Luke 17:20

The Coming of the Kingdom

17:20 Now at one point ¹  the Pharisees ²  asked Jesus ³  when the kingdom of God ⁴  was coming, so he answered, “The kingdom of God is not coming with signs ⁵  to be observed,

Acts 1:6

1:6 So when they had gathered together, they began to ask him, ⁶  “Lord, is this the time when you are restoring the kingdom to Israel?”

Acts 1:2

1:2 until the day he was taken up to heaven, ⁷  after he had given orders ⁸  by ⁹  the Holy Spirit to the apostles he had chosen.

Acts 2:1-3

The Holy Spirit and the Day of Pentecost

2:1 Now ¹⁰  when the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place. 2:2 Suddenly ¹¹  a sound ¹²  like a violent wind blowing ¹³  came from heaven ¹⁴  and filled the entire house where they were sitting. 2:3 And tongues spreading out like a fire ¹⁵  appeared to them and came to rest on each one of them.

[17:20]  ¹ tn The words “at one point” are supplied to indicate that the following incident is not necessarily in chronological sequence with the preceding event.

[17:20]  ² sn See the note on Pharisees in 5:17.

[17:20]  ³ tn Grk “having been asked by the Pharisees.” The passive construction has been translated as an active one in keeping with contemporary English style, and the direct object, Jesus, has been supplied from the context.

[17:20]  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.

[17:20]  ⁵ tn Or “is not coming in a way that it can be closely watched” (L&N 24.48). Although there are differing interpretations of what this means, it probably refers to the cosmic signs often associated with the kingdom’s coming in the Jewish view (1 En. 91, 93; 2 Bar. 53—74). See D. L. Bock, Luke (BECNT), 2:1412-14, also H. Riesenfeld, TDNT 8:150.

[1:6]  ⁶ tn Grk “they began to ask him, saying.” The participle λέγοντες (legontes) is redundant in contemporary English and has not been translated. The imperfect tense of the Greek verb ἠρώτων (hrwtwn) has been translated as an ingressive imperfect.

[1:2]  ⁷ tn The words “to heaven” are not in the Greek text, but are supplied from v. 11. Several modern translations (NIV, NRSV) supply the words “to heaven” after “taken up” to specify the destination explicitly mentioned later in 1:11.

[1:2]  ⁸ tn Or “commands.” Although some modern translations render ἐντειλάμενος (enteilameno") as “instructions” (NIV, NRSV), the word implies authority or official sanction (G. Schrenk, TDNT 2:545), so that a word like “orders” conveys the idea more effectively. The action of the temporal participle is antecedent (prior) to the action of the verb it modifies (“taken up”).

[1:2]  ⁹ tn Or “through.”

[2:1]  ¹⁰ tn Grk “And” Here καί (kai) has been translated as “now” to indicate the transition to a new topic. Greek style often begins sentences or clauses with “and,” but English style does not.

[2:2]  ¹¹ tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated for stylistic reasons. It occurs as part of the formula καὶ ἐγένετο (kai egeneto) which is often left untranslated in Luke-Acts because it is redundant in contemporary English. Here it is possible (and indeed necessary) to translate ἐγένετο as “came” so that the initial clause of the English translation contains a verb; nevertheless the translation of the conjunction καί is not necessary.

[2:2]  ¹² tn Or “a noise.”

[2:2]  ¹³ tn While φέρω (ferw) generally refers to movement from one place to another with the possible implication of causing the movement of other objects, in Acts 2:2 φέρομαι (feromai) should probably be understood in a more idiomatic sense of “blowing” since it is combined with the noun for wind (πνοή, pnoh).

[2:2]  ¹⁴ tn Or “from the sky.” The Greek word οὐρανός (ouranos) may be translated “sky” or “heaven” depending on the context.

[2:3]  ¹⁵ tn Or “And divided tongues as of fire.” The precise meaning of διαμερίζομαι (diamerizomai) in Acts 2:3 is difficult to determine. The meaning could be “tongues as of fire dividing up one to each person,” but it is also possible that the individual tongues of fire were divided (“And divided tongues as of fire appeared”). The translation adopted in the text (“tongues spreading out like a fire”) attempts to be somewhat ambiguous.