Luke 4:14-15

The Beginning of Jesus’ Ministry in Galilee

4:14 Then ¹  Jesus, in the power of the Spirit, ²  returned to Galilee, and news about him spread ³  throughout the surrounding countryside. ⁴  4:15 He ⁵  began to teach ⁶  in their synagogues ⁷  and was praised ⁸  by all.

Matthew 4:12-16

Preaching in Galilee

4:12 Now when Jesus ⁹  heard that John had been imprisoned, ¹⁰  he went into Galilee. 4:13 While in Galilee, he moved from Nazareth ¹¹  to make his home in Capernaum ¹²  by the sea, ¹³  in the region of Zebulun and Naphtali, 4:14 so that what was spoken by Isaiah the prophet would be fulfilled: ¹⁴ 

4:15 “Land of Zebulun and land of Naphtali,

the way by the sea, beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles –

4:16 the people who sit in darkness have seen a great light,

and on those who sit in the region and shadow of death a light has dawned.” ¹⁵ 

Matthew 4:23

Jesus’ Healing Ministry

4:23 Jesus ¹⁶  went throughout all of Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, ¹⁷  preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing all kinds of disease and sickness among the people.

Mark 1:14

Preaching in Galilee and the Call of the Disciples

1:14 Now after John was imprisoned, ¹⁸  Jesus went into Galilee and proclaimed the gospel ¹⁹  of God. ²⁰ 

John 1:43

The Calling of More Disciples

1:43 On the next day Jesus ²¹  wanted to set out for Galilee. ²²  He ²³  found Philip and said ²⁴  to him, “Follow me.”

John 2:11

2:11 Jesus did this as the first of his miraculous signs, ²⁵  in Cana ²⁶  of Galilee. In this way he revealed ²⁷  his glory, and his disciples believed in him. ²⁸ 

John 7:41

7:41 Others said, “This is the Christ!” ²⁹  But still others said, “No, ³⁰  for the Christ doesn’t come from Galilee, does he? ³¹ 

John 7:52

7:52 They replied, ³²  “You aren’t from Galilee too, are you? ³³  Investigate carefully and you will see that no prophet ³⁴  comes from Galilee!”

Acts 10:37

10:37 you know what happened throughout Judea, beginning from Galilee after the baptism that John announced: ³⁵ 

[4:14]  ¹ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the narrative.

[4:14]  ² sn Once again Jesus is directed by the Spirit. Luke makes a point about Jesus’ association with the Spirit early in his ministry (3:22, 4:1 [2x]; 4:18).

[4:14]  ³ tn Grk “went out.”

[4:14]  ⁴ tn Grk “all the surrounding region.”

[4:15]  ⁵ tn Grk “And he.” Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

[4:15]  ⁶ tn The imperfect verb has been translated ingressively.

[4:15]  ⁷ sn The next incident in Luke 4:16-30 is probably to be seen as an example of this ministry of teaching in their synagogues in Galilee. Synagogues were places for Jewish prayer and worship, with recognized leadership (cf. Luke 8:41). Though the origin of the synagogue is not entirely clear, it seems to have arisen in the postexilic community during the intertestamental period. A town could establish a synagogue if there were at least ten men. In normative Judaism of the NT period, the OT scripture was read and discussed in the synagogue by the men who were present (see the Mishnah, m. Megillah 3-4; m. Berakhot 2).

[4:15]  ⁸ tn Grk “being glorified.” The participle δοξαζόμενος (doxazomeno") has been translated as a finite verb due to requirements of contemporary English style. This is the only place Luke uses the verb δοξάζω (doxazw) of Jesus.

[4:12]  ⁹ tn Grk “he.”

[4:12]  ¹⁰ tn Or “arrested,” “taken into custody” (see L&N 37.12).

[4:13]  ¹¹ map For location see Map1 D3; Map2 C2; Map3 D5; Map4 C1; Map5 G3.

[4:13]  ¹² tn Grk “and leaving Nazareth, he came and took up residence in Capernaum.”

[4:13]  ¹³ tn Or “by the lake.”

[4:14]  ¹⁴ tn The redundant participle λέγοντος (legontos) has not been translated here.

[4:16]  ¹⁵ sn A quotation from Isa 9:1.

[4:23]  ¹⁶ tn Grk “And he.”

[4:23]  ¹⁷ sn Synagogues were places for Jewish prayer and worship, with recognized leadership (cf. Luke 8:41). Though the origin of the synagogue is not entirely clear, it seems to have arisen in the postexilic community during the intertestamental period. A town could establish a synagogue if there were at least ten men. In normative Judaism of the NT period, the OT scripture was read and discussed in the synagogue by the men who were present (see the Mishnah, m. Megillah 3-4; m. Berakhot 2).

[1:14]  ¹⁸ tn Or “arrested,” “taken into custody” (see L&N 37.12).

[1:14]  ¹⁹ tc Most witnesses, especially later ones (A D W Ï lat), have τῆς βασιλείας (ths basileias) between τὸ εὐαγγέλιον (to euangelion) and τοῦ θεοῦ (tou qeou): “the gospel of the kingdom of God.” On the one hand, it is perhaps possible that τῆς βασιλείας was omitted to conform the expression to that which is found in the epistles (cf. Rom 1:1; 15:16; 2 Cor 11:7; 1 Thess 2:2, 8, 9; 1 Pet 4:17). On the other hand, this expression, “the gospel of God,” occurs nowhere else in the Gospels, while “the gospel of the kingdom” is a Matthean expression (Matt 4:23; 9:35; 24:14), and “kingdom of God” is pervasive in the synoptic Gospels (occurring over 50 times). Scribes would thus be more prone to add τῆς βασιλείας than to omit it. Further, the external support for the shorter reading (א B L Θ Ë^1,13 28* 33 565 579 892 2427 sa) is significantly stronger than that for the longer reading. There is little doubt, therefore, that the shorter reading is authentic.

[1:14]  ²⁰ tn The genitive in the phrase τὸ εὐαγγέλιον τοῦ θεοῦ (to euangelion tou qeou, “the gospel of God”) could be translated as either a subjective genitive (“the gospel which God brings”) or an objective genitive (“the gospel about God”). Either is grammatically possible. This is possibly an instance of a plenary genitive (see ExSyn 119-21; M. Zerwick, Biblical Greek, §§36-39). If so, an interplay between the two concepts is intended: The gospel which God brings is in fact the gospel about himself.

[1:43]  ²¹ tn Grk “he”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity. Jesus is best taken as the subject of εὑρίσκει (Jeuriskei), since Peter would scarcely have wanted to go to Galilee.

[1:43]  ²² sn No explanation is given for why Jesus wanted to set out for Galilee, but probably he wanted to go to the wedding at Cana (about a two day trip).

[1:43]  ²³ tn Grk “and he.” Because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, a new sentence was started here in the translation.

[1:43]  ²⁴ tn Grk “and Jesus said.”

[2:11]  ²⁵ tn This sentence in Greek involves an object-complement construction. The force can be either “Jesus did this as,” or possibly “Jesus made this to be.” The latter translation accents not only Jesus’ power but his sovereignty too. Cf. also 4:54 where the same construction occurs.

[2:11]  ²⁶ map For location see Map1 C3; Map2 D2; Map3 C5.

[2:11]  ²⁷ tn Grk “in Cana of Galilee, and he revealed.”

[2:11]  ²⁸ tn Or “his disciples trusted in him,” or “his disciples put their faith in him.”

[7:41]  ²⁹ tn Or “the Messiah” (Both Greek “Christ” and Hebrew and Aramaic “Messiah” mean “one who has been anointed”).

[7:41]  ³⁰ tn An initial negative reply (“No”) is suggested by the causal or explanatory γάρ (gar) which begins the clause.

[7:41]  ³¹ tn Questions prefaced with μή (mh) in Greek anticipate a negative answer. This can sometimes be indicated by using a “tag” at the end in English (here the tag is “does he?”).

[7:52]  ³² tn Grk “They answered and said to him.”

[7:52]  ³³ tn Questions prefaced with μή (mh) in Greek anticipate a negative answer. This can sometimes be indicated by using a “tag” at the end in English (here the tag is “are you?”).

[7:52]  ³⁴ tc At least one early and important ms (Ì^66*) places the article before “prophet” (ὁ προφήτης, Jo profhths), making this a reference to the “prophet like Moses” mentioned in Deut 18:15.

[10:37]  ³⁵ tn Or “proclaimed.”