John 1:7

1:7 He came as a witness ¹  to testify ²  about the light, so that everyone ³  might believe through him.

Luke 8:12

8:12 Those along the path are the ones who have heard; then the devil ⁴  comes and takes away the word ⁵  from their hearts, so that they may not believe ⁶  and be saved.

Luke 11:52

11:52 Woe to you experts in religious law! You have taken away ⁷  the key to knowledge! You did not go in yourselves, and you hindered ⁸  those who were going in.”

Luke 11:1

Instructions on Prayer

11:1 Now ⁹  Jesus ¹⁰  was praying in a certain place. When ¹¹  he stopped, one of his disciples said to him, “Lord, teach us to pray, just as John ¹²  taught ¹³  his disciples.”

Luke 2:15-16

2:15 When ¹⁴  the angels left them and went back to heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let us go over to Bethlehem ¹⁵  and see this thing that has taken place, that the Lord ¹⁶  has made known to us.” 2:16 So they hurried off and located Mary and Joseph, and found the baby lying in a manger. ¹⁷ 

[1:7]  ¹ tn Grk “came for a testimony.”

[1:7]  ² tn Or “to bear witness.”

[1:7]  ³ tn Grk “all.”

[8:12]  ⁴ sn Interestingly, the synoptic parallels each use a different word for the devil here: Matt 13:19 has “the evil one,” while Mark 4:15 has “Satan.” This illustrates the fluidity of the gospel tradition in often using synonyms at the same point of the parallel tradition.

[8:12]  ⁵ sn The word of Jesus has the potential to save if it germinates in a person’s heart, something the devil is very much against.

[8:12]  ⁶ tn The participle πιστεύσαντες (pisteusante") has been translated as a finite verb here. It may be regarded as an adverbial participle of attendant circumstance. From a logical standpoint the negative must govern both the participle and the finite verb.

[11:52]  ⁷ sn You have taken away the key to knowledge is another stinging rebuke. They had done the opposite of what they were trying to do.

[11:52]  ⁸ tn Or “you tried to prevent.”

[11:1]  ⁹ tn Grk “And it happened that while.” 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 “now” to indicate the transition to a new topic.

[11:1]  ¹⁰ tn Grk “he”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[11:1]  ¹¹ tn Because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, a new sentence was started here in the translation.

[11:1]  ¹² sn John refers to John the Baptist.

[11:1]  ¹³ sn It was not unusual for Jewish groups to have their own prayer as a way of expressing corporate identity. Judaism had the Eighteen Benedictions and apparently John the Baptist had a prayer for his disciples as well.

[2:15]  ¹⁴ tn Grk “And it happened that when.” 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 not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

[2:15]  ¹⁵ map For location see Map5 B1; Map7 E2; Map8 E2; Map10 B4.

[2:15]  ¹⁶ sn Note how although angels delivered the message, it was the Lord whose message is made known, coming through them.

[2:16]  ¹⁷ tn Or “a feeding trough.”