Luke 3:22
Context3:22 and the Holy Spirit descended on him in bodily form like a dove. 1 And a voice came from heaven, “You are my one dear Son; 2 in you I take great delight.” 3
Luke 11:27
Context11:27 As 4 he said these things, a woman in the crowd spoke out 5 to him, “Blessed is the womb 6 that bore you and the breasts at which you nursed!” 7


[3:22] 1 tn This phrase is a descriptive comparison. The Spirit is not a dove, but descends like one in some type of bodily representation.
[3:22] 2 tn Grk “my beloved Son,” or “my Son, the beloved [one].” The force of ἀγαπητός (agaphtos) is often “pertaining to one who is the only one of his or her class, but at the same time is particularly loved and cherished” (L&N 58.53; cf. also BDAG 7 s.v. 1).
[3:22] 3 tc Instead of “You are my one dear Son; in you I take great delight,” one Greek ms and several Latin
[11:27] 4 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 δέ (de) has not been translated.
[11:27] 5 tn Grk “lifted up her voice and said.” This idiom is somewhat redundant in contemporary English and has been simplified to “spoke out.”
[11:27] 6 tn For this term see L&N 8.69.
[11:27] 7 sn Both the reference to the womb and the breasts form a figure of speech called metonymy. In this case the parts are mentioned instead of the whole; the meaning is “Blessed is your mother!” The warnings seem to have sparked a little nervousness that brought forth this response. In the culture a mother was valued for the accomplishments of her son. So this amounts to a compliment to Jesus.