Luke 11:24-36

Response to Jesus’ Work

11:24 “When an unclean spirit ¹  goes out of a person, ²  it passes through waterless places ³  looking for rest but ⁴  not finding any. Then ⁵  it says, ‘I will return to the home I left.’ ⁶  11:25 When it returns, ⁷  it finds the house ⁸  swept clean and put in order. ⁹  11:26 Then it goes and brings seven other spirits more evil than itself, and they go in and live there, so ¹⁰  the last state of that person ¹¹  is worse than the first.” ¹² 

11:27 As ¹³  he said these things, a woman in the crowd spoke out ¹⁴  to him, “Blessed is the womb ¹⁵  that bore you and the breasts at which you nursed!” ¹⁶  11:28 But he replied, ¹⁷  “Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and obey ¹⁸  it!”

The Sign of Jonah

11:29 As ¹⁹  the crowds were increasing, Jesus ²⁰  began to say, “This generation is a wicked generation; it looks for a sign, ²¹  but no sign will be given to it except the sign of Jonah. ²²  11:30 For just as Jonah became a sign to the people of Nineveh, ²³  so the Son of Man will be a sign ²⁴  to this generation. ²⁵  11:31 The queen of the South ²⁶  will rise up at the judgment ²⁷  with the people ²⁸  of this generation and condemn them, because she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon – and now, ²⁹  something greater ³⁰  than Solomon is here! 11:32 The people ³¹  of Nineveh will stand up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it, because they repented when Jonah preached to them ³²  – and now, ³³  something greater than Jonah is here!

Internal Light

11:33 “No one after lighting a lamp puts it in a hidden place ³⁴  or under a basket, ³⁵  but on a lampstand, so that those who come in can see the light. 11:34 Your eye is the lamp of your body. When your eye is healthy, ³⁶  your whole body is full of light, but when it is diseased, ³⁷  your body is full of darkness. 11:35 Therefore see to it ³⁸  that the light in you ³⁹  is not darkness. 11:36 If ⁴⁰  then ⁴¹  your whole body is full of light, with no part in the dark, ⁴²  it will be as full of light as when the light of a lamp shines on you.” ⁴³ 

[11:24]  ¹ sn This is a reference to an evil spirit. See Luke 4:33.

[11:24]  ² tn Grk “man.” This is a generic use of ἄνθρωπος (anqrwpo"), referring to both males and females.

[11:24]  ³ sn The background for the reference to waterless places is not entirely clear, though some Jewish texts suggest spirits must have a place to dwell, but not with water (Luke 8:29-31; Tob 8:3). Some suggest that the image of the desert or deserted cities as the places demons dwell is where this idea started (Isa 13:21; 34:14).

[11:24]  ⁴ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “but” to indicate the contrast present in this context.

[11:24]  ⁵ tc ‡ Most mss, including a few early and important ones (Ì⁴⁵ א* A C D W Ψ Ë^1,13 Ï lat), lack τότε (tote, “then”). Other mss, including some early and important ones (Ì⁷⁵ א² B L Θ Ξ 070 33 579 892 1241 pc co), have the adverb. Although the external evidence better supports the longer reading, the internal evidence is on the side of the shorter, for conjunctions and adverbs were frequently added by copyists to remove asyndeton and to add clarification. The shorter reading is thus preferred. The translation, however, adds “Then” because of English stylistic requirements. NA²⁷ has τότε in brackets indicating doubts as to its authenticity.

[11:24]  ⁶ tn Grk “I will return to my house from which I came.”

[11:25]  ⁷ tn Grk “comes.”

[11:25]  ⁸ tn The words “the house” are not in Greek but are implied.

[11:25]  ⁹ sn The image of the house swept clean and put in order refers to the life of the person from whom the demon departed. The key to the example appears to be that no one else has been invited in to dwell. If an exorcism occurs and there is no response to God, then the way is free for the demon to return. Some see the reference to exorcism as more symbolic; thus the story’s only point is about responding to Jesus. This is possible and certainly is an application of the passage.

[11:26]  ¹³ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “so” to indicate the concluding point of the story.

[11:26]  ¹⁴ tn Grk “man.” This is a generic use of ἄνθρωπος (anqrwpo"), referring to both males and females.

[11:26]  ¹⁵ sn The point of the story is that to fail to respond is to risk a worse fate than when one started.

[11:27]  ¹⁹ tn Grk “And it happened that as.” The introductory phrase ἐγένετο (egeneto, “it happened that”), common in Luke (69 times) and Acts (54 times), is redundant in contemporary English and has not been translated. Here δέ (de) has not been translated.

[11:27]  ²⁰ tn Grk “lifted up her voice and said.” This idiom is somewhat redundant in contemporary English and has been simplified to “spoke out.”

[11:27]  ²¹ tn For this term see L&N 8.69.

[11:27]  ²² sn Both the reference to the womb and the breasts form a figure of speech called metonymy. In this case the parts are mentioned instead of the whole; the meaning is “Blessed is your mother!” The warnings seem to have sparked a little nervousness that brought forth this response. In the culture a mother was valued for the accomplishments of her son. So this amounts to a compliment to Jesus.

[11:28]  ²⁵ tn Grk “said.”

[11:28]  ²⁶ sn This is another reference to hearing and doing the word of God, which here describes Jesus’ teaching; see Luke 8:21.

[11:29]  ³¹ tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated.

[11:29]  ³² tn Grk “he”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[11:29]  ³³ sn The mention of a sign alludes back to Luke 11:16. Given what Jesus had done, nothing would be good enough. This leads to the rebuke that follows.

[11:29]  ³⁴ sn As the following comparisons to Solomon and Jonah show, in the present context the sign of Jonah is not an allusion to Jonah being three days in the belly of the fish, but to Jesus’ teaching about wisdom and repentance.

[11:30]  ³⁷ tn Grk “to the Ninevites.” What the Ninevites experienced was Jonah’s message (Jonah 3:4, 10; 4:1).

[11:30]  ³⁸ tn The repetition of the words “a sign” are not in the Greek text, but are implied and are supplied here for clarity.

[11:30]  ³⁹ tc Only the Western ms D and a few Itala mss add here a long reference to Jonah being in the belly of the fish for three days and nights and the Son of Man being three days in the earth, apparently harmonizing the text to the parallel in Matt 12:40.

[11:31]  ⁴³ sn On the queen of the South see 1 Kgs 10:1-3 and 2 Chr 9:1-12, as well as Josephus, Ant. 8.6.5-6 (8.165-175). The South most likely refers to modern southwest Arabia, possibly the eastern part of modern Yemen, although there is an ancient tradition reflected in Josephus which identifies this geo-political entity as Ethiopia.

[11:31]  ⁴⁴ sn For the imagery of judgment, see Luke 10:13-15 and 11:19. The warnings are coming consistently now.

[11:31]  ⁴⁵ tn Grk “men”; the word here (ἀνήρ, anhr) usually indicates males or husbands, but occasionally is used in a generic sense of people in general, as is the case here (cf. BDAG 79 s.v. 1, 2). The same term, translated the same way, occurs in v. 32.

[11:31]  ⁴⁶ tn Grk “behold.”

[11:31]  ⁴⁷ sn The message of Jesus was something greater than what Solomon offered. On Jesus and wisdom, see Luke 7:35; 10:21-22; 1 Cor 1:24, 30.

[11:32]  ⁴⁹ tn See the note on the word “people” in v. 31.

[11:32]  ⁵⁰ tn Grk “at the preaching of Jonah.”

[11:32]  ⁵¹ tn Grk “behold.”

[11:33]  ⁵⁵ tn Or perhaps “in a cellar” (L&N 28.78). The point is that the light of Jesus’ teaching has been put in public view.

[11:33]  ⁵⁶ tc The phrase “or under a basket” is lacking in some important and early mss (Ì^45,75 L Γ Ξ 070 ˹ 700* 1241 2542 pc sy^s sa). It is hard to decide in this case, since the inclusion of “or under a basket” is widely attested by some early and decent witnesses, as well as the overwhelming majority of mss (א A B C D W Θ Ψ Ë¹³ Ï latt). The parallel passage in Luke 8:16 does not include “under a basket.” If the phrase “under a basket” were added as a harmonization with Mark 4:21 and Matt 5:15, it is perhaps surprising that scribes did not add the phrase at Luke 8:16 as well. It seems somewhat more likely that a scribe copying Luke would be inclined to harmonize 11:33 with 8:16 by omitting the phrase here. Thus, the words “or under a basket” seem to have the marks of authenticity.

[11:34]  ⁶¹ tn Or “sound” (so L&N 23.132 and most scholars). A few scholars take this word to mean something like “generous” here (L&N 57.107), partly due to the immediate context of this saying in Matt 6:22 which concerns money, in which case the “eye” is a metonymy for the entire person (“if you are generous”).

[11:34]  ⁶² tn Or “when it is sick” (L&N 23.149).

[11:35]  ⁶⁷ tn This is a present imperative, calling for a constant watch (L&N 24.32; ExSyn 721).

[11:35]  ⁶⁸ sn Here you is a singular pronoun, individualizing the application.

[11:36]  ⁷³ tn This is a first class condition in the Greek text, so the example ends on a hopeful, positive note.

[11:36]  ⁷⁴ tn Grk “Therefore”; the same conjunction as at the beginning of v. 35, but since it indicates a further inference or conclusion, it has been translated “then” here.

[11:36]  ⁷⁵ tn Grk “not having any part dark.”

[11:36]  ⁷⁶ tn Grk “it will be completely illumined as when a lamp illumines you with its rays.”