Luke 5:21

5:21 Then ¹  the experts in the law ²  and the Pharisees began to think ³  to themselves, ⁴  “Who is this man ⁵  who is uttering blasphemies? ⁶  Who can forgive sins but God alone?”

Luke 5:30

5:30 But ⁷  the Pharisees ⁸  and their experts in the law ⁹  complained ¹⁰  to his disciples, saying, “Why do you eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners?” ¹¹ 

Luke 7:30

7:30 However, the Pharisees ¹²  and the experts in religious law ¹³  rejected God’s purpose ¹⁴  for themselves, because they had not been baptized ¹⁵  by John. ¹⁶ ) ¹⁷ 

Luke 11:52-54

11:52 Woe to you experts in religious law! You have taken away ¹⁸  the key to knowledge! You did not go in yourselves, and you hindered ¹⁹  those who were going in.”

11:53 When he went out from there, the experts in the law ²⁰  and the Pharisees began to oppose him bitterly, ²¹  and to ask him hostile questions ²²  about many things, 11:54 plotting against ²³  him, to catch ²⁴  him in something he might say.

Luke 15:2

15:2 But ²⁵  the Pharisees ²⁶  and the experts in the law ²⁷  were complaining, ²⁸  “This man welcomes ²⁹  sinners and eats with them.”

John 3:21

3:21 But the one who practices the truth comes to the light, so that it may be plainly evident that his deeds have been done in God. ³⁰ 

[5:21]  ¹ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the narrative.

[5:21]  ² tn Or “Then the scribes.” The traditional rendering of γραμματεύς (grammateu") as “scribe” does not communicate much to the modern English reader, for whom the term might mean “professional copyist,” if it means anything at all. The people referred to here were recognized experts in the law of Moses and in traditional laws and regulations. Thus “expert in the law” comes closer to the meaning for the modern reader.

[5:21]  ³ tn Or “to reason” (in a hostile sense). See G. Schrenk, TDNT 2:97.

[5:21]  ⁴ tn The participle λέγοντες (legontes, “saying”) has not been translated because it is redundant in contemporary English.

[5:21]  ⁵ tn Grk “this one” (οὗτος, Joutos).

[5:21]  ⁶ sn Uttering blasphemies meant to say something that dishonored God. To claim divine prerogatives or claim to speak for God when one really does not would be such an act of offense. The remark raised directly the issue of the nature of Jesus’ ministry.

[5:30]  ⁷ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “but” to indicate the implied contrast present in this context.

[5:30]  ⁸ sn See the note on Pharisees in 5:17.

[5:30]  ⁹ tn Or “and their scribes.” See the note on the phrase “experts in the law” in 5:21.

[5:30]  ¹⁰ tn Or “grumbled”; a term often used in the OT for inappropriate grumbling: Exod 15:24; 16:7-8; Num 14:2, 26-35; 16:11.

[5:30]  ¹¹ sn The issue here is inappropriate associations (eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners) and the accusation comes not against Jesus, but his disciples.

[7:30]  ¹² sn See the note on Pharisees in 5:17.

[7:30]  ¹³ tn That is, the experts in the interpretation of the Mosaic law (see also Luke 5:17, although the Greek term is not identical there, and Luke 10:25, where it is the same).

[7:30]  ¹⁴ tn Or “plan.”

[7:30]  ¹⁵ tn The participle βαπτισθέντες (baptisqente") has been translated as a causal adverbial participle; it could also be translated as means (“for themselves, by not having been baptized”). This is similar to the translation found in the NRSV.

[7:30]  ¹⁶ tn Grk “by him”; the referent (John the Baptist) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[7:30]  ¹⁷ sn Luke 7:29-30 forms something of an aside by the author. To indicate this, they have been placed in parentheses.

[11:52]  ¹⁸ sn You have taken away the key to knowledge is another stinging rebuke. They had done the opposite of what they were trying to do.

[11:52]  ¹⁹ tn Or “you tried to prevent.”

[11:53]  ²⁰ tn Or “the scribes.” See the note on the phrase “experts in the law” in 5:21.

[11:53]  ²¹ tn Or “terribly.”

[11:53]  ²² tn For this term see L&N 33.183.

[11:54]  ²³ tn Grk “lying in ambush against,” but this is a figurative extension of that meaning.

[11:54]  ²⁴ tn This term was often used in a hunting context (BDAG 455 s.v. θηρεύω; L&N 27.30). Later examples of this appear in Luke 20.

[15:2]  ²⁵ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “but” to indicate the contrast present in this context.

[15:2]  ²⁶ sn See the note on Pharisees in 5:17.

[15:2]  ²⁷ tn Or “and the scribes.” See the note on the phrase “experts in the law” in 5:21.

[15:2]  ²⁸ tn Or “grumbling”; Grk “were complaining, saying.” The participle λέγοντες (legontes) is redundant in contemporary English and has not been translated.

[15:2]  ²⁹ tn Or “accepts,” “receives.” This is not the first time this issue has been raised: Luke 5:27-32; 7:37-50.

[3:21]  ³⁰ sn John 3:16-21 provides an introduction to the (so-called) “realized” eschatology of the Fourth Gospel: Judgment has come; eternal life may be possessed now, in the present life, as well as in the future. The terminology “realized eschatology” was originally coined by E. Haenchen and used by J. Jeremias in discussion with C. H. Dodd, but is now characteristically used to describe Dodd’s own formulation. See L. Goppelt, Theology of the New Testament, 1:54, note 10, and R. E. Brown (John [AB], 1:cxvii-cxviii) for further discussion. Especially important to note is the element of choice portrayed in John’s Gospel. If there is a twofold reaction to Jesus in John’s Gospel, it should be emphasized that that reaction is very much dependent on a person’s choice, a choice that is influenced by his way of life, whether his deeds are wicked or are done in God (John 3:20-21). For John there is virtually no trace of determinism at the surface. Only when one looks beneath the surface does one find statements like “no one can come to me, unless the Father who sent me draws him” (John 6:44).