Luke 3:1

The Ministry of John the Baptist

3:1 In the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar, ¹  when Pontius Pilate ²  was governor of Judea, and Herod ³  was tetrarch ⁴  of Galilee, and his brother Philip ⁵  was tetrarch of the region of Iturea and Trachonitis, and Lysanias ⁶  was tetrarch of Abilene,

Luke 3:16

3:16 John answered them all, ⁷  “I baptize you with water, ⁸  but one more powerful than I am is coming – I am not worthy ⁹  to untie the strap ¹⁰  of his sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. ¹¹ 

Luke 5:12

Healing a Leper

5:12 While ¹²  Jesus ¹³  was in one of the towns, ¹⁴  a man came ¹⁵  to him who was covered with ¹⁶  leprosy. ¹⁷  When ¹⁸  he saw Jesus, he bowed down with his face to the ground ¹⁹  and begged him, ²⁰  “Lord, if ²¹  you are willing, you can make me clean.”

Luke 7:6

7:6 So ²²  Jesus went with them. When ²³  he was not far from the house, the centurion ²⁴  sent friends to say to him, “Lord, do not trouble yourself, ²⁵  for I am not worthy ²⁶  to have you come under my roof.

Luke 9:33

9:33 Then ²⁷  as the men ²⁸  were starting to leave, ²⁹  Peter said to Jesus, “Master, it is good for us to be here. Let us make three shelters, ³⁰  one for you and one for Moses and one for Elijah” – not knowing what he was saying.

Luke 12:58

12:58 As you are going with your accuser before the magistrate, ³¹  make an effort to settle with him on the way, so that he will not drag you before the judge, and the judge hand you over to the officer, ³²  and the officer throw you into prison.

[3:1]  ¹ tn Or “Emperor Tiberius” (“Caesar” is a title for the Roman emperor).

[3:1]  ² sn The rule of Pontius Pilate is also described by Josephus, J. W. 2.9.2-4 (2.169-177) and Ant. 18.3.1 (18.55-59).

[3:1]  ³ sn Herod refers here to Herod Antipas, son of Herod the Great. He ruled from 4 b.c.-a.d. 39, sharing the rule of his father’s realm with his two brothers. One brother, Archelaus (Matt 2:22) was banished in a.d. 6 and died in a.d. 18; the other brother, Herod Philip (mentioned next) died in a.d. 34.

[3:1]  ⁴ sn A tetrarch was a ruler with rank and authority lower than a king, who ruled only with the approval of the Roman authorities. This was roughly equivalent to being governor of a region. Several times in the NT, Herod tetrarch of Galilee is called a king (Matt 14:9, Mark 6:14-29), reflecting popular usage.

[3:1]  ⁵ sn Philip refers to Herod Philip, son of Herod the Great and brother of Herod Antipas. Philip ruled as tetrarch of Iturea and Trachonitis from 4 b.c.-a.d. 34.

[3:1]  ⁶ sn Nothing else is known about Lysanias tetrarch of Abilene.

[3:16]  ⁷ tn Grk “answered them all, saying.” The participle λέγων (legwn) is redundant and has not been translated.

[3:16]  ⁸ tc A few mss (C D 892 1424 pc it ) add εἰς μετάνοιαν (ei" metanoian, “for repentance”). Although two of the mss in support are early and important, it is an obviously motivated reading to add clarification, probably representing a copyist’s attempt to harmonize Luke’s version with Matt 3:11.

[3:16]  ⁹ tn Grk “of whom I am not worthy.”

[3:16]  ¹⁰ tn The term refers to the leather strap or thong used to bind a sandal. This is often viewed as a collective singular and translated as a plural, “the straps of his sandals,” but it may be more emphatic to retain the singular here.

[3:16]  ¹¹ sn With the Holy Spirit and fire. There are differing interpretations for this phrase regarding the number of baptisms and their nature. (1) Some see one baptism here, and this can be divided further into two options. (a) The baptism of the Holy Spirit and fire could refer to the cleansing, purifying work of the Spirit in the individual believer through salvation and sanctification, or (b) it could refer to two different results of Christ’s ministry: Some accept Christ and are baptized with the Holy Spirit, but some reject him and receive judgment. (2) Other interpreters see two baptisms here: The baptism of the Holy Spirit refers to the salvation Jesus brings at his first advent, in which believers receive the Holy Spirit, and the baptism of fire refers to the judgment Jesus will bring upon the world at his second coming. One must take into account both the image of fire and whether individual or corporate baptism is in view. A decision is not easy on either issue. The image of fire is used to refer to both eternal judgment (e.g., Matt 25:41) and the power of the Lord’s presence to purge and cleanse his people (e.g., Isa 4:4-5). The pouring out of the Spirit at Pentecost, a fulfillment of this prophecy no matter which interpretation is taken, had both individual and corporate dimensions. It is possible that since Holy Spirit and fire are governed by a single preposition in Greek, the one-baptism view may be more likely, but this is not certain. Simply put, there is no consensus view in scholarship at this time on the best interpretation of this passage.

[5:12]  ¹³ tn Grk “And it happened that while.” The introductory phrase ἐγένετο (egeneto, “it happened that”), common in Luke (69 times) and Acts (54 times), is redundant in contemporary English and has not been translated.

[5:12]  ¹⁴ tn Grk “he”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[5:12]  ¹⁵ tn Or “cities.”

[5:12]  ¹⁶ tn Grk “towns, behold, a man covered with leprosy.” The Greek word ἰδού (idou, “behold”) has not been translated because it has no exact English equivalent here, but adds interest and emphasis (BDAG 468 s.v. 1).

[5:12]  ¹⁷ tn Grk “full of leprosy” (an idiom for a severe condition).

[5:12]  ¹⁸ sn The ancient term for leprosy covers a wider array of conditions than what is called leprosy today. A leper was totally ostracized from society until he was declared cured (Lev 13:45-46).

[5:12]  ¹⁹ tn Grk “And seeing.” Because of the difference between Greek style, which often begins sentences or clauses with “and,” and English style, which generally does not, δέ (de) has not been translated here. The participle ἰδών (idwn) has been taken temporally.

[5:12]  ²⁰ tn Grk “he fell on his face”; an idiom for bowing down with one’s face to the ground.

[5:12]  ²¹ tn Grk “and begged him, saying.” The participle λέγων (legwn) is redundant in English and has not been translated.

[5:12]  ²² tn This is a third class condition. The report portrays the leper making no presumptions about whether Jesus will heal him or not.

[7:6]  ¹⁹ tn Here δέ (de) has been translated as “so” to indicate the resultative action.

[7:6]  ²⁰ tn The participle ἀπέχοντος (apeconto") has been taken temporally.

[7:6]  ²¹ sn See the note on the word centurion in 7:2.

[7:6]  ²² tn Or “do not be bothered.”

[7:6]  ²³ sn Note the humility in the centurion’s statement I am not worthy in light of what others think (as v. 4 notes). See Luke 5:8 for a similar example of humility.

[9:33]  ²⁵ tn Grk “And it happened that as.” The introductory phrase ἐγένετο (egeneto, “it happened that”), common in Luke (69 times) and Acts (54 times), is redundant in contemporary English and has not been translated. Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the narrative.

[9:33]  ²⁶ tn Grk “as they”; the referent (“the men,” referring to Moses and Elijah) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[9:33]  ²⁷ tn Grk “to leave from him.”

[9:33]  ²⁸ tn Or “booths,” “dwellings” (referring to the temporary booths constructed in the celebration of the feast of Tabernacles).

[12:58]  ³¹ sn The term magistrate (ἄρχων, arcwn) refers to an official who, under the authority of the government, serves as judge in legal cases (see L&N 56.29).

[12:58]  ³² sn The officer (πράκτωρ, praktwr) was a civil official who functioned like a bailiff and was in charge of debtor’s prison. The use of the term, however, does not automatically demand a Hellenistic setting (BDAG 859 s.v.; K. H. Rengstorf, TDNT 8:539; C. Maurer, TDNT 6:642).