Luke 1:4

1:4 so that you may know for certain ¹  the things you were taught. ² 

Luke 11:47

11:47 Woe to you! You build ³  the tombs of the prophets whom your ancestors ⁴  killed.

Luke 16:12

16:12 And if you haven’t been trustworthy ⁵  with someone else’s property, ⁶  who will give you your own ⁷ ?

[1:4]  ¹ tn Or “know the truth about”; or “know the certainty of.” The issue of the context is psychological confidence; Luke’s work is trying to encourage Theophilus. So in English this is better translated as “know for certain” than “know certainty” or “know the truth,” which sounds too cognitive. “Certain” assumes the truth of the report. On this term, see Acts 2:36; 21:34; 22:30; and 25:26. The meaning “have assurance concerning” is also possible here.

[1:4]  ² tn Or “you heard about.” This term can refer merely to a report of information (Acts 21:24) or to instruction (Acts 18:25). The scope of Luke’s Gospel as a whole, which calls for perseverance in the faith and which assumes much knowledge of the OT, suggests Theophilus had received some instruction and was probably a believer.

[11:47]  ³ sn The effect of what the experts in the law were doing was to deny the message of the prophets and thus honor their death by supporting those who had sought their removal. The charge that this is what previous generations did shows the problem is chronic. As T. W. Manson said, the charge here is “The only prophet you honor is a dead prophet!” (The Sayings of Jesus, 101).

[11:47]  ⁴ tn Or “forefathers”; Grk “fathers.”

[16:12]  ⁵ tn Or “faithful.”

[16:12]  ⁶ tn Grk “have not been faithful with what is another’s.”

[16:12]  ⁷ tn Grk “what is your own.”