Luke 5:1

The Call of the Disciples

5:1 Now ¹  Jesus was standing by the Lake of Gennesaret, ²  and the crowd was pressing around him ³  to hear the word of God.

Luke 8:15

8:15 But as for the seed that landed on good soil, these are the ones who, after hearing ⁴  the word, cling to it ⁵  with an honest and good ⁶  heart, and bear fruit with steadfast endurance. ⁷ 

Luke 8:21

8:21 But he replied ⁸  to them, “My mother and my brothers are those ⁹  who hear the word of God and do it.” ¹⁰ 

Luke 10:39

10:39 She ¹¹  had a sister named Mary, who sat ¹²  at the Lord’s feet ¹³  and listened to what he said.

Luke 12:10

12:10 And everyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but the person who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit ¹⁴  will not be forgiven. ¹⁵ 

[5:1]  ¹ tn Grk “Now it happened that.” 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.

[5:1]  ² sn The Lake of Gennesaret is another name for the Sea of Galilee. Cf. the parallel in Matt 4:18.

[5:1]  ³ sn The image of the crowd pressing around him suggests the people leaning forward to catch Jesus’ every word.

[8:15]  ⁴ tn The aorist participle ἀκούσαντες (akousante") has been taken temporally, reflecting action antecedent (prior to) that of the main verb.

[8:15]  ⁵ sn There is a tenacity that is a part of spiritual fruitfulness.

[8:15]  ⁶ sn In an ancient context, the qualifier good described the ethical person who possessed integrity. Here it is integrity concerning God’s revelation through Jesus.

[8:15]  ⁷ sn Given the pressures noted in the previous soils, bearing fruit takes time (steadfast endurance), just as it does for the farmer. See Jas 1:2-4.

[8:21]  ⁷ tn Grk “answering, he said.” This is redundant in contemporary English and has been simplified to “he replied.”

[8:21]  ⁸ tn There is some discussion about the grammar of this verse in Greek. If “these” is the subject, then it reads, “These are my mother and brothers, those who.” If “these” is a nominative absolute, which is slightly more likely, then the verse more literally reads, “So my mother and brothers, they are those who.” The sense in either case is the same.

[8:21]  ⁹ sn Hearing and doing the word of God is another important NT theme: Luke 6:47-49; Jas 1:22-25.

[10:39]  ¹⁰ tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

[10:39]  ¹¹ tn This reflexive makes it clear that Mary took the initiative in sitting by Jesus.

[10:39]  ¹² sn The description of Mary sitting at the Lord’s feet and listening to him makes her sound like a disciple (compare Luke 8:35).

[12:10]  ¹³ sn Blasphemy against the Holy Spirit probably refers to a total rejection of the testimony that the Spirit gives to Jesus and the plan of God. This is not so much a sin of the moment as of one’s entire life, an obstinate rejection of God’s message and testimony. Cf. Matt 12:31-32 and Mark 3:28-30.

[12:10]  ¹⁴ tn Grk “it will not be forgiven the person who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit.”