Luke 20:38

20:38 Now he is not God of the dead, but of the living, ¹  for all live before him.” ² 

Luke 1:68

1:68 “Blessed ³  be the Lord God of Israel,

because he has come to help ⁴  and has redeemed ⁵  his people.

Luke 18:19

18:19 Jesus ⁶  said to him, “Why do you call me good? ⁷  No one is good except God alone.

Luke 1:32

1:32 He ⁸  will be great, ⁹  and will be called the Son of the Most High, ¹⁰  and the Lord God will give him the throne of his father ¹¹  David.

Luke 12:20

12:20 But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your life ¹²  will be demanded back from ¹³  you, but who will get what you have prepared for yourself?’ ¹⁴ 

Luke 12:28

12:28 And if ¹⁵  this is how God clothes the wild grass, ¹⁶  which is here ¹⁷  today and tomorrow is tossed into the fire to heat the oven, ¹⁸  how much more ¹⁹  will he clothe you, you people of little faith!

Luke 18:7

18:7 Won’t ²⁰  God give justice to his chosen ones, who cry out ²¹  to him day and night? ²²  Will he delay ²³  long to help them?

Luke 3:8

3:8 Therefore produce ²⁴  fruit ²⁵  that proves your repentance, and don’t begin to say ²⁶  to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father.’ ²⁷  For I tell you that God can raise up children for Abraham from these stones! ²⁸ 

Luke 5:21

5:21 Then ²⁹  the experts in the law ³⁰  and the Pharisees began to think ³¹  to themselves, ³²  “Who is this man ³³  who is uttering blasphemies? ³⁴  Who can forgive sins but God alone?”

Luke 7:16

7:16 Fear ³⁵  seized them all, and they began to glorify ³⁶  God, saying, “A great prophet ³⁷  has appeared ³⁸  among us!” and “God has come to help ³⁹  his people!”

Luke 8:39

8:39 “Return to your home, ⁴⁰  and declare ⁴¹  what God has done for you.” ⁴²  So ⁴³  he went away, proclaiming throughout the whole town ⁴⁴  what Jesus ⁴⁵  had done for him.

Luke 12:24

12:24 Consider the ravens: ⁴⁶  They do not sow or reap, they have no storeroom or barn, yet God feeds ⁴⁷  them. How much more valuable are you than the birds!

Luke 16:15

16:15 But ⁴⁸  Jesus ⁴⁹  said to them, “You are the ones who justify yourselves in men’s eyes, ⁵⁰  but God knows your hearts. For what is highly prized ⁵¹  among men is utterly detestable ⁵²  in God’s sight.

Luke 18:11

18:11 The Pharisee stood and prayed about himself like this: ⁵³  ‘God, I thank ⁵⁴  you that I am not like other people: ⁵⁵  extortionists, ⁵⁶  unrighteous people, ⁵⁷  adulterers – or even like this tax collector. ⁵⁸ 

Luke 18:13

18:13 The tax collector, however, stood ⁵⁹  far off and would not even look up ⁶⁰  to heaven, but beat his breast and said, ‘God, be merciful ⁶¹  to me, sinner that I am!’ ⁶² 

[20:38]  ¹ sn He is not God of the dead but of the living. Jesus’ point was that if God could identify himself as God of the three old patriarchs, then they must still be alive when God spoke to Moses; and so they must be raised.

[20:38]  ² tn On this syntax, see BDF §192. The point is that all live “to” God or “before” God.

[1:68]  ³ sn The traditional name of this psalm, the “Benedictus,” comes from the Latin wording of the start of the hymn (“Blessed be…”).

[1:68]  ⁴ sn The verb come to help can refer to a visit, but can also connote concern or assistance (L&N 85.11).

[1:68]  ⁵ tn Or “has delivered”; Grk “has accomplished redemption.”

[18:19]  ⁵ tn Grk “And Jesus.” Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

[18:19]  ⁶ sn Jesus’ response, Why do you call me good?, was designed to cause the ruler to stop and think for a moment about who Jesus really was. The following statement No one is good except God alone seems to point the man in the direction of Jesus’ essential nature and the demands which logically follow on the man for having said it.

[1:32]  ⁷ tn Grk “this one.”

[1:32]  ⁸ sn Compare the description of Jesus as great here with 1:15, “great before the Lord.” Jesus is greater than John, since he is Messiah compared to a prophet. Great is stated absolutely without qualification to make the point.

[1:32]  ⁹ sn The expression Most High is a way to refer to God without naming him. Such avoiding of direct reference to God was common in 1st century Judaism out of reverence for the divine name.

[1:32]  ¹⁰ tn Or “ancestor.”

[12:20]  ⁹ tn Grk “your soul,” but ψυχή (yuch) is frequently used of one’s physical life. It clearly has that meaning in this context.

[12:20]  ¹⁰ tn Or “required back.” This term, ἀπαιτέω (apaitew), has an economic feel to it and is often used of a debt being called in for repayment (BDAG 96 s.v. 1).

[12:20]  ¹¹ tn Grk “the things you have prepared, whose will they be?” The words “for yourself” are not in the Greek text, but are implied.

[12:28]  ¹¹ tn This is a first class condition in the Greek text.

[12:28]  ¹² tn Grk “grass in the field.”

[12:28]  ¹³ tn Grk “which is in the field today.”

[12:28]  ¹⁴ tn Grk “into the oven.” The expanded translation “into the fire to heat the oven” has been used to avoid misunderstanding; most items put into modern ovens are put there to be baked, not burned.

[12:28]  ¹⁵ sn The phrase how much more is a typical form of rabbinic argumentation, from the lesser to the greater. If God cares for the little things, surely he will care for the more important things.

[18:7]  ¹³ tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated.

[18:7]  ¹⁴ sn The prayers have to do with the righteous who cry out to him to receive justice. The context assumes the righteous are persecuted.

[18:7]  ¹⁵ tn The emphatic particles in this sentence indicate that God will indeed give justice to the righteous.

[18:7]  ¹⁶ sn The issue of delay has produced a whole host of views for this verse. (1) Does this assume provision to endure in the meantime? Or (2) does it mean God restricts the level of persecution until he comes? Either view is possible.

[3:8]  ¹⁵ tn The verb here is ποιέω (poiew; see v. 4).

[3:8]  ¹⁶ tn Grk “fruits.” The plural Greek term καρπούς has been translated with the collective singular “fruit” (so NIV; cf. Matt 3:8 where the singular καρπός is found). Some other translations render the plural καρπούς as “fruits” (e.g., NRSV, NASB, NAB, NKJV).

[3:8]  ¹⁷ tn In other words, “do not even begin to think this.”

[3:8]  ¹⁸ sn We have Abraham as our father. John’s warning to the crowds really assumes two things: (1) A number of John’s listeners apparently believed that simply by their physical descent from Abraham, they were certain heirs of the promises made to the patriarch, and (2) God would never judge his covenant people lest he inadvertently place the fulfillment of his promises in jeopardy. In light of this, John tells these people two things: (1) they need to repent and produce fruit in keeping with repentance, for only that saves from the coming wrath, and (2) God will raise up “children for Abraham from these stones” if he wants to. Their disobedience will not threaten the realization of God’s sovereign purposes.

[3:8]  ¹⁹ sn The point of the statement God is able from these stones to raise up children to Abraham is that ancestry or association with a tradition tied to the great founder of the Jewish nation is not an automatic source of salvation.

[5:21]  ¹⁷ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the narrative.

[5:21]  ¹⁸ tn Or “Then the scribes.” The traditional rendering of γραμματεύς (grammateu") as “scribe” does not communicate much to the modern English reader, for whom the term might mean “professional copyist,” if it means anything at all. The people referred to here were recognized experts in the law of Moses and in traditional laws and regulations. Thus “expert in the law” comes closer to the meaning for the modern reader.

[5:21]  ¹⁹ tn Or “to reason” (in a hostile sense). See G. Schrenk, TDNT 2:97.

[5:21]  ²⁰ tn The participle λέγοντες (legontes, “saying”) has not been translated because it is redundant in contemporary English.

[5:21]  ²¹ tn Grk “this one” (οὗτος, Joutos).

[5:21]  ²² sn Uttering blasphemies meant to say something that dishonored God. To claim divine prerogatives or claim to speak for God when one really does not would be such an act of offense. The remark raised directly the issue of the nature of Jesus’ ministry.

[7:16]  ¹⁹ tn Or “Awe.” Grk “fear,” but the context and the following remark show that it is mixed with wonder; see L&N 53.59. This is a reaction to God’s work; see Luke 5:9.

[7:16]  ²⁰ tn This imperfect verb has been translated as an ingressive imperfect.

[7:16]  ²¹ sn That Jesus was a great prophet was a natural conclusion for the crowd to make, given the healing; but Jesus is more than this. See Luke 9:8, 19-20.

[7:16]  ²² tn Grk “arisen.”

[7:16]  ²³ tn Grk “visited,” but this conveys a different impression to a modern reader. L&N 85.11 renders the verb, “to be present, with the implication of concern – ‘to be present to help, to be on hand to aid.’ … ‘God has come to help his people’ Lk 7:16.” The language recalls Luke 1:68, 78.

[8:39]  ²¹ tn Grk “your house.”

[8:39]  ²² tn Or “describe.”

[8:39]  ²³ sn Jesus instructs the man to declare what God has done for him, in contrast to the usual instructions (e.g., 8:56; 9:21) to remain silent. Here in Gentile territory Jesus allowed more open discussion of his ministry. D. L. Bock (Luke [BECNT], 1:781) suggests that with few Jewish religious representatives present, there would be less danger of misunderstanding Jesus’ ministry as political.

[8:39]  ²⁴ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “so” to indicate the man’s response to Jesus’ instructions.

[8:39]  ²⁵ tn Or “city.”

[8:39]  ²⁶ sn Note that the man could not separate what God had done from the one through whom God had done it (what Jesus had done for him). This man was called to witness to God’s goodness at home.

[12:24]  ²³ tn Or “crows.” Crows and ravens belong to the same family of birds. English uses “crow” as a general word for the family. Palestine has several indigenous members of the crow family.

[12:24]  ²⁴ tn Or “God gives them food to eat.” L&N 23.6 has both “to provide food for” and “to give food to someone to eat.”

[16:15]  ²⁵ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “but” to indicate the contrast present in this context.

[16:15]  ²⁶ tn Grk “he”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[16:15]  ²⁷ tn Grk “before men.” The contrast is between outward appearance (“in people’s eyes”) and inward reality (“God knows your hearts”). Here the Greek term ἄνθρωπος (anqrwpo") is used twice in a generic sense, referring to both men and women, but “men” has been retained in the text to provide a strong verbal contrast with “God” in the second half of the verse.

[16:15]  ²⁸ tn Or “exalted.” This refers to the pride that often comes with money and position.

[16:15]  ²⁹ tn Or “is an abomination,” “is abhorrent” (L&N 25.187).

[18:11]  ²⁷ tn Or “stood by himself and prayed like this.” The prepositional phrase πρὸς ἑαυτόν (pros eauton, “to/about himself”) could go with either the aorist participle σταθείς (staqeis, “stood”) or with the imperfect verb προσηύχετο (proshuceto, “he prayed”). If taken with the participle, then the meaning would seem at first glance to be: “stood ‘by himself’,” or “stood ‘alone’.” Now it is true that πρός can mean “by” or “with” when used with intransitive verbs such as ἵστημι ({isthmi, “I stand”; cf. BDAG 874 s.v. πρός 2.a), but πρὸς ἑαυτόν together never means “by himself” or “alone” in biblical Greek. On the other hand, if πρὸς ἑαυτόν is taken with the verb, then two different nuances emerge, both of which highlight in different ways the principal point Jesus seems to be making about the arrogance of this religious leader: (1) “prayed to himself,” but not necessarily silently, or (2) “prayed about himself,” with the connotation that he prayed out loud, for all to hear. Since his prayer is really a review of his moral résumé, directed both at advertising his own righteousness and exposing the perversion of the tax collector, whom he actually mentions in his prayer, the latter option seems preferable. If this is the case, then the Pharisee’s mention of God is really nothing more than a formality.

[18:11]  ²⁸ sn The Pharisee’s prayer started out as a thanksgiving psalm to God, but the praise ended up not being about God.

[18:11]  ²⁹ tn Here the plural Greek term ἀνθρώπων (anqrwpwn) is used as a generic and can refer to both men and women (NASB, NRSV, “people”; NLT, “everyone else”; NAB, “the rest of humanity”).

[18:11]  ³⁰ tn Or “swindlers” (BDAG 134 s.v. ἅρπαξ 2); see also Isa 10:2; Josephus, J. W. 6.3.4 [6.203].

[18:11]  ³¹ sn A general category for “sinners” (1 Cor 6:9; Lev 19:3).

[18:11]  ³² sn Note what the Pharisee assumes about the righteousness of this tax collector by grouping him with extortionists, unrighteous people, and adulterers.

[18:13]  ²⁹ tn Grk “standing”; the Greek participle has been translated as a finite verb.

[18:13]  ³⁰ tn Grk “even lift up his eyes” (an idiom).

[18:13]  ³¹ tn The prayer is a humble call for forgiveness. The term for mercy (ἱλάσκομαι, Jilaskomai) is associated with the concept of a request for atonement (BDAG 473-74 s.v. 1; Ps 51:1, 3; 25:11; 34:6, 18).

[18:13]  ³² tn Grk “the sinner.” The tax collector views himself not just as any sinner but as the worst of all sinners. See ExSyn 222-23.