Luke 8:7

8:7 Other seed fell among the thorns, ¹  and they grew up with it and choked ²  it.

Luke 16:17

16:17 But it is easier for heaven and earth to pass away than for one tiny stroke of a letter ³  in the law to become void. ⁴ 

Luke 17:16

17:16 He ⁵  fell with his face to the ground ⁶  at Jesus’ feet and thanked him. ⁷  (Now ⁸  he was a Samaritan.) ⁹ 

Luke 23:30

23:30 Then they will begin to say to the mountains, ¹⁰  ‘Fall on us!’ and to the hills, ‘Cover us!’ ¹¹ 

[8:7]  ¹ sn Palestinian weeds like these thorns could grow up to six feet in height and have a major root system.

[8:7]  ² sn That is, crowded out the good plants.

[16:17]  ³ tn Or “one small part of a letter” (L&N 33.37).

[16:17]  ⁴ tn Grk “to fall”; that is, “to drop out of the text.” Jesus’ point may be that the law is going to reach its goal without fail, in that the era of the promised kingdom comes.

[17:16]  ⁵ tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

[17:16]  ⁶ tn Grk “he fell on his face” (an idiom for complete prostration).

[17:16]  ⁷ sn And thanked him. This action recognized God’s healing work through Jesus.

[17:16]  ⁸ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “now” to indicate the introduction of a parenthetical comment.

[17:16]  ⁹ sn This is a parenthetical note by the author. The comment that the man was a Samaritan means that to most Jews of Jesus’ day he would have been despised as a half-breed and a heretic. The note adds a touch of irony to the account (v. 18).

[23:30]  ⁷ sn The figure of crying out to the mountains ‘Fall on us!’ (appealing to creation itself to hide them from God’s wrath), means that a time will come when people will feel they are better off dead (Hos 10:8).

[23:30]  ⁸ sn An allusion to Hos 10:8 (cf. Rev 6:16).