Luke 6:4

6:4 how he entered the house of God, took ¹  and ate the sacred bread, ²  which is not lawful ³  for any to eat but the priests alone, and ⁴  gave it to his companions?” ⁵ 

Luke 9:16

9:16 Then ⁶  he took the five loaves and the two fish, and looking up to heaven he gave thanks ⁷  and broke them. He gave them to the disciples to set before the crowd.

Luke 13:19

13:19 It is like a mustard seed ⁸  that a man took and sowed ⁹  in his garden. It ¹⁰  grew and became a tree, ¹¹  and the wild birds ¹²  nested in its branches.” ¹³ 

Luke 22:19

22:19 Then ¹⁴  he took bread, and after giving thanks he broke it and gave it to them, saying, “This is my body ¹⁵  which is given for you. ¹⁶  Do this in remembrance of me.”

[6:4]  ¹ tn Grk “and took.”

[6:4]  ² tn Grk “the bread of presentation.”

[6:4]  ³ sn Jesus’ response to the charge that what his disciples were doing was not lawful is one of analogy: ‘If David did it for his troops in a time of need, then so can I with my disciples.’ Jesus is clear that on the surface there was a violation here. What is not as clear is whether he is arguing a “greater need” makes this permissible or that this was within the intention of the law all along.

[6:4]  ⁴ tc Most mss (א A D Θ Ë¹³ 33 Ï) read “also” here, but this looks like it is a reading made to agree with Mark 2:26. A better combination of witnesses (B L W Ψ Ë¹ lat sa) lacks the word “also.”

[6:4]  ⁵ tc The Western ms D adds here a full saying that reads, “On the same day, as he saw someone working on the Sabbath he said, ‘Man, if you know what you are doing, you are blessed, but if you do not know, you are cursed and a violator of the law.’” Though this is not well enough attested to be considered authentic, many commentators have debated whether this saying might go back to Jesus. Most reject it, though it does have wording that looks like Rom 2:25, 27 and Jas 2:11.

[9:16]  ⁶ tn Here δέ (de) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the narrative.

[9:16]  ⁷ sn Gave thanks adds a note of gratitude to the setting. The scene is like two other later meals: Luke 22:19 and 24:30. Jesus gives thanks to God “with respect to” the provision of food. The disciples learn how Jesus is the mediator of blessing. John 6 speaks of him in this scene as picturing the “Bread of Life.”

[13:19]  ¹¹ sn The mustard seed was noted for its tiny size.

[13:19]  ¹² tn Grk “threw.”

[13:19]  ¹³ tn Grk “garden, and it.” Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style. Because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, a new sentence was started here in the translation.

[13:19]  ¹⁴ sn Calling the mustard plant a tree is rhetorical hyperbole, since technically it is not one. This plant could be one of two types of mustard popular in Palestine and would be either 10 or 25 ft (3 or 7.5 m) tall.

[13:19]  ¹⁵ tn Grk “the birds of the sky” or “the birds of the heaven”; the Greek word οὐρανός (ouranos) may be translated either “sky” or “heaven,” depending on the context. The idiomatic expression “birds of the sky” refers to wild birds as opposed to domesticated fowl (cf. BDAG 809 s.v. πετεινόν).

[13:19]  ¹⁶ sn The point of the parable seems to be that while the kingdom of God may appear to have insignificant and unnoticeable beginnings (i.e., in the ministry of Jesus), it will someday (i.e., at the second advent) be great and quite expansive. The kingdom, however, is not to be equated with the church, but rather the church is an expression of the kingdom. Also, there is important OT background in the image of the mustard seed that grew and became a tree: Ezek 17:22-24 pictures the reemergence of the Davidic house where people can find calm and shelter. Like the mustard seed, it would start out small but grow to significant size.

[22:19]  ¹⁶ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the narrative.

[22:19]  ¹⁷ tc Some important Western mss (D it) lack the words from this point to the end of v. 20. However, the authenticity of these verses is very likely. The inclusion of the second cup is the harder reading, since it differs from Matt 26:26-29 and Mark 14:22-25, and it has much better ms support. It is thus easier to explain the shorter reading as a scribal accident or misunderstanding. Further discussion of this complicated problem (the most difficult in Luke) can be found in TCGNT 148-50.

[22:19]  ¹⁸ sn The language of the phrase given for you alludes to Christ’s death in our place. It is a powerful substitutionary image of what he did for us.