Luke 3:8

3:8 Therefore produce ¹  fruit ²  that proves your repentance, and don’t begin to say ³  to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father.’ ⁴  For I tell you that God can raise up children for Abraham from these stones! ⁵ 

Luke 13:34

13:34 O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, ⁶  you who kill the prophets and stone those who are sent to you! ⁷  How often I have longed ⁸  to gather your children together as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but ⁹  you would have none of it! ¹⁰ 

Luke 18:29

18:29 Then ¹¹  Jesus ¹²  said to them, “I tell you the truth, ¹³  there is no one who has left home or wife or brothers ¹⁴  or parents or children for the sake of God’s kingdom

Luke 19:44

19:44 They will demolish you ¹⁵  – you and your children within your walls ¹⁶  – and they will not leave within you one stone ¹⁷  on top of another, ¹⁸  because you did not recognize the time of your visitation from God.” ¹⁹ 

[3:8]  ¹ tn The verb here is ποιέω (poiew; see v. 4).

[3:8]  ² 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]  ³ tn In other words, “do not even begin to think this.”

[3:8]  ⁴ 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]  ⁵ 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.

[13:34]  ⁶ sn The double use of the city’s name betrays intense emotion.

[13:34]  ⁷ tn Although the opening address (“Jerusalem, Jerusalem”) is direct (second person), the remainder of this sentence in the Greek text is third person (“who kills the prophets and stones those sent to her”). The following sentences then revert to second person (“your… you”), so to keep all this consistent in English, the third person pronouns in the present verse were translated as second person (“you who kill… sent to you”).

[13:34]  ⁸ sn How often I have longed to gather your children. Jesus, like a lamenting prophet, speaks for God here, who longed to care tenderly for Israel and protect her.

[13:34]  ⁹ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “but” to indicate the contrast present in this context.

[13:34]  ¹⁰ tn Grk “you were not willing.”

[18:29]  ¹¹ tn Here δέ (de) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the narrative.

[18:29]  ¹² tn Grk “he”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[18:29]  ¹³ tn Grk “Truly (ἀμήν, amhn), I say to you.”

[18:29]  ¹⁴ tn The term “brothers” could be understood as generic here, referring to either male or female siblings. However, it is noteworthy that in the parallel passages in both Matt 19:29 and Mark 10:29, “sisters” are explicitly mentioned in the Greek text.

[19:44]  ¹⁶ tn Grk “They will raze you to the ground.”

[19:44]  ¹⁷ tn Grk “your children within you.” The phrase “[your] walls” has been supplied in the translation to clarify that the city of Jerusalem, metaphorically pictured as an individual, is spoken of here.

[19:44]  ¹⁸ sn (Not) one stone on top of another is an idiom for total destruction.

[19:44]  ¹⁹ tn Grk “leave stone on stone.”

[19:44]  ²⁰ tn Grk “the time of your visitation.” To clarify what this refers to, the words “from God” are supplied at the end of the verse, although they do not occur in the Greek text.