Luke 2:37

2:37 She had lived as a widow since then for eighty-four years. ¹  She never left the temple, worshiping with fasting and prayer night and day. ² 

Luke 9:23

A Call to Discipleship

9:23 Then ³  he said to them all, ⁴  “If anyone wants to become my follower, ⁵  he must deny ⁶  himself, take up his cross daily, ⁷  and follow me.

Luke 19:47

19:47 Jesus ⁸  was teaching daily in the temple courts. The chief priests and the experts in the law ⁹  and the prominent leaders among the people were seeking to assassinate ¹⁰  him,

[2:37]  ¹ tn Grk “living with her husband for seven years from her virginity and she was a widow for eighty four years.” The chronology of the eighty-four years is unclear, since the final phrase could mean “she was widowed until the age of eighty-four” (so BDAG 423 s.v. ἕως 1.b.α). However, the more natural way to take the syntax is as a reference to the length of her widowhood, the subject of the clause, in which case Anna was about 105 years old (so D. L. Bock, Luke [BECNT], 1:251-52; I. H. Marshall, Luke, [NIGTC], 123-24).

[2:37]  ² sn The statements about Anna worshiping with fasting and prayer night and day make her extreme piety clear.

[9:23]  ³ tn Here δέ (de) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the narrative.

[9:23]  ⁴ sn Here them all could be limited to the disciples, since Jesus was alone with them in v. 18. It could also be that by this time the crowd had followed and found him, and he addressed them, or this could be construed as a separate occasion from the discussion with the disciples in 9:18-22. The cost of discipleship is something Jesus was willing to tell both insiders and outsiders about. The rejection he felt would also fall on his followers.

[9:23]  ⁵ tn Grk “to come after me.”

[9:23]  ⁶ tn This translation better expresses the force of the Greek third person imperative than the traditional “let him deny,” which could be understood as merely permissive.

[9:23]  ⁷ sn Only Luke mentions taking up one’s cross daily. To bear the cross means to accept the rejection of the world for turning to Jesus and following him. Discipleship involves a death that is like a crucifixion; see Gal 6:14.

[19:47]  ⁵ tn Grk “And he”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity. Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

[19:47]  ⁶ tn Grk “and the scribes.” See the note on the phrase “experts in the law” in 5:21.

[19:47]  ⁷ tn Grk “to destroy.”