Luke 16:16-17

16:16 “The law and the prophets were in force ¹  until John; ²  since then, ³  the good news of the kingdom of God ⁴  has been proclaimed, and everyone is urged to enter it. ⁵  16:17 But it is easier for heaven and earth to pass away than for one tiny stroke of a letter ⁶  in the law to become void. ⁷ 

[16:16]  ¹ tn There is no verb in the Greek text; one must be supplied. Some translations (NASB, NIV) supply “proclaimed” based on the parallelism with the proclamation of the kingdom. The transitional nature of this verse, however, seems to call for something more like “in effect” (NRSV) or, as used here, “in force.” Further, Greek generally can omit one of two kinds of verbs – either the equative verb or one that is already mentioned in the preceding context (ExSyn 39).

[16:16]  ² sn John refers to John the Baptist.

[16:16]  ³ sn Until John; since then. This verse indicates a shift in era, from law to kingdom.

[16:16]  ⁴ 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.

[16:16]  ⁵ tn Many translations have “entereth violently into it” (ASV) or “is forcing his way into it” (NASB, NIV). This is not true of everyone. It is better to read the verb here as passive rather than middle, and in a softened sense of “be urged.” See Gen 33:11; Judg 13:15-16; 19:7; 2 Sam 3:25, 27 in the LXX. This fits the context well because it agrees with Jesus’ attempt to persuade his opponents to respond morally. For further discussion and details, see D. L. Bock, Luke (BECNT), 2:1352-53.

[16:17]  ⁶ tn Or “one small part of a letter” (L&N 33.37).

[16:17]  ⁷ tn Grk “to fall”; that is, “to drop out of the text.” Jesus’ point may be that the law is going to reach its goal without fail, in that the era of the promised kingdom comes.