Luke 8:2

8:2 and also some women ¹  who had been healed of evil spirits and disabilities: ²  Mary ³  (called Magdalene), from whom seven demons had gone out,

Luke 9:10

The Feeding of the Five Thousand

9:10 When ⁴  the apostles returned, ⁵  they told Jesus ⁶  everything they had done. Then ⁷  he took them with him and they withdrew privately to a town ⁸  called Bethsaida. ⁹ 

[8:2]  ¹ sn There is an important respect shown to women in this text, as their contributions were often ignored in ancient society.

[8:2]  ² 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]  ³ 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.

[9:10]  ⁴ tn Grk “And when.” Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

[9:10]  ⁵ tn The participle ὑποστρέψαντες (Jupostreyante") has been taken temporally.

[9:10]  ⁶ tn Grk “him”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[9:10]  ⁷ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the narrative.

[9:10]  ⁸ tc There is a seeming myriad of variants for this text. Many mss read εἰς τόπον ἔρημον (ei" topon erhmon, “to a deserted place”; א*^,2 [1241]) or εἰς τόπον ἔρημον πόλεως καλουμένης Βηθσαϊδά (ei" topon erhmon polew" kaloumenh" Bhqsai>da, “to a deserted place of a town called Bethsaida”; [A] C W Ξ^mg [Ë^1,13] [565] Ï) here, while others have εἰς κώμην λεγομένην Βηδσαϊδά (ei" kwmhn legomenhn Bhdsai>da, “to a village called Bedsaida”; D), εἰς κώμην καλουμένην Βηθσαϊδά εἰς τόπον ἔρημον (ei" kwmhn kaloumenhn Bhqsai>da ei" topon erhmon, “to a village called Bethsaida to a deserted place”; Θ), or εἰς τόπον καλουμένον Βηθσαϊδά (ei" topon kaloumenon Bhqsaida, “to a place called Bethsaida”; Ψ). The Greek behind the translation (εἰς πόλιν καλουμένην Βηθσαϊδά, ei" polin kaloumenhn Bhqsai>da) is supported by (Ì⁷⁵) א¹ B L Ξ* 33 2542 pc co. The variants can be grouped generally into those that speak of a “deserted place” and those that speak of a place/city/town called Bethsaida. The Byzantine reading is evidently a conflation of the earlier texts, and should be dismissed as secondary. The variants that speak of a deserted place are an assimilation to Mark 6:32, as well a harmonization with v. 12, and should also be regarded as secondary. The reading that best explains the rise of the others – both internally and externally – is the one that stands behind the translation and is found in the text of NA²⁷.

[9:10]  ⁹ sn Bethsaida was a town on the northeast side of the Sea of Galilee. Probably this should be understood to mean a place in the vicinity of the town. It represents an attempt to reconcile the location with the place of the miraculous feeding that follows.