Discovery BoxLuke 10:12-21
Context10:12 I tell you, it will be more bearable on that day for Sodom 1 than for that town! 2
10:13 “Woe to you, Chorazin! 3 Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if 4 the miracles 5 done in you had been done in Tyre 6 and Sidon, 7 they would have repented long ago, sitting in sackcloth and ashes. 10:14 But it will be more bearable for Tyre and Sidon in the judgment than for you! 10:15 And you, Capernaum, 8 will you be exalted to heaven? 9 No, you will be thrown down to Hades! 10
10:16 “The one who listens 11 to you listens to me, 12 and the one who rejects you rejects me, and the one who rejects me rejects 13 the one who sent me.” 14
10:17 Then 15 the seventy-two 16 returned with joy, saying, “Lord, even the demons submit to 17 us in your name!” 18 10:18 So 19 he said to them, “I saw 20 Satan fall 21 like lightning 22 from heaven. 10:19 Look, I have given you authority to tread 23 on snakes and scorpions 24 and on the full force of the enemy, 25 and nothing will 26 hurt you. 10:20 Nevertheless, do not rejoice that 27 the spirits submit to you, but rejoice 28 that your names stand written 29 in heaven.”
10:21 On that same occasion 30 Jesus 31 rejoiced 32 in the Holy Spirit and said, “I praise 33 you, Father, Lord 34 of heaven and earth, because 35 you have hidden these things from the wise 36 and intelligent, and revealed them to little children. Yes, Father, for this was your gracious will. 37
[10:12] 1 sn The allusion to Sodom, the most wicked of OT cities from Gen 19:1-29, shows that to reject the current message is even more serious than the worst sins of the old era and will result in more severe punishment. The noun Sodom is in emphatic position in the Greek text.
[10:13] 3 sn Chorazin was a town of Galilee that was probably fairly small in contrast to Bethsaida and is otherwise unattested. Bethsaida was declared a polis by the tetrarch Herod Philip, sometime after
[10:13] 4 tn This introduces a second class (contrary to fact) condition in the Greek text.
[10:13] 5 tn Or “powerful deeds.”
[10:13] 6 map For location see Map1 A2; Map2 G2; Map4 A1; JP3 F3; JP4 F3.
[10:13] 7 sn Tyre and Sidon are two other notorious OT cities (Isa 23; Jer 25:22; 47:4). The remark is a severe rebuke, in effect: “Even the sinners of the old era would have responded to the proclamation of the kingdom, unlike you!”
[10:15] 5 sn Capernaum was a town on the northwest shore of the Sea of Galilee, 680 ft (204 m) below sea level. It was a major trade and economic center in the North Galilean region.
[10:15] 6 tn The interrogative particle introducing this question expects a negative reply.
[10:15] 7 sn In the OT, Hades was known as Sheol. It is the place where the unrighteous will reside (Matt 11:23; Luke 16:23; Rev 20:13-14).
[10:16] 7 tn Grk “hears you”; but as the context of vv. 8-9 makes clear, it is response that is the point. In contemporary English, “listen to” is one way to express this function (L&N 31.56).
[10:16] 8 sn Jesus linked himself to the disciples’ message: Responding to the disciples (listens to you) counts as responding to him.
[10:16] 9 tn The double mention of rejection in this clause – ἀθετῶν ἀθετεῖ (aqetwn aqetei) in the Greek text – keeps up the emphasis of the section.
[10:16] 10 sn The one who sent me refers to God.
[10:17] 9 tn Here δέ (de) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the narrative.
[10:17] 10 tc See the tc note on the number “seventy-two” in Luke 10:1.
[10:17] 11 tn Or “the demons obey”; see L&N 36.18.
[10:17] 12 tn The prepositional phrase “in your name” indicates the sphere of authority for the messengers’ work of exorcism.
[10:18] 11 tn Here δέ (de) has been translated as “so” to indicate that Jesus’ reply in vv. 18-20 follows from the positive report of the messengers in v. 17.
[10:18] 12 tn This is an imperfect tense verb.
[10:18] 13 tn In Greek, this is a participle and comes at the end of the verse, making it somewhat emphatic.
[10:18] 14 tn This is probably best taken as allusion to Isa 14:12; the phrase in common is ἐκ τοῦ οὐρανοῦ (ek tou ouranou). These exorcisms in Jesus’ name are a picture of Satan’s greater defeat at Jesus’ hands (D. L. Bock, Luke [BECNT], 2:1006-7).
[10:19] 13 tn Or perhaps, “trample on” (which emphasizes the impact of the feet on the snakes). See L&N 15.226.
[10:19] 14 sn Snakes and scorpions are examples of the hostility in the creation that is defeated by Jesus. The use of battle imagery shows who the kingdom fights against. See Acts 28:3-6.
[10:19] 15 tn Or “I have given you authority to tread on snakes and scorpions, and [authority] over the full force of the enemy.” The second prepositional phrase can be taken either as modifying the infinitive πατεῖν (patein, “to tread”) or the noun ἐξουσίαν (exousian, “power”). The former is to be preferred and has been represented in the translation.
[10:19] 16 tn This is an emphatic double negative in the Greek text.
[10:20] 15 tn Grk “do not rejoice in this, that.” This is awkward in contemporary English and has been simplified to “do not rejoice that.”
[10:20] 16 tn The verb here is a present imperative, so the call is to an attitude of rejoicing.
[10:20] 17 tn The verb here, a perfect tense, stresses a present reality of that which was a completed action, that is, their names were etched in the heavenly stone, as it were.
[10:21] 17 tn Grk “In that same hour” (L&N 67.1).
[10:21] 18 tn Grk “he”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[10:21] 19 sn Jesus rejoiced. The account of the mission in 10:1-24 ends with several remarks about joy.
[10:21] 21 sn The title Lord is an important name for God, showing his sovereignty, but it is interesting that it comes next to a reference to the Father, a term indicative of God’s care. The two concepts are often related in the NT; see Eph 1:3-6.
[10:21] 23 sn See 1 Cor 1:26-31.
[10:21] 24 tn Grk “for (to do) thus was well pleasing before you,” BDAG 325 s.v. ἔμπροσθεν 1.δ; speaking of something taking place “before” God is a reverential way of avoiding direct connection of the action to him.
