Luke 3:11

3:11 John ¹  answered them, ²  “The person who has two tunics ³  must share with the person who has none, and the person who has food must do likewise.”

Luke 6:29

6:29 To the person who strikes you on the cheek, ⁴  offer the other as well, ⁵  and from the person who takes away your coat, ⁶  do not withhold your tunic ⁷  either. ⁸ 

Luke 9:3

9:3 He ⁹  said to them, “Take nothing for your ¹⁰  journey – no staff, ¹¹  no bag, ¹²  no bread, no money, and do not take an extra tunic. ¹³ 

[3:11]  ¹ tn Grk “he”; the referent (John) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[3:11]  ² tn Grk “Answering, he said to them.” This construction with passive participle and finite verb is pleonastic (redundant) and has been simplified in the translation to “answered them.”

[3:11]  ³ tn Or “shirt” (a long garment worn under the cloak next to the skin). The name for this garment (χιτών, citwn) presents some difficulty in translation. Most modern readers would not understand what a ‘tunic’ was any more than they would be familiar with a ‘chiton.’ On the other hand, attempts to find a modern equivalent are also a problem: “Shirt” conveys the idea of a much shorter garment that covers only the upper body, and “undergarment” (given the styles of modern underwear) is more misleading still. “Tunic” was therefore employed, but with a note to explain its nature.

[6:29]  ⁴ sn The phrase strikes you on the cheek probably pictures public rejection, like the act that indicated expulsion from the synagogue.

[6:29]  ⁵ sn This command to offer the other cheek as well is often misunderstood. It means that there is risk involved in reaching out to people with God’s hope. But if one is struck down in rejection, the disciple is to continue reaching out.

[6:29]  ⁶ tn Or “cloak.”

[6:29]  ⁷ tn See the note on the word “tunics” in 3:11.

[6:29]  ⁸ sn The command do not withhold your tunic either is again an image of continually being totally at risk as one tries to keep contact with those who are hostile to what Jesus and his disciples offer.

[9:3]  ⁷ tn Grk “And he.” Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

[9:3]  ⁸ tn Grk “the”; in context the article is used as a possessive pronoun (ExSyn 215).

[9:3]  ⁹ sn Mark 6:8 allows one staff. It might be that Luke’s summary (cf. Matt 10:9-10) means not taking an extra staff or that the expression is merely rhetorical for “traveling light” which has been rendered in two slightly different ways.

[9:3]  ¹⁰ tn Or “no traveler’s bag”; or possibly “no beggar’s bag” (L&N 6.145; BDAG 811 s.v. πήρα).

[9:3]  ¹¹ tn Grk “have two tunics.” See the note on the word “tunics” in 3:11.