Luke 13:8-9

13:8 But the worker ¹  answered him, ‘Sir, leave it alone this year too, until I dig around it and put fertilizer ²  on it. 13:9 Then if ³  it bears fruit next year, ⁴  very well, ⁵  but if ⁶  not, you can cut it down.’”

Luke 13:34

13:34 O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, ⁷  you who kill the prophets and stone those who are sent to you! ⁸  How often I have longed ⁹  to gather your children together as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but ¹⁰  you would have none of it! ¹¹ 

[13:8]  ¹ tn Grk “he”; the referent (the worker who tended the vineyard) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[13:8]  ² tn Grk “toss manure [on it].” This is a reference to manure used as fertilizer.

[13:9]  ³ tn This is a third class condition in the Greek text. The conjunction καί (kai, a component of κάν [kan]) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the narrative.

[13:9]  ⁴ tn Grk “the coming [season].”

[13:9]  ⁵ tn The phrase “very well” is supplied in the translation to complete the elided idea, but its absence is telling.

[13:9]  ⁶ tn This is a first class condition in the Greek text, showing which of the options is assumed.

[13:34]  ⁷ sn The double use of the city’s name betrays intense emotion.

[13:34]  ⁸ tn Although the opening address (“Jerusalem, Jerusalem”) is direct (second person), the remainder of this sentence in the Greek text is third person (“who kills the prophets and stones those sent to her”). The following sentences then revert to second person (“your… you”), so to keep all this consistent in English, the third person pronouns in the present verse were translated as second person (“you who kill… sent to you”).

[13:34]  ⁹ sn How often I have longed to gather your children. Jesus, like a lamenting prophet, speaks for God here, who longed to care tenderly for Israel and protect her.

[13:34]  ¹⁰ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “but” to indicate the contrast present in this context.

[13:34]  ¹¹ tn Grk “you were not willing.”