Deuteronomy 28:30

28:30 You will be engaged to a woman and another man will rape ¹  her. You will build a house but not live in it. You will plant a vineyard but not even begin to use it.

Luke 14:18-20

14:18 But one after another they all ²  began to make excuses. ³  The first said to him, ‘I have bought a field, ⁴  and I must go out and see it. Please excuse me.’ ⁵  14:19 Another ⁶  said, ‘I have bought five yoke of oxen, ⁷  and I am going out ⁸  to examine them. Please excuse me.’ 14:20 Another ⁹  said, ‘I just got married, and I cannot come.’ ¹⁰ 

Luke 14:2

14:2 There ¹¹  right ¹²  in front of him was a man suffering from dropsy. ¹³ 

Luke 2:4

2:4 So ¹⁴  Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth ¹⁵  in Galilee to Judea, to the city ¹⁶  of David called Bethlehem, ¹⁷  because he was of the house ¹⁸  and family line ¹⁹  of David.

[28:30]  ¹ tc For MT reading שָׁגַל (shagal, “ravish; violate”), the Syriac, Targum, and Vulgate presume the less violent שָׁכַב (shakhav, “lie with”). The unexpected counterpart to betrothal here favors the originality of the MT.

[14:18]  ² tn Or “all unanimously” (BDAG 107 s.v. ἀπό 6). "One after another" is suggested by L&N 61.2.

[14:18]  ³ sn To make excuses and cancel at this point was an insult in the culture of the time. Regardless of customs concerning responses to invitations, refusal at this point was rude.

[14:18]  ⁴ sn I have bought a field. An examination of newly bought land was a common practice. It was this person’s priority.

[14:18]  ⁵ sn The expression Please excuse me is probably a polite way of refusing, given the dynamics of the situation, although it is important to note that an initial acceptance had probably been indicated and it was now a bit late for a refusal. The semantic equivalent of the phrase may well be “please accept my apologies.”

[14:19]  ⁶ tn Grk “And another.” Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

[14:19]  ⁷ sn Five yoke of oxen. This was a wealthy man, because the normal farmer had one or two yoke of oxen.

[14:19]  ⁸ tn The translation “going out” for πορεύομαι (poreuomai) is used because “going” in this context could be understood to mean “I am about to” rather than the correct nuance, “I am on my way to.”

[14:20]  ⁹ tn Grk “And another.” Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

[14:20]  ¹⁰ sn I just got married, and I cannot come. There is no request to be excused here; just a refusal. Why this disqualifies attendance is not clear. The OT freed a newly married man from certain responsibilities such as serving in the army (Deut 20:7; 24:5), but that would hardly apply to a banquet. The invitation is not respected in any of the three cases.

[14:2]  ¹¹ tn Grk “And there.” Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

[14:2]  ¹² tn Grk “behold.” The Greek word ἰδού (idou) at the beginning of this statement adds interest and emphasis (BDAG 468 s.v. 1). Here it has been translated as “right” in the phrase “right in front of him,” giving a similar effect of vividness in the translation.

[14:2]  ¹³ sn The condition called dropsy involves swollen limbs resulting from the accumulation of fluid in the body’s tissues, especially the legs.

[2:4]  ¹⁴ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “so” to indicate the consequential nature of the action.

[2:4]  ¹⁵ sn On Nazareth see Luke 1:26.

[2:4]  ¹⁶ tn Or “town.” The translation “city” is used here because of its collocation with “of David,” suggesting its importance, though not its size.

[2:4]  ¹⁷ sn The journey from Nazareth to the city of David called Bethlehem was a journey of about 90 mi (150 km). Bethlehem was a small village located about 7 miles south-southwest of Jerusalem.

[2:4]  ¹⁸ sn Luke’s use of the term “house” probably alludes to the original promise made to David outlined in the Nathan oracle of 2 Sam 7:12-16, especially in light of earlier connections between Jesus and David made in Luke 1:32. Further, the mention of Bethlehem reminds one of the promise of Mic 5:2, namely, that a great king would emerge from Bethlehem to rule over God’s people.

[2:4]  ¹⁹ tn Or “family,” “lineage.”