Leviticus 21:7

21:7 They must not take a wife defiled by prostitution, ¹  nor are they to take a wife divorced from her husband, ²  for the priest ³  is holy to his God. ⁴ 

Leviticus 21:14

21:14 He must not marry ⁵  a widow, a divorced woman, or one profaned by prostitution; he may only take a virgin from his people ⁶  as a wife.

Ezekiel 44:22

44:22 They must not marry a widow or a divorcee, but they may marry a virgin from the house of Israel ⁷  or a widow who is a priest’s widow.

Malachi 2:15

2:15 No one who has even a small portion of the Spirit in him does this. ⁸  What did our ancestor ⁹  do when seeking a child from God? Be attentive, then, to your own spirit, for one should not be disloyal to the wife he took in his youth. ¹⁰ 

Luke 1:5

Birth Announcement of John the Baptist

1:5 During the reign ¹¹  of Herod ¹²  king of Judea, there lived a priest named Zechariah who belonged to ¹³  the priestly division of Abijah, ¹⁴  and he had a wife named Elizabeth, ¹⁵  who was a descendant of Aaron. ¹⁶ 

Luke 1:1

Explanatory Preface

1:1 Now ¹⁷  many have undertaken to compile an account ¹⁸  of the things ¹⁹  that have been fulfilled ²⁰  among us,

Luke 3:12

3:12 Tax collectors ²¹  also came to be baptized, and they said to him, “Teacher, what should we do?”

[21:7]  ¹ tn Heb “A wife harlot and profaned they shall not take.” The structure of the verse (e.g., “wife” at the beginning of the two main clauses) suggests that “harlot and profaned” constitutes a hendiadys, meaning “a wife defiled by harlotry” (see the explanation in B. A. Levine, Leviticus [JPSTC], 143, as opposed to that in J. E. Hartley, Leviticus [WBC], 343, 348; cf. v. 14 below). Cf. NASB “a woman who is profaned by harlotry.”

[21:7]  ² sn For a helpful discussion of divorce in general and as it relates to this passage see B. A. Levine, Leviticus (JPSTC), 143-44.

[21:7]  ³ tn Heb “he”; the referent (the priest) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[21:7]  ⁴ tn The pronoun “he” in this clause refers to the priest, not the former husband of the divorced woman.

[21:14]  ⁵ tn Heb “take.” In context this means “take as wife,” i.e., “marry.”

[21:14]  ⁶ tc The MT has literally, “from his peoples,” but Smr, LXX, Syriac, Targum, and Tg. Ps.-J. have “from his people,” referring to the Israelites as a whole.

[44:22]  ⁷ tn Heb “from the offspring of the house of Israel.”

[2:15]  ⁸ tn Heb “and not one has done, and a remnant of the spirit to him.” The very elliptical nature of the statement suggests it is proverbial. The present translation represents an attempt to clarify the meaning of the statement (cf. NASB).

[2:15]  ⁹ tn Heb “the one.” This is an oblique reference to Abraham who sought to obtain God’s blessing by circumventing God’s own plan for him by taking Hagar as wife (Gen 16:1-6). The result of this kind of intermarriage was, of course, disastrous (Gen 16:11-12).

[2:15]  ¹⁰ sn The wife he took in his youth probably refers to the first wife one married (cf. NCV “the wife you married when you were young”).

[1:5]  ¹¹ 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.

[1:5]  ¹² sn Herod was Herod the Great, who ruled Palestine from 37 b.c. until he died in 4 b.c. He was known for his extensive building projects (including the temple in Jerusalem) and for his cruelty.

[1:5]  ¹³ 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.”

[1:5]  ¹⁴ 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.

[1:5]  ¹⁵ tn Grk “and her name was Elizabeth.”

[1:5]  ¹⁶ tn Grk “a wife of the daughters of Aaron.”

[1:1]  ¹⁷ tn Grk “Since” or “Because.” This begins a long sentence that extends through v. 4. Because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence and the tendency of contemporary English style to use shorter sentences, the Greek sentence has been divided up into shorter English sentences in the translation.

[1:1]  ¹⁸ tn This is sometimes translated “narrative,” but the term itself can refer to an oral or written account. It is the verb “undertaken” which suggests a written account, since it literally is “to set one’s hand” to something (BDAG 386 s.v. ἐπιχειρέω). “Narrative” is too specific, denoting a particular genre of work for the accounts that existed in the earlier tradition. Not all of that material would have been narrative.

[1:1]  ¹⁹ tn Or “events.”

[1:1]  ²⁰ tn Or “have been accomplished.” Given Luke’s emphasis on divine design (e.g., Luke 24:43-47) a stronger sense (“fulfilled”) is better than a mere reference to something having taken place (“accomplished”).

[3:12]  ²¹ sn The tax collectors would bid to collect taxes for the Roman government and then add a surcharge, which they kept. Since tax collectors worked for Rome, they were viewed as traitors to their own people and were not well liked. Yet even they were moved by John’s call.