Luke 2:22

Jesus’ Presentation at the Temple

2:22 Now ¹  when the time came for their ²  purification according to the law of Moses, Joseph and Mary ³  brought Jesus ⁴  up to Jerusalem ⁵  to present him to the Lord

Luke 2:24

2:24 and to offer a sacrifice according to what is specified in the law of the Lord, a pair of doves ⁶  or two young pigeons. ⁷ 

Luke 2:27

2:27 So ⁸  Simeon, ⁹  directed by the Spirit, ¹⁰  came into the temple courts, ¹¹  and when the parents brought in the child Jesus to do for him what was customary according to the law, ¹² 

Luke 2:39

2:39 So ¹³  when Joseph and Mary ¹⁴  had performed ¹⁵  everything according to the law of the Lord, ¹⁶  they returned to Galilee, to their own town ¹⁷  of Nazareth. ¹⁸ 

Luke 16:16

16:16 “The law and the prophets were in force ¹⁹  until John; ²⁰  since then, ²¹  the good news of the kingdom of God ²²  has been proclaimed, and everyone is urged to enter it. ²³ 

[2:22]  ¹ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “now” to indicate the transition to a new topic.

[2:22]  ² tc The translation follows most mss, including early and important ones ({א A B L}). Some copyists, aware that the purification law applied to women only, produced mss ({76 it^pt vg} [though the Latin word eius could be either masculine or feminine]) that read “her purification.” But the extant evidence for an unambiguous “her” is shut up to one late minuscule ({codex 76}) and a couple of patristic citations of dubious worth ({Pseudo-Athanasius} whose date is unknown, and the {Catenae in euangelia Lucae et Joannis}, edited by J. A. Cramer. The Catenae is a work of collected patristic sayings whose exact source is unknown [thus, it could come from a period covering hundreds of years]). A few other witnesses (D pc lat) read “his purification.” The KJV has “her purification,” following Beza’s Greek text (essentially a revision of Erasmus’). Erasmus did not have it in any of his five editions. Most likely Beza put in the feminine form αὐτῆς (auths) because, recognizing that the eius found in several Latin mss could be read either as a masculine or a feminine, he made the contextually more satisfying choice of the feminine. Perhaps it crept into one or two late Greek witnesses via this interpretive Latin back-translation. So the evidence for the feminine singular is virtually nonexistent, while the masculine singular αὐτοῦ (autou, “his”) was a clear scribal blunder. There can be no doubt that “their purification” is the authentic reading.

[2:22]  ³ tn Grk “they”; the referents (Joseph and Mary) have been specified in the translation for clarity.

[2:22]  ⁴ tn Grk “him”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[2:22]  ⁵ map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

[2:24]  ⁶ sn The offering of a pair of doves or two young pigeons, instead of a lamb, speaks of the humble roots of Jesus’ family – they apparently could not afford the expense of a lamb.

[2:24]  ⁷ sn A quotation from Lev 12:8; 5:11 (LXX).

[2:27]  ¹¹ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “so” to indicate the consequential nature of the action.

[2:27]  ¹² tn Grk “he”; the referent (Simeon) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[2:27]  ¹³ tn Grk “So in the Spirit” or “So by the Spirit,” but since it refers to the Spirit’s direction the expanded translation “directed by the Spirit” is used here.

[2:27]  ¹⁴ tn Grk “the temple.”

[2:27]  ¹⁵ tn Grk “to do for him according to the custom of the law.” See Luke 2:22-24.

[2:39]  ¹⁶ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “so” to indicate the conclusion of the topic.

[2:39]  ¹⁷ tn Grk “when they”; the referents (Joseph and Mary) have been specified in the translation for clarity.

[2:39]  ¹⁸ tn Or “completed.”

[2:39]  ¹⁹ sn On the phrase the law of the Lord see Luke 2:22-23.

[2:39]  ²⁰ tn Or “city.”

[2:39]  ²¹ map For location see Map1 D3; Map2 C2; Map3 D5; Map4 C1; Map5 G3.

[16:16]  ²¹ 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]  ²² sn John refers to John the Baptist.

[16:16]  ²³ sn Until John; since then. This verse indicates a shift in era, from law to kingdom.

[16:16]  ²⁴ 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]  ²⁵ 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.