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 9:13

9:13 But he said to them, “You ⁴  give them something to eat.” They ⁵  replied, ⁶  “We have no more than five loaves and two fish – unless ⁷  we go ⁸  and buy food ⁹  for all these people.”

[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.

[9:13]  ⁴ tn Here the pronoun ὑμεῖς (Jumeis) is used, making “you” in the translation emphatic.

[9:13]  ⁵ tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated.

[9:13]  ⁶ tn Grk “said.”

[9:13]  ⁷ tn This possibility is introduced through a conditional clause, but it is expressed with some skepticism (BDF §376).

[9:13]  ⁸ tn The participle πορευθέντες (poreuqente") has been taken as indicating attendant circumstance.

[9:13]  ⁹ sn Not only would going and buying food have been expensive and awkward at this late time of day, it would have taken quite a logistical effort to get the food back out to this isolated location.