Luke 7:24-30

Context

7:24 When¹ John’s messengers had gone, Jesus² began to speak to the crowds about John: “What did you go out into the wilderness³ to see? A reed shaken by the wind?⁴ 7:25 What⁵ did you go out to see? A man dressed in fancy⁶ clothes?⁷ Look, those who wear fancy clothes and live in luxury⁸ are in kings’ courts!⁹ 7:26 What did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I tell you, and more¹⁰ than a prophet. 7:27 This is the one about whom it is written, ‘Look, I am sending my messenger ahead of you,¹¹ who will prepare your way before you.’¹² 7:28 I tell you, among those born of women no one is greater¹³ than John.¹⁴ Yet the one who is least¹⁵ in the kingdom of God¹⁶ is greater than he is.” 7:29 (Now¹⁷ all the people who heard this, even the tax collectors,¹⁸ acknowledged¹⁹ God’s justice, because they had been baptized²⁰ with John’s baptism. 7:30 However, the Pharisees²¹ and the experts in religious law²² rejected God’s purpose²³ for themselves, because they had not been baptized²⁴ by John.²⁵)²⁶

[7:24] ¹tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated.

[7:24] ²tn Grk “he”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[7:24] ³tn Or “desert.”

[7:24] ⁴tn There is a debate as to whether one should read this figuratively (“to see someone who is easily blown over?”) or literally (Grk “to see the wilderness vegetation?…No, to see a prophet”). Either view makes good sense, but the following examples suggest the question should be read literally and understood to point to the fact that a prophet drew them to the desert.

[7:25] ⁵tn Grk “But what.” Here ἀλλά (alla, a strong contrastive in Greek) produces a somewhat awkward sense in English, and has not been translated. The same situation occurs at the beginning of v. 26.

[7:25] ⁶tn Or “soft”; see L&N 79.100.

[7:25] ⁷sn The reference to fancy clothes makes the point that John was not rich or powerful, in that he did not come from the wealthy classes.

[7:25] ⁸tn See L&N 88.253, “to revel, to carouse, to live a life of luxury.”

[7:25] ⁹tn Or “palaces.”

[7:26] ¹⁰tn John the Baptist is “more” because he introduces the one (Jesus) who brings the new era. The term is neuter, but may be understood as masculine in this context (BDAG 806 s.v. περισσότερος b.).

[7:27] ¹¹tn Grk “before your face” (an idiom).

[7:27] ¹²sn The quotation is primarily from Mal 3:1 with pronouns from Exod 23:20. Here is the forerunner who points the way to the arrival of God’s salvation. His job is to prepare and guide the people, as the cloud did for Israel in the desert.

[7:28] ¹³sn In the Greek text greater is at the beginning of the clause in the emphatic position. John the Baptist was the greatest man of the old era.

[7:28] ¹⁴tc The earliest and best mss read simply ᾿Ιωάννου (Iwannou, “John”) here (Ì⁷⁵ א B L W Ξ Ë¹ 579 pc). Others turn this into “John the Baptist” (K 33 565 al it), “the prophet John the Baptist” (A [D] Θ Ë¹³ Ï lat), or “the prophet John” (Ψ 700 [892 1241] pc). “It appears that προφήτης was inserted by pedantic copyists who wished thereby to exclude Christ from the comparison, while others added τοῦ βαπτιστοῦ, assimilating the text to Mt 11.11” (TCGNT 119).

[7:28] ¹⁵sn After John comes a shift of eras. The new era is so great that the lowest member of it (the one who is least in the kingdom of God) is greater than the greatest one of the previous era.

[7:28] ¹⁶sn The kingdom of God is a major theme of Jesus’ proclamation. It is a realm in which Jesus rules and to which those who trust him belong. See Luke 6:20; 11:20; 17:20-21. It is not strictly future, though its full manifestation is yet to come. That is why membership in it starts right after John the Baptist.

[7:29] ¹⁷tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “now” to indicate the parenthetical nature of the comment by the author.

[7:29] ¹⁸sn See the note on tax collectors in 3:12.

[7:29] ¹⁹tn Or “vindicated God”; Grk “justified God.” This could be expanded to “vindicated and responded to God.” The point is that God’s goodness and grace as evidenced in the invitation to John was justified and responded to by the group one might least expect, tax collector and sinners. They had more spiritual sensitivity than others. The contrastive response is clear from v. 30.

[7:29] ²⁰tn The participle βαπτισθέντες (baptisqente") has been translated as a causal adverbial participle.

[7:30] ²¹sn See the note on Pharisees in 5:17.

[7:30] ²²tn That is, the experts in the interpretation of the Mosaic law (see also Luke 5:17, although the Greek term is not identical there, and Luke 10:25, where it is the same).

[7:30] ²³tn Or “plan.”

[7:30] ²⁴tn The participle βαπτισθέντες (baptisqente") has been translated as a causal adverbial participle; it could also be translated as means (“for themselves, by not having been baptized”). This is similar to the translation found in the NRSV.

[7:30] ²⁵tn Grk “by him”; the referent (John the Baptist) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[7:30] ²⁶sn Luke 7:29-30 forms something of an aside by the author. To indicate this, they have been placed in parentheses.