Luke 13:18

On the Kingdom of God

13:18 Thus Jesus ¹  asked, ²  “What is the kingdom of God ³  like? ⁴  To ⁵  what should I compare it?

Luke 13:20-21

13:20 Again ⁶  he said, “To what should I compare the kingdom of God? ⁷  13:21 It is like yeast that a woman took and mixed with ⁸  three measures ⁹  of flour until all the dough had risen.” ¹⁰ 

[13:18]  ¹ tn Grk “he”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[13:18]  ² tn Grk “said,” but what follows is a question.

[13:18]  ³ sn The kingdom of God is a major theme of Jesus. It is a realm in which Jesus rules and to which those who trust him belong. See Luke 6:20; 11:20; 17:20-21.

[13:18]  ⁴ sn What is the kingdom of God like? Unlike Mark 4 or Matt 13, where the kingdom parables tend to be all in one location in the narrative, Luke scatters his examples throughout the Gospel.

[13:18]  ⁵ tn Grk “And to.” Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

[13:20]  ⁶ tn Grk “And again.” Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

[13:20]  ⁷ sn The kingdom of God is a major theme of Jesus. It is a realm in which Jesus rules and to which those who trust him belong. See Luke 6:20; 11:20; 17:20-21.

[13:21]  ⁸ tn Grk “hid in.”

[13:21]  ⁹ sn This measure was a saton, the Greek name for the Hebrew term “seah.” Three of these was a very large quantity of flour, since a saton is a little over 16 lbs (7 kg) of dry measure (or 13.13 liters). So this was over 47 lbs (21 kg) of flour total, enough to feed over a hundred people.

[13:21]  ¹⁰ tn Grk “it was all leavened.”