Luke 4:18

4:18 “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,

because he has anointed ¹  me to proclaim good news ²  to the poor. ³ 

He has sent me ⁴  to proclaim release ⁵  to the captives

and the regaining of sight ⁶  to the blind,

to set free ⁷  those who are oppressed, ⁸ 

Luke 6:35

6:35 But love your enemies, and do good, and lend, expecting nothing back. ⁹  Then ¹⁰  your reward will be great, and you will be sons ¹¹  of the Most High, ¹²  because he is kind to ungrateful and evil people. ¹³ 

Luke 11:31

11:31 The queen of the South ¹⁴  will rise up at the judgment ¹⁵  with the people ¹⁶  of this generation and condemn them, because she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon – and now, ¹⁷  something greater ¹⁸  than Solomon is here!

Luke 13:34

13:34 O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, ¹⁹  you who kill the prophets and stone those who are sent to you! ²⁰  How often I have longed ²¹  to gather your children together as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but ²²  you would have none of it! ²³ 

Luke 14:10

14:10 But when you are invited, go and take the least important place, so that when your host ²⁴  approaches he will say to you, ‘Friend, move up here to a better place.’ ²⁵  Then you will be honored in the presence of all who share the meal with you.

Luke 15:29

15:29 but he answered ²⁶  his father, ‘Look! These many years I have worked like a slave ²⁷  for you, and I never disobeyed your commands. Yet ²⁸  you never gave me even a goat ²⁹  so that I could celebrate with my friends!

[4:18]  ¹ sn The phrase he has anointed me is an allusion back to Jesus’ baptism in Luke 3:21-22.

[4:18]  ² tn Grk “to evangelize,” “to preach the gospel.”

[4:18]  ³ sn The poor is a key term in Luke. It refers to the pious poor and indicates Jesus’ desire to reach out to those the world tends to forget or mistreat. It is like 1:52 in force and also will be echoed in 6:20 (also 1 Pet 2:11-25). Jesus is commissioned to do this.

[4:18]  ⁴ tc The majority of mss, especially the later Byzantines, include the phrase “to heal the brokenhearted” at this point (A Θ Ψ 0102 ˹ Ï). The phrase is lacking in several weighty mss (א B D L W Ξ Ë¹³ 33 579 700 892* pc lat sy^s co), including representatives from both the Alexandrian and Western texttypes. From the standpoint of external evidence, the omission of the phrase is more likely original. When internal evidence is considered, the shorter reading becomes almost certain. Scribes would be much more prone to add the phrase here to align the text with Isa 61:1, the source of the quotation, than to remove it from the original.

[4:18]  ⁵ sn The release in view here is comprehensive, both at a physical level and a spiritual one, as the entire ministry of Jesus makes clear (Luke 1:77-79; 7:47; 24:47; Acts 2:38; 5:31; 10:43).

[4:18]  ⁶ sn Again, as with the previous phrase, regaining of sight may well mean more than simply miraculously restoring physical sight, which itself pictures a deeper reality (Luke 1:77-79; 18:35-43).

[4:18]  ⁷ sn The essence of Jesus’ messianic work is expressed in the phrase to set free. This line from Isa 58 says that Jesus will do what the nation had failed to do. It makes the proclamation messianic, not merely prophetic, because Jesus doesn’t just proclaim the message – he brings the deliverance. The word translated set free is the same Greek word (ἄφεσις, afesi") translated release earlier in the verse.

[4:18]  ⁸ sn Again, as with the previous phrases, oppressed may well mean more than simply political or economic oppression, but a deeper reality of oppression by sin (Luke 1:77-79; 18:35-43).

[6:35]  ⁹ tn Or “in return.”

[6:35]  ¹⁰ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the outcome or result. Because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, a new sentence was started in the translation at this point.

[6:35]  ¹¹ sn The character of these actions reflects the grace and kindness of God, bearing witness to a “line of descent” or relationship of the individual to God (sons of the Most High). There is to be a unique kind of ethic at work with disciples. Jesus refers specifically to sons here because in the ancient world sons had special privileges which were rarely accorded to daughters. However, Jesus is most likely addressing both men and women in this context, so women too would receive these same privileges.

[6:35]  ¹² sn That is, “sons of God.”

[6:35]  ¹³ tn Or “to the ungrateful and immoral.” The word “people” is not in the Greek text, but is implied.

[11:31]  ¹⁷ sn On the queen of the South see 1 Kgs 10:1-3 and 2 Chr 9:1-12, as well as Josephus, Ant. 8.6.5-6 (8.165-175). The South most likely refers to modern southwest Arabia, possibly the eastern part of modern Yemen, although there is an ancient tradition reflected in Josephus which identifies this geo-political entity as Ethiopia.

[11:31]  ¹⁸ sn For the imagery of judgment, see Luke 10:13-15 and 11:19. The warnings are coming consistently now.

[11:31]  ¹⁹ tn Grk “men”; the word here (ἀνήρ, anhr) usually indicates males or husbands, but occasionally is used in a generic sense of people in general, as is the case here (cf. BDAG 79 s.v. 1, 2). The same term, translated the same way, occurs in v. 32.

[11:31]  ²⁰ tn Grk “behold.”

[11:31]  ²¹ sn The message of Jesus was something greater than what Solomon offered. On Jesus and wisdom, see Luke 7:35; 10:21-22; 1 Cor 1:24, 30.

[13:34]  ²⁵ sn The double use of the city’s name betrays intense emotion.

[13:34]  ²⁶ 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]  ²⁷ 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]  ²⁸ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “but” to indicate the contrast present in this context.

[13:34]  ²⁹ tn Grk “you were not willing.”

[14:10]  ³³ tn Grk “the one who invited you.”

[14:10]  ³⁴ tn Grk “Go up higher.” This means to move to a more important place.

[15:29]  ⁴¹ tn Grk “but answering, he said.” This is somewhat redundant in contemporary English and has been simplified to “but he answered.”

[15:29]  ⁴² tn Or simply, “have served,” but in the emotional context of the older son’s outburst the translation given is closer to the point.

[15:29]  ⁴³ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “yet” to bring out the contrast indicated by the context.

[15:29]  ⁴⁴ sn You never gave me even a goat. The older son’s complaint was that the generous treatment of the younger son was not fair: “I can’t get even a little celebration with a basic food staple like a goat!”