Luke 11:53-54

11:53 When he went out from there, the experts in the law ¹  and the Pharisees began to oppose him bitterly, ²  and to ask him hostile questions ³  about many things, 11:54 plotting against ⁴  him, to catch ⁵  him in something he might say.

Luke 13:31-33

Going to Jerusalem

13:31 At that time, ⁶  some Pharisees ⁷  came up and said to Jesus, ⁸  “Get away from here, ⁹  because Herod ¹⁰  wants to kill you.” 13:32 But ¹¹  he said to them, “Go ¹²  and tell that fox, ¹³  ‘Look, I am casting out demons and performing healings today and tomorrow, and on the third day ¹⁴  I will complete my work. ¹⁵  13:33 Nevertheless I must ¹⁶  go on my way today and tomorrow and the next day, because it is impossible ¹⁷  that a prophet should be killed ¹⁸  outside Jerusalem.’ ¹⁹ 

Luke 19:39-40

19:39 But ²⁰  some of the Pharisees ²¹  in the crowd said to him, “Teacher, rebuke your disciples.” ²²  19:40 He answered, ²³  “I tell you, if they ²⁴  keep silent, the very stones ²⁵  will cry out!”

John 9:4

9:4 We must perform the deeds ²⁶  of the one who sent me ²⁷  as long as ²⁸  it is daytime. Night is coming when no one can work.

John 11:8-10

11:8 The disciples replied, ²⁹  “Rabbi, the Jewish leaders ³⁰  were just now trying ³¹  to stone you to death! Are ³²  you going there again?” 11:9 Jesus replied, ³³  “Are there not twelve hours in a day? If anyone walks around in the daytime, he does not stumble, ³⁴  because he sees the light of this world. ³⁵  11:10 But if anyone walks around at night, ³⁶  he stumbles, ³⁷  because the light is not in him.”

John 12:17-19

12:17 So the crowd who had been with him when he called Lazarus out of the tomb and raised him from the dead were continuing to testify about it. ³⁸  12:18 Because they had heard that Jesus ³⁹  had performed this miraculous sign, the crowd went out to meet him. 12:19 Thus the Pharisees ⁴⁰  said to one another, “You see that you can do nothing. Look, the world has run off after him!”

[11:53]  ¹ tn Or “the scribes.” See the note on the phrase “experts in the law” in 5:21.

[11:53]  ² tn Or “terribly.”

[11:53]  ³ tn For this term see L&N 33.183.

[11:54]  ⁴ tn Grk “lying in ambush against,” but this is a figurative extension of that meaning.

[11:54]  ⁵ tn This term was often used in a hunting context (BDAG 455 s.v. θηρεύω; L&N 27.30). Later examples of this appear in Luke 20.

[13:31]  ⁶ tn Grk “At that very hour.”

[13:31]  ⁷ sn See the note on Pharisees in 5:17.

[13:31]  ⁸ tn Grk “him”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[13:31]  ⁹ tn Grk “Go away and leave from here,” which is redundant in English and has been shortened to “Get away from here.”

[13:31]  ¹⁰ sn Herod refers here to Herod Antipas. See the note on Herod Antipas in 3:1.

[13:32]  ¹¹ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “but” to indicate the contrast present in this context.

[13:32]  ¹² tn The participle πορευθέντες (poreuqente") has been taken as indicating attendant circumstance.

[13:32]  ¹³ sn That fox. This is not fundamentally a figure for cleverness as in modern western culture, but could indicate (1) an insignificant person (Neh 4:3; 2 Esd 13:35 LXX); (2) a deceiver (Song Rabbah 2.15.1 on 2:15); or someone destructive, a destroyer (Ezek 13:4; Lam 5:18; 1 En. 89:10, 42-49, 55). Luke’s emphasis seems to be on destructiveness, since Herod killed John the Baptist, whom Luke calls “the greatest born of women” (Luke 7:28) and later stands opposed to Jesus (Acts 4:26-28). In addition, “a person who is designated a fox is an insignificant or base person. He lacks real power and dignity, using cunning deceit to achieve his aims” (H. W. Hoehner, Herod Antipas [SNTSMS], 347).

[13:32]  ¹⁴ sn The third day is a figurative reference to being further on in time, not a reference to three days from now. Jesus is not even in Jerusalem yet, and the events of the last days in Jerusalem take a good week.

[13:32]  ¹⁵ tn Or “I reach my goal.” The verb τελειόω (teleiow) is a key NT term for the completion of God’s plan: See Luke 12:50; 22:37; John 19:30; and (where it has the additional component of meaning “to perfect”) Heb 2:10; 5:8-9; 7:28.

[13:33]  ¹⁶ tn This is the frequent expression δεῖ (dei, “it is necessary”) that notes something that is a part of God’s plan.

[13:33]  ¹⁷ tn Or “unthinkable.” See L&N 71.4 for both possible meanings.

[13:33]  ¹⁸ tn Or “should perish away from.”

[13:33]  ¹⁹ sn Death in Jerusalem is another key theme in Luke’s material: 7:16, 34; 24:19; Acts 3:22-23. Notice that Jesus sees himself in the role of a prophet here. Jesus’ statement, it is impossible that a prophet should be killed outside Jerusalem, is filled with irony; Jesus, traveling about in Galilee (most likely), has nothing to fear from Herod; it is his own people living in the very center of Jewish religion and worship who present the greatest danger to his life. The underlying idea is that Jerusalem, though she stands at the very heart of the worship of God, often kills the prophets God sends to her (v. 34). In the end, Herod will be much less a threat than Jerusalem.

[19:39]  ²⁰ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “but” to indicate the contrast present in this context. Not all present are willing to join in the acclamation.

[19:39]  ²¹ sn See the note on Pharisees in 5:17.

[19:39]  ²² sn Teacher, rebuke your disciples. The Pharisees were complaining that the claims were too great.

[19:40]  ²³ tn Grk “and answering, he said.” This has been simplified in the translation to “He answered.” Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

[19:40]  ²⁴ tn Grk “these.”

[19:40]  ²⁵ sn This statement amounts to a rebuke. The idiom of creation speaking means that even creation knows what is taking place, yet the Pharisees miss it. On this idiom, see Gen 4:10 and Hab 2:11.

[9:4]  ²⁶ tn Grk “We must work the works.”

[9:4]  ²⁷ tn Or “of him who sent me” (God).

[9:4]  ²⁸ tn Or “while.”

[11:8]  ²⁹ tn Grk “The disciples said to him.”

[11:8]  ³⁰ tn Or “the Jewish authorities”; Grk “the Jews.” In NT usage the term ᾿Ιουδαῖοι (Ioudaioi) may refer to the entire Jewish people, the residents of Jerusalem and surrounding territory, the authorities in Jerusalem, or merely those who were hostile to Jesus. (For further information see R. G. Bratcher, “‘The Jews’ in the Gospel of John,” BT 26 [1975]: 401-9.) Here the phrase refers to the Jewish leaders. See the previous references and the notes on the phrase “Jewish people” in v. 19, and “Jewish religious leaders” in vv. 24, 31, 33.

[11:8]  ³¹ tn Grk “seeking.”

[11:8]  ³² tn Grk “And are.” Because of the difference between Greek style, which often begins sentences or clauses with “and,” and English style, which generally does not, καί (kai) has not been translated here.

[11:9]  ³³ tn Grk “Jesus answered.”

[11:9]  ³⁴ tn Or “he does not trip.”

[11:9]  ³⁵ sn What is the light of this world? On one level, of course, it refers to the sun, but the reader of John’s Gospel would recall 8:12 and understand Jesus’ symbolic reference to himself as the light of the world. There is only a limited time left (Are there not twelve hours in a day?) until the Light will be withdrawn (until Jesus returns to the Father) and the one who walks around in the dark will trip and fall (compare the departure of Judas by night in 13:30).

[11:10]  ³⁶ tn Grk “in the night.”

[11:10]  ³⁷ tn Or “he trips.”

[12:17]  ³⁸ tn The word “it” is not included in the Greek text. Direct objects in Greek were often omitted when clear from the context.

[12:18]  ³⁹ tn Grk “he”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[12:19]  ⁴⁰ sn See the note on Pharisees in 1:24.