Luke 2:40

2:40 And the child grew and became strong, ¹  filled with wisdom, ²  and the favor ³  of God ⁴  was upon him.

Luke 1:80

1:80 And the child kept growing ⁵  and becoming strong ⁶  in spirit, and he was in the wilderness ⁷  until the day he was revealed ⁸  to Israel.

Luke 12:27

12:27 Consider how the flowers ⁹  grow; they do not work ¹⁰  or spin. Yet I tell you, not even Solomon in all his glory was clothed like one of these!

Luke 13:19

13:19 It is like a mustard seed ¹¹  that a man took and sowed ¹²  in his garden. It ¹³  grew and became a tree, ¹⁴  and the wild birds ¹⁵  nested in its branches.” ¹⁶ 

[2:40]  ¹ tc Most mss (A Θ Ψ Ë^1,13 33 Ï) read πνεύματι (pneumati, “in spirit”) after “became strong,” but this looks like an assimilation to Luke 1:80. The better witnesses (א B D L N W pc lat co) lack the word.

[2:40]  ² sn With the description grew and became strong, filled with wisdom Luke emphasizes the humanity of Jesus and his growth toward maturity.

[2:40]  ³ tn Or “grace.”

[2:40]  ⁴ sn On the phrase the favor of God see Luke 1:66.

[1:80]  ⁵ tn This verb is imperfect.

[1:80]  ⁶ tn This verb is also imperfect.

[1:80]  ⁷ tn Or “desert.”

[1:80]  ⁸ tn Grk “until the day of his revealing.”

[12:27]  ⁹ tn Traditionally, “lilies.” According to L&N 3.32, “Though traditionally κρίνον has been regarded as a type of lily, scholars have suggested several other possible types of flowers, including an anemone, a poppy, a gladiolus, and a rather inconspicuous type of daisy.” In view of the uncertainty, the more generic “flowers” has been used in the translation.

[12:27]  ¹⁰ tn Traditionally, “toil.” Although it might be argued that “work hard” would be a more precise translation of κοπιάω (kopiaw) here, the line in English scans better in terms of cadence with a single syllable.

[13:19]  ¹³ sn The mustard seed was noted for its tiny size.

[13:19]  ¹⁴ tn Grk “threw.”

[13:19]  ¹⁵ tn Grk “garden, and it.” Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style. Because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, a new sentence was started here in the translation.

[13:19]  ¹⁶ sn Calling the mustard plant a tree is rhetorical hyperbole, since technically it is not one. This plant could be one of two types of mustard popular in Palestine and would be either 10 or 25 ft (3 or 7.5 m) tall.

[13:19]  ¹⁷ tn Grk “the birds of the sky” or “the birds of the heaven”; the Greek word οὐρανός (ouranos) may be translated either “sky” or “heaven,” depending on the context. The idiomatic expression “birds of the sky” refers to wild birds as opposed to domesticated fowl (cf. BDAG 809 s.v. πετεινόν).

[13:19]  ¹⁸ sn The point of the parable seems to be that while the kingdom of God may appear to have insignificant and unnoticeable beginnings (i.e., in the ministry of Jesus), it will someday (i.e., at the second advent) be great and quite expansive. The kingdom, however, is not to be equated with the church, but rather the church is an expression of the kingdom. Also, there is important OT background in the image of the mustard seed that grew and became a tree: Ezek 17:22-24 pictures the reemergence of the Davidic house where people can find calm and shelter. Like the mustard seed, it would start out small but grow to significant size.