Luke 8:1-3

Jesus’ Ministry and the Help of Women

8:1 Some time ¹  afterward ²  he went on through towns ³  and villages, preaching and proclaiming the good news ⁴  of the kingdom of God. ⁵  The ⁶  twelve were with him, 8:2 and also some women ⁷  who had been healed of evil spirits and disabilities: ⁸  Mary ⁹  (called Magdalene), from whom seven demons had gone out, 8:3 and Joanna the wife of Cuza ¹⁰  (Herod’s ¹¹  household manager), ¹²  Susanna, and many others who provided for them ¹³  out of their own resources.

[8:1]  ¹ tn Grk “And it happened that some time.” 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.

[8:1]  ² tn Καθεξῆς (Kaqexh") is a general temporal term and need not mean “soon afterward”; see Luke 1:3; Acts 3:24; 11:4; 18:23 and L&N 61.1.

[8:1]  ³ tn Or “cities.”

[8:1]  ⁴ sn The combination of preaching and proclaiming the good news is a bit emphatic, stressing Jesus’ teaching ministry on the rule of God.

[8:1]  ⁵ sn The kingdom of God is a major theme of Jesus. It is a realm in which Jesus rules and to which those who trust him belong. See Luke 6:20; 11:20; 17:20-21.

[8:1]  ⁶ tn Grk “And the.” Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

[8:2]  ⁷ sn There is an important respect shown to women in this text, as their contributions were often ignored in ancient society.

[8:2]  ⁸ tn Or “illnesses.” The term ἀσθένεια (asqeneia) refers to the state of being ill and thus incapacitated in some way – “illness, disability, weakness.” (L&N 23.143).

[8:2]  ⁹ sn This Mary is not the woman mentioned in the previous passage (as some church fathers claimed), because she is introduced as a new figure here. In addition, she is further specified by Luke with the notation called Magdalene, which seems to distinguish her from the woman at Simon the Pharisee’s house.

[8:3]  ¹⁰ sn Cuza is also spelled “Chuza” in many English translations.

[8:3]  ¹¹ sn Herod’s refers here to Herod Antipas. See the note on Herod Antipas in 3:1.

[8:3]  ¹² tn Here ἐπίτροπος (epitropo") is understood as referring to the majordomo or manager of Herod’s household (BDAG 385 s.v. ἐπίτροπος 1). However, as BDAG notes, the office may be political in nature and would then be translated something like “governor” or “procurator.” Note that in either case the gospel was reaching into the highest levels of society.

[8:3]  ¹³ tc Many mss (א A L Ψ Ë¹ 33 565 579 1241 2542 pm it co) read “for him,” but “for them” also has good ms support (B D K W Γ Δ Θ Ë¹³ 700 892 1424 pm lat). From an internal standpoint the singular pronoun looks like an assimilation to texts like Matt 27:55 and Mark 15:41.