as John, i.e., death at the hands of Herod (cf. 14:1-12). Jesus answered the question not on the basis of rabbinic custom and the debate over Deut 24:1, but rather from the account of creation and God’s original design.
4 tn Traditionally, “a lawyer.” This was an expert in the interpretation of the Mosaic law.
5 tn Grk “testing.” The participle, however, is telic in force.
6 tc The Western text (D it) and a few others have only καί (kai) here, rather than καὶ προσελθόντες Φαρισαῖοι (kai proselqonte" Farisaioi, here translated as “then some Pharisees came”). The longer reading, a specific identification of the subject, may have been prompted by the parallel in Matt 19:3. The fact that the
7 tn In Greek this phrase occurs at the end of the sentence. It has been brought forward to conform to English style.
8 tn The personal pronoun “his” is not in the Greek text, but is certainly implied and has been supplied in the English translation to clarify the sense of the statement (cf. “his wife” in 10:7).
9 tn The particle εἰ (ei) is often used to introduce both indirect and direct questions. Thus, another possible translation is to take this as an indirect question: “They asked him if it were lawful for a man to divorce his wife.” See BDF §440.3.
10 tn Grk “Aware of their hypocrisy he said.”
11 tn Here the specific name of the coin was retained in the translation, because not all coins in circulation in Palestine at the time carried the image of Caesar. In other places δηνάριον (dhnarion) has been translated simply as “silver coin” with an explanatory note.
12 tn Grk “And behold.” Here καί (kai) has been translated as “now” to indicate the transition to a new topic. 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).
13 tn Traditionally, “a lawyer.” This was an expert in the interpretation of the Mosaic law (see also Luke 7:30, where the same term occurs).
14 tn Grk “him”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
15 sn The combination of inherit with eternal life asks, in effect, “What must I do to be saved?”
16 tn Grk “testing”; the participle is taken as indicating the purpose of the demand.
17 tn The pronoun “him” is not in the Greek text, but is implied. Direct objects were frequently omitted in Greek when clear from the context.
18 tn Grk “seeking from him.” The imperfect ἐζήτουν (ezhtoun) is taken ingressively. It is also possible to regard it as iterative (“kept on asking”).
19 sn What exactly this sign would have been, given what Jesus was already doing, is not clear. But here is where the fence-sitters reside, refusing to commit to him.
20 tn Or “the scribes.” See the note on the phrase “experts in the law” in 5:21.
21 tn Or “terribly.”
22 tn For this term see L&N 33.183.
23 tn Grk “lying in ambush against,” but this is a figurative extension of that meaning.
24 tn This term was often used in a hunting context (BDAG 455 s.v. θηρεύω; L&N 27.30). Later examples of this appear in Luke 20.
25 tn Grk “he”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
26 tn Or “craftiness.” The term always has negative connotations in the NT (1 Cor 3:19; 2 Cor 4:2; 11:3; Eph 4:14).
27 tn Grk “so that they could accuse.”
28 sn This is a parenthetical note by the author of 7:53–8:11.
29 tn Or possibly “Jesus bent down and wrote an accusation on the ground with his finger.” The Greek verb καταγράφω (katagrafw) may indicate only the action of writing on the ground by Jesus, but in the overall context (Jesus’ response to the accusation against the woman) it can also be interpreted as implying that what Jesus wrote was a counteraccusation against the accusers (although there is no clue as to the actual content of what he wrote, some scribes added “the sins of each one of them” either here or at the end of v. 8 [U 264 700 al]).