Luke 5:29-30

5:29 Then ¹  Levi gave a great banquet ²  in his house for Jesus, ³  and there was a large crowd of tax collectors and others sitting ⁴  at the table with them. 5:30 But ⁵  the Pharisees ⁶  and their experts in the law ⁷  complained ⁸  to his disciples, saying, “Why do you eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners?” ⁹ 

Luke 7:34

7:34 The Son of Man has come eating and drinking, and you say, ‘Look at him, ¹⁰  a glutton and a drunk, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!’ ¹¹ 

Luke 7:36

Jesus’ Anointing

7:36 Now one of the Pharisees ¹²  asked Jesus ¹³  to have dinner with him, so ¹⁴  he went into the Pharisee’s house and took his place at the table. ¹⁵ 

Luke 14:1

Healing Again on the Sabbath

14:1 Now ¹⁶  one Sabbath when Jesus went to dine ¹⁷  at the house of a leader ¹⁸  of the Pharisees, ¹⁹  they were watching ²⁰  him closely.

John 2:2

2:2 and Jesus and his disciples were also invited to the wedding. ²¹ 

John 12:2-8

12:2 So they prepared a dinner for Jesus ²²  there. Martha ²³  was serving, and Lazarus was among those present at the table ²⁴  with him. 12:3 Then Mary took three quarters of a pound ²⁵  of expensive aromatic oil from pure nard ²⁶  and anointed the feet of Jesus. She ²⁷  then wiped his feet dry with her hair. (Now the house was filled with the fragrance of the perfumed oil.) ²⁸  12:4 But Judas Iscariot, one of his disciples (the one who was going to betray him) ²⁹  said, 12:5 “Why wasn’t this oil sold for three hundred silver coins ³⁰  and the money ³¹  given to the poor?” 12:6 (Now Judas ³²  said this not because he was concerned about the poor, but because he was a thief. As keeper of the money box, ³³  he used to steal what was put into it.) ³⁴  12:7 So Jesus said, “Leave her alone. She has kept it for the day of my burial. ³⁵  12:8 For you will always have the poor with you, but you will not always have me!” ³⁶ 

Romans 15:2

15:2 Let each of us please his neighbor for his good to build him up.

[5:29]  ¹ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the narrative.

[5:29]  ² sn A great banquet refers to an elaborate meal. Many of the events in Luke take place in the context of meal fellowship: 7:36-50; 9:12-17; 10:38-42; 11:37-54; 14:1-24; 22:7-38; 24:29-32, 41-43.

[5:29]  ³ tn Grk “him”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[5:29]  ⁴ tn Grk “reclining.” This term reflects the normal practice in 1st century Jewish culture of eating a meal in a semi-reclining position. Since it is foreign to most modern readers, the translation “sitting” has been substituted.

[5:30]  ⁵ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “but” to indicate the implied contrast present in this context.

[5:30]  ⁶ sn See the note on Pharisees in 5:17.

[5:30]  ⁷ tn Or “and their scribes.” See the note on the phrase “experts in the law” in 5:21.

[5:30]  ⁸ tn Or “grumbled”; a term often used in the OT for inappropriate grumbling: Exod 15:24; 16:7-8; Num 14:2, 26-35; 16:11.

[5:30]  ⁹ sn The issue here is inappropriate associations (eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners) and the accusation comes not against Jesus, but his disciples.

[7:34]  ¹⁰ tn Grk “Behold a man.”

[7:34]  ¹¹ sn Neither were they happy with Jesus (the Son of Man), even though he was the opposite of John and associated freely with people like tax collectors and sinners. Either way, God’s messengers were subject to complaint.

[7:36]  ¹² sn See the note on Pharisees in 5:17.

[7:36]  ¹³ tn Grk “him”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[7:36]  ¹⁴ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “so” to indicate that Jesus’ action was the result of the Pharisee’s invitation.

[7:36]  ¹⁵ tn Grk “and reclined at table,” as 1st century middle eastern meals were not eaten while sitting at a table, but while reclining on one’s side on the floor with the head closest to the low table and the feet farthest away.

[14:1]  ¹⁶ tn Grk “Now it happened that one.” 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.

[14:1]  ¹⁷ tn Grk “to eat bread,” an idiom for participating in a meal.

[14:1]  ¹⁸ tn Grk “a ruler of the Pharisees.” He was probably a synagogue official.

[14:1]  ¹⁹ sn See the note on Pharisees in 5:17.

[14:1]  ²⁰ sn Watching…closely is a graphic term meaning to lurk and watch; see Luke 11:53-54.

[2:2]  ²¹ sn There is no clue to the identity of the bride and groom, but in all probability either relatives or friends of Jesus’ family were involved, since Jesus’ mother and both Jesus and his disciples were invited to the celebration. The attitude of Mary in approaching Jesus and asking him to do something when the wine ran out also suggests that familial obligations were involved.

[12:2]  ²² tn Grk “him”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity and to conform with contemporary English style.

[12:2]  ²³ tn Grk “And Martha.” The connective καί (kai, “and”) has been omitted in the translation because it would produce a run-on sentence in English.

[12:2]  ²⁴ tn Grk “reclining at the table.”

[12:3]  ²⁵ tn Or “half a liter”; Grk “a pound” (that is, a Roman pound, about 325 grams or 12 ounces).

[12:3]  ²⁶ tn Μύρον (muron) was usually made of myrrh (from which the English word is derived) but here it is used in the sense of ointment or perfumed oil (L&N 6.205). The adjective πιστικῆς (pistikh") is difficult with regard to its exact meaning; some have taken it to derive from πίστις (pistis) and relate to the purity of the oil of nard. More probably it is something like a brand name, “pistic nard,” the exact significance of which has not been discovered.

[12:3]  ²⁷ tn Grk “And she.” Because of the difference between Greek style, which often begins sentences or clauses with “and,” and English style, which generally does not, καί (kai) has not been translated here.

[12:3]  ²⁸ sn This is a parenthetical note by the author. With a note characteristic of someone who was there and remembered, the author adds that the house was filled with the fragrance of the perfumed oil. In the later rabbinic literature, Ecclesiastes Rabbah 7.1.1 states “The fragrance of good oil is diffused from the bedroom to the dining hall, but a good name is diffused from one end of the world to the other.” If such a saying was known in the 1st century, this might be the author’s way of indicating that Mary’s act of devotion would be spoken of throughout the entire world (compare the comment in Mark 14:9).

[12:4]  ²⁹ sn This is a parenthetical note by the author.

[12:5]  ³⁰ tn Grk “three hundred denarii.” The denarius was a silver coin worth a standard day’s wage, so the value exceeded what a laborer could earn in a year (taking into account Sabbaths and feast days when no work was done).

[12:5]  ³¹ tn The words “the money” are not in the Greek text, but are implied (as the proceeds from the sale of the perfumed oil).

[12:6]  ³² tn Grk “he”; the referent (Judas) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[12:6]  ³³ tn Grk “a thief, and having the money box.” Dividing the single Greek sentence improves the English style.

[12:6]  ³⁴ sn This is a parenthetical note by the author. This is one of the indications in the gospels that Judas was of bad character before the betrayal of Jesus. John states that he was a thief and had responsibility for the finances of the group. More than being simply a derogatory note about Judas’ character, the inclusion of the note at this particular point in the narrative may be intended to link the frustrated greed of Judas here with his subsequent decision to betray Jesus for money. The parallel accounts in Matthew and Mark seem to indicate that after this incident Judas went away immediately and made his deal with the Jewish authorities to deliver up Jesus. Losing out on one source of sordid gain, he immediately went out and set up another.

[12:7]  ³⁵ tn Grk “Leave her alone, that for the day of my burial she may keep it.” The construction with ἵνα (Jina) is somewhat ambiguous. The simplest way to read it would be, “Leave her alone, that she may keep it for the day of my burial.” This would imply that Mary was going to use the perfumed oil on that day, while vv. 3 and 5 seem to indicate clearly that she had already used it up. Some understand the statement as elliptical: “Leave her alone; (she did this) in order to keep it for the day of my burial.” Another alternative would be an imperatival use of ἵνα with the meaning: “Leave her alone; let her keep it.” The reading of the Byzantine text, which omits the ἵνα and substitutes a perfect tense τετήρηκεν (tethrhken), while not likely to be original, probably comes close to the meaning of the text, and that has been followed in this translation.

[12:8]  ³⁶ tc A few isolated witnesses omit v. 8 (D sy^s), part of v. 8 (Ì⁷⁵), or vv. 7-8 ({0250}). The latter two omissions are surely due to errors of sight, while the former can be attributed to D’s sometimes erratic behavior. The verse is secure in light of the overwhelming evidence on its behalf.