Luke 13:33

13:33 Nevertheless I must ¹  go on my way today and tomorrow and the next day, because it is impossible ²  that a prophet should be killed ³  outside Jerusalem.’ ⁴ 

Luke 24:19

24:19 He ⁵  said to them, “What things?” “The things concerning Jesus the Nazarene,” they replied, “a man ⁶  who, with his powerful deeds and words, proved to be a prophet ⁷  before God and all the people;

John 8:12

Jesus as the Light of the World

8:12 Then Jesus spoke out again, ⁸  “I am the light of the world. ⁹  The one who follows me will never ¹⁰  walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”

John 12:46

12:46 I have come as a light into the world, so that everyone who believes in me should not remain in darkness.

Revelation 1:1

The Prologue

1:1 The revelation of Jesus Christ, ¹¹  which God gave him to show his servants ¹²  what must happen very soon. ¹³  He made it clear ¹⁴  by sending his angel to his servant ¹⁵  John,

[13:33]  ¹ tn This is the frequent expression δεῖ (dei, “it is necessary”) that notes something that is a part of God’s plan.

[13:33]  ² tn Or “unthinkable.” See L&N 71.4 for both possible meanings.

[13:33]  ³ tn Or “should perish away from.”

[13:33]  ⁴ sn Death in Jerusalem is another key theme in Luke’s material: 7:16, 34; 24:19; Acts 3:22-23. Notice that Jesus sees himself in the role of a prophet here. Jesus’ statement, it is impossible that a prophet should be killed outside Jerusalem, is filled with irony; Jesus, traveling about in Galilee (most likely), has nothing to fear from Herod; it is his own people living in the very center of Jewish religion and worship who present the greatest danger to his life. The underlying idea is that Jerusalem, though she stands at the very heart of the worship of God, often kills the prophets God sends to her (v. 34). In the end, Herod will be much less a threat than Jerusalem.

[24:19]  ⁵ tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

[24:19]  ⁶ tn This translates the Greek term ἀνήρ (anhr).

[24:19]  ⁷ sn The role of Jesus as prophet is a function Luke frequently mentions: 4:25-27; 9:35; 13:31-35.

[8:12]  ⁸ tn Grk “Then again Jesus spoke to them saying.”

[8:12]  ⁹ sn The theory proposed by F. J. A. Hort (The New Testament in the Original Greek, vol. 2, Introduction; Appendix, 87-88), that the backdrop of 8:12 is the lighting of the candelabra in the court of women, may offer a plausible setting to the proclamation by Jesus that he is the light of the world. The last time that Jesus spoke in the narrative (assuming 7:53-8:11 is not part of the original text, as the textual evidence suggests) is in 7:38, where he was speaking to a crowd of pilgrims in the temple area. This is where he is found in the present verse, and he may be addressing the crowd again. Jesus’ remark has to be seen in view of both the prologue (John 1:4, 5) and the end of the discourse with Nicodemus (John 3:19-21). The coming of Jesus into the world provokes judgment: A choosing up of sides becomes necessary. The one who comes to the light, that is, who follows Jesus, will not walk in the darkness. The one who refuses to come, will walk in the darkness. In this contrast, there are only two alternatives. So it is with a person’s decision about Jesus. Furthermore, this serves as in implicit indictment of Jesus’ opponents, who still walk in the darkness, because they refuse to come to him. This sets up the contrast in chap. 9 between the man born blind, who receives both physical and spiritual sight, and the Pharisees (John 9:13, 15, 16) who have physical sight but remain in spiritual darkness.

[8:12]  ¹⁰ tn The double negative οὐ μή (ou mh) is emphatic in 1st century Hellenistic Greek.

[1:1]  ¹¹ tn The phrase ἀποκάλυψις ᾿Ιησοῦ Χριστοῦ (ajpokaluyi" Ihsou Cristou, “the revelation of Jesus Christ”) could be interpreted as either an objective genitive (“the revelation about Jesus Christ”), subjective genitive (“the revelation from Jesus Christ”), or both (M. Zerwick’s “general” genitive [Biblical Greek, §§36-39]; D. B. Wallace’s “plenary” genitive [ExSyn 119-21]). In 1:1 and 22:16 it is clear that Jesus has sent his angel to proclaim the message to John; thus the message is from Christ, and this would be a subjective genitive. On a broader scale, though, the revelation is about Christ, so this would be an objective genitive. One important point to note is that the phrase under consideration is best regarded as the title of the book and therefore refers to the whole of the work in all its aspects. This fact favors considering this as a plenary genitive.

[1:1]  ¹² tn Grk “slaves.” Although this translation frequently renders δοῦλος (doulos) as “slave,” the connotation is often of one who has sold himself into slavery; in a spiritual sense, the idea is that of becoming a slave of God or of Jesus Christ voluntarily. The voluntary notion is not conspicuous here; hence, the translation “servants.” In any case, the word does not bear the connotation of a free individual serving another. BDAG notes that “‘servant’ for ‘slave’ is largely confined to Biblical transl. and early American times…in normal usage at the present time the two words are carefully distinguished” (BDAG 260 s.v.). The most accurate translation is “bondservant” (sometimes found in the ASV for δοῦλος), in that it often indicates one who sells himself into slavery to another. But as this is archaic, few today understand its force.

[1:1]  ¹³ tn BDAG 992-93 s.v. τάχος has “quickly, at once, without delay Ac 10:33 D; 12:7; 17:15 D; 22:18; 1 Cl 48:1; 63:4…soon, in a short time…Rv 1:1; 22:6…shortly Ac 25:4.”

[1:1]  ¹⁴ tn Or “He indicated it clearly” (L&N 33.153).

[1:1]  ¹⁵ tn See the note on the word “servants” earlier in this verse.