Luke 1:13

1:13 But the angel said to him, “Do not be afraid, Zechariah, for your prayer has been heard, ¹  and your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son; you ²  will name him John. ³ 

Luke 5:33

The Superiority of the New

5:33 Then ⁴  they said to him, “John’s ⁵  disciples frequently fast ⁶  and pray, ⁷  and so do the disciples of the Pharisees, ⁸  but yours continue to eat and drink.” ⁹ 

[1:13]  ¹ tn The passive means that the prayer was heard by God.

[1:13]  ² tn Grk “a son, and you”; καί (kai) has not been translated. Instead a semicolon is used in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[1:13]  ³ tn Grk “you will call his name John.” The future tense here functions like a command (see ExSyn 569-70). This same construction occurs in v. 31.

[5:33]  ⁴ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the narrative.

[5:33]  ⁵ tc Most mss (א*^,2 A C D Θ Ψ Ë^1,13 Ï latt sy) read διὰ τί (dia ti, “Why do John’s…?”) here, turning the statement into a question. But such seems to be a motivated reading, assimilating the text to Mark 2:18 and Matt 9:14. The reading represented in the translation is supported by Ì⁴ א¹ B L W Ξ 33 892* 1241 sa.

[5:33]  ⁶ sn John’s disciples and the disciples of the Pharisees followed typical practices with regard to fasting and prayer. Many Jews fasted regularly (Lev 16:29-34; 23:26-32; Num 29:7-11). The zealous fasted twice a week on Monday and Thursday.

[5:33]  ⁷ tn Grk “and offer prayers,” but this idiom (δέησις + ποιέω) is often simply a circumlocution for praying.

[5:33]  ⁸ sn See the note on Pharisees in 5:17.

[5:33]  ⁹ tn Grk “but yours are eating and drinking.” The translation “continue to eat and drink” attempts to reflect the progressive or durative nature of the action described, which in context is a practice not limited to the specific occasion at hand (the banquet).