Luke 1:66

1:66 All ¹  who heard these things ²  kept them in their hearts, ³  saying, “What then will this child be?” ⁴  For the Lord’s hand ⁵  was indeed with him.

Luke 3:4

3:4 As it is written in the book of the words of Isaiah the prophet,

“The voice ⁶  of one shouting in the wilderness: ⁷ 

‘Prepare the way for the Lord,

make ⁸  his paths straight.

Luke 10:2

10:2 He ⁹  said to them, “The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Therefore ask the Lord of the harvest ¹⁰  to send out ¹¹  workers into his harvest.

Luke 13:35

13:35 Look, your house is forsaken! ¹²  And I tell you, you will not see me until you say, ‘Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord!’” ¹³ 

Luke 22:61

22:61 Then ¹⁴  the Lord turned and looked straight at Peter, and Peter remembered the word of the Lord, ¹⁵  how he had said to him, “Before a rooster crows today, you will deny me three times.”

[1:66]  ¹ tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style. A new sentence was begun at this point in the translation because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence.

[1:66]  ² tn Grk “heard them”; the referent (these things, from the previous verse) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[1:66]  ³ tn Grk “heart.” The term “heart” (καρδία, kardia) could also be translated as “mind,” or “thoughts,” and the entire phrase be rendered as “kept them in mind,” “thought about,” or the like. But the immediate context is clearly emotive, suggesting that much more is at work than merely the mental processes of thinking or reasoning about “these things.” There is a sense of joy and excitement (see the following question, “What then will this child be?”) and even fear. Further, the use of καρδία in 1:66 suggests connections with the same term in 2:19 where deep emotion is being expressed as well. Therefore, recognizing both the dramatic nature of the immediate context and the literary connections to 2:19, the translation renders the term in 1:66 as “hearts” to capture both the cognitive and emotive aspects of the people’s response.

[1:66]  ⁴ tn Or “what manner of child will this one be?”

[1:66]  ⁵ sn The reference to the Lord’s hand indicates that the presence, direction, and favor of God was with him (Acts 7:9b).

[3:4]  ⁶ tn Or “A voice.”

[3:4]  ⁷ tn Or “desert.” The syntactic position of the phrase “in the wilderness” is unclear in both Luke and the LXX. The MT favors taking it with “Prepare a way,” while the LXX takes it with “a voice shouting.” If the former, the meaning would be that such preparation should be done “in the wilderness.” If the latter, the meaning would be that the place from where John’s ministry went forth was “in the wilderness.” There are Jewish materials that support both renderings: 1QS 8:14 and 9.19-20 support the MT while certain rabbinic texts favor the LXX (see D. L. Bock, Luke [BECNT], 1:290-91). While it is not absolutely necessary that a call in the wilderness led to a response in the wilderness, it is not unlikely that such would be the case. Thus, in the final analysis, the net effect between the two choices may be minimal. In any case, a majority of commentators and translations take “in the wilderness” with “The voice of one shouting” (D. L. Bock; R. H. Stein, Luke [NAC], 129; I. H. Marshall, Luke [NIGTC], 136; NIV, NRSV, NKJV, NLT, NASB, REB).

[3:4]  ⁸ tn This call to “make paths straight” in this context is probably an allusion to preparation through repentance as the verb ποιέω (poiew) reappears in vv. 8, 10, 11, 12, 14.

[10:2]  ¹¹ tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated.

[10:2]  ¹² sn The phrase Lord of the harvest recognizes God’s sovereignty over the harvest process.

[10:2]  ¹³ tn Grk “to thrust out.”

[13:35]  ¹⁶ sn Your house is forsaken. The language here is from Jer 12:7 and 22:5. It recalls exilic judgment.

[13:35]  ¹⁷ sn A quotation from Ps 118:26. The judgment to come will not be lifted until the Lord returns. See Luke 19:41-44.

[22:61]  ²¹ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the narrative.

[22:61]  ²² tn “The word of the Lord” is a technical expression in OT literature, often referring to a divine prophetic utterance (e.g., Gen 15:1, Isa 1:10, Jonah 1:1). In the NT it occurs 15 times: 3 times as ῥῆμα τοῦ κυρίου (rJhma tou kuriou; here and in Acts 11:16, 1 Pet 1:25) and 12 times as λόγος τοῦ κυρίου (logo" tou kuriou; Acts 8:25; 13:44, 48, 49; 15:35, 36; 16:32; 19:10, 20; 1 Thess 1:8, 4:15; 2 Thess 3:1). As in the OT, this phrase focuses on the prophetic nature and divine origin of what has been said. Because of its technical nature the expression has been retained in the translation in preference to a smoother rendering like “remembered what the Lord had said” (cf. TEV, NLT).