5:3 “Blessed 1 are the poor in spirit, 2 for the kingdom of heaven belongs 3 to them.
5:4 “Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted. 4
5:5 “Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.
5:6 “Blessed are those who hunger 5 and thirst for righteousness, for they will be satisfied.
5:7 “Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy.
5:8 “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.
5:9 “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called the children 6 of God.
5:10 “Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to them.
5:11 “Blessed are you when people 7 insult you and persecute you and say all kinds of evil things about you falsely 8 on account of me.
13:16 “But your eyes are blessed 9 because they see, and your ears because they hear. 13:17 For I tell you the truth, 10 many prophets and righteous people longed to see 11 what you see but did not see it, and to hear what you hear but did not hear it.
10:23 Then 12 Jesus 13 turned 14 to his 15 disciples and said privately, “Blessed 16 are the eyes that see what you see! 10:24 For I tell you that many prophets and kings longed to see 17 what you see but did not see it, and to hear what you hear but did not hear it.”
22:1 Now the Feast of Unleavened Bread, 23 which is called the Passover, was approaching.
1:5 During the reign 30 of Herod 31 king of Judea, there lived a priest named Zechariah who belonged to 32 the priestly division of Abijah, 33 and he had a wife named Elizabeth, 34 who was a descendant of Aaron. 35
5:1 Now 36 Jesus was standing by the Lake of Gennesaret, 37 and the crowd was pressing around him 38 to hear the word of God.
1 sn The term Blessed introduces the first of several beatitudes promising blessing to those whom God cares for. They serve as an invitation to come into the grace God offers.
2 sn The poor in spirit is a reference to the “pious poor” for whom God especially cares. See Ps 14:6; 22:24; 25:16; 34:6; 40:17; 69:29.
3 sn The present tense (belongs) here is significant. Jesus makes the kingdom and its blessings currently available. This phrase is unlike the others in the list with the possessive pronoun being emphasized.
4 sn The promise they will be comforted is the first of several “reversals” noted in these promises. The beatitudes and the reversals that accompany them serve in the sermon as an invitation to enter into God’s care, because one can know God cares for those who turn to him.
5 sn Those who hunger are people like the poor Jesus has already mentioned. The term has OT roots both in conjunction with the poor (Isa 32:6-7; 58:6-7, 9-10; Ezek 18:7, 16) or by itself (Ps 37:16-19; 107:9).
6 tn Grk “sons,” though traditionally English versions have taken this as a generic reference to both males and females, hence “children” (cf. KJV, NAB, NRSV, NLT).
7 tn Grk “when they insult you.” The third person pronoun (here implied in the verb ὀνειδίσωσιν [ojneidiswsin]) has no specific referent, but refers to people in general.
8 tc Although ψευδόμενοι (yeudomenoi, “bearing witness falsely”) could be a motivated reading, clarifying that the disciples are unjustly persecuted, its lack in only D it sys Tert does not help its case. Since the Western text is known for numerous free alterations, without corroborative evidence the shorter reading must be judged as secondary.
9 sn This beatitude highlights the great honor bestowed on the disciples to share in this salvation.
10 tn Grk “truly (ἀμήν, amhn) I say to you.”
11 sn This is what past prophets and righteous people had wanted very much to see, yet the fulfillment had come to the disciples. This remark is like 1 Pet 1:10-12 or Heb 1:1-2.
12 tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the narrative.
13 tn Grk “he”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
14 tn Grk “turning to the disciples, he said.” The participle στραφείς (strafei") has been translated as a finite verb due to requirements of contemporary English style.
15 tn Grk “the”; in context the article is used as a possessive pronoun (ExSyn 215).
16 sn This beatitude highlights the great honor bestowed on the disciples to share in this salvation, as v. 20 also noted. See also Luke 2:30.
17 sn This is what past prophets and kings had wanted very much to see, yet the fulfillment had come to the disciples. This remark is like 1 Pet 1:10-12 or Heb 1:1-2.
18 sn Here and in the remainder of the verse the second person pronouns are singular, so only Peter is in view. The name “Simon” has been supplied as a form of direct address to make this clear in English.
19 sn That your faith may not fail. Note that Peter’s denials are pictured here as lapses, not as a total absence of faith.
20 tn Grk “And when.” Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.
21 tn Or “turned around.”
22 sn Strengthen your brothers refers to Peter helping to strengthen their faith. Jesus quite graciously restores Peter “in advance,” even with the knowledge of his approaching denials.
23 sn The Feast of Unleavened Bread was a week long celebration that followed the day of Passover, so one name was used for both feasts (Exod 12:1-20; 23:15; 34:18; Deut 16:1-8).
24 tn The conjunction “so” is supplied here to bring out the force of the latter part of this Greek sentence, which the translation divides up because of English style. Luke, in compiling his account, is joining a tradition with good precedent.
25 sn When Luke says it seemed good to me as well he is not being critical of the earlier accounts, but sees himself stepping into a tradition of reporting about Jesus to which he will add uniquely a second volume on the early church when he writes the Book of Acts.
26 tn Grk “having followed”; the participle παρηκολουθηκότι (parhkolouqhkoti) has been translated causally.
27 sn An orderly account does not necessarily mean that all events are recorded in the exact chronological sequence in which they occurred, but that the account produced is an orderly one. This could include, for example, thematic or topical order rather than strict chronological order.
28 tn Or “know the truth about”; or “know the certainty of.” The issue of the context is psychological confidence; Luke’s work is trying to encourage Theophilus. So in English this is better translated as “know for certain” than “know certainty” or “know the truth,” which sounds too cognitive. “Certain” assumes the truth of the report. On this term, see Acts 2:36; 21:34; 22:30; and 25:26. The meaning “have assurance concerning” is also possible here.
29 tn Or “you heard about.” This term can refer merely to a report of information (Acts 21:24) or to instruction (Acts 18:25). The scope of Luke’s Gospel as a whole, which calls for perseverance in the faith and which assumes much knowledge of the OT, suggests Theophilus had received some instruction and was probably a believer.
30 tn Grk “It happened that in the days.” 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.
31 sn Herod was Herod the Great, who ruled Palestine from 37
32 tn Grk “of”; but the meaning of the preposition ἐκ (ek) is more accurately expressed in contemporary English by the relative clause “who belonged to.”
33 sn There were twenty-four divisions of priesthood and the priestly division of Abijah was eighth on the list according to 1 Chr 24:10.
34 tn Grk “and her name was Elizabeth.”
35 tn Grk “a wife of the daughters of Aaron.”
36 tn Grk “Now it happened that.” 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.
37 sn The Lake of Gennesaret is another name for the Sea of Galilee. Cf. the parallel in Matt 4:18.
38 sn The image of the crowd pressing around him suggests the people leaning forward to catch Jesus’ every word.