Luke 9:59-60

9:59 Jesus ¹  said to another, “Follow me.” But he replied, ²  “Lord, first let me go and bury my father.” 9:60 But Jesus ³  said to him, “Let the dead bury their own dead, ⁴  but as for you, go and proclaim the kingdom of God.” ⁵ 

Genesis 24:33

24:33 When food was served, ⁶  he said, “I will not eat until I have said what I want to say.” ⁷  “Tell us,” Laban said. ⁸ 

Genesis 24:56

24:56 But he said to them, “Don’t detain me – the Lord ⁹  has granted me success on my journey. Let me leave now so I may return ¹⁰  to my master.”

Genesis 24:1

The Wife for Isaac

24:1 Now Abraham was old, well advanced in years, ¹¹  and the Lord had blessed him ¹²  in everything.

Genesis 21:8

21:8 The child grew and was weaned. Abraham prepared ¹³  a great feast on the day that Isaac was weaned. ¹⁴ 

Genesis 21:2

21:2 So Sarah became pregnant ¹⁵  and bore Abraham a son in his old age at the appointed time that God had told him.

Genesis 4:24

4:24 If Cain is to be avenged seven times as much,

then Lamech seventy-seven times!” ¹⁶ 

Genesis 4:1

The Story of Cain and Abel

4:1 Now ¹⁷  the man had marital relations with ¹⁸  his wife Eve, and she became pregnant ¹⁹  and gave birth to Cain. Then she said, “I have created ²⁰  a man just as the Lord did!” ²¹ 

Proverbs 4:25

4:25 Let your eyes look directly ²²  in front of you

and let your gaze ²³  look straight before you.

[9:59]  ¹ tn Grk “And he”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity. Here δέ (de) has not been translated.

[9:59]  ² tn Grk “said.”

[9:60]  ³ tn Grk “he”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[9:60]  ⁴ sn There are several options for the meaning of Jesus’ reply Leave the dead to bury their own dead: (1) Recent research suggests that burial customs in the vicinity of Jerusalem from about 20 b.c. to a.d. 70 involved a reinterment of the bones a year after the initial burial, once the flesh had rotted away. At that point the son would have placed his father’s bones in a special box known as an ossuary to be set into the wall of the tomb. Thus Jesus could well be rebuking the man for wanting to wait around for as much as a year before making a commitment to follow him. In 1st century Jewish culture, to have followed Jesus rather than burying one’s father would have seriously dishonored one’s father (cf. Tobit 4:3-4). (2) The remark is an idiom (possibly a proverbial saying) that means, “The matter in question is not the real issue,” in which case Jesus was making a wordplay on the wording of the man’s (literal) request (see L&N 33.137). (3) This remark could be a figurative reference to various kinds of people, meaning, “Let the spiritually dead bury the dead.” (4) It could also be literal and designed to shock the hearer by the surprise of the contrast. Whichever option is preferred, it is clear that the most important priority is to preach the gospel (proclaim the kingdom of God).

[9:60]  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.

[24:33]  ⁶ tn Heb “and food was placed before him.”

[24:33]  ⁷ tn Heb “my words.”

[24:33]  ⁸ tc Some ancient textual witnesses have a plural verb, “and they said.”

[24:56]  ⁹ tn The disjunctive clause is circumstantial, indicating a reason for the preceding request.

[24:56]  ¹⁰ tn After the preceding imperative, the cohortative with the prefixed conjunction indicates purpose or result.

[24:1]  ¹¹ tn Heb “days.”

[24:1]  ¹² tn Heb “Abraham.” The proper name has been replaced in the translation by the pronoun (“he”) for stylistic reasons.

[21:8]  ¹³ tn Heb “made.”

[21:8]  ¹⁴ sn Children were weaned closer to the age of two or three in the ancient world, because infant mortality was high. If an infant grew to this stage, it was fairly certain he or she would live. Such an event called for a celebration, especially for parents who had waited so long for a child.

[21:2]  ¹⁵ tn Or “she conceived.”

[4:24]  ¹⁶ sn Seventy-seven times. Lamech seems to reason this way: If Cain, a murderer, is to be avenged seven times (see v. 15), then how much more one who has been unjustly wronged! Lamech misses the point of God’s merciful treatment of Cain. God was not establishing a principle of justice when he warned he would avenge Cain’s murder. In fact he was trying to limit the shedding of blood, something Lamech wants to multiply instead. The use of “seventy-seven,” a multiple of seven, is hyperbolic, emphasizing the extreme severity of the vengeance envisioned by Lamech.

[4:1]  ¹⁷ tn The disjunctive clause (conjunction + subject + verb) introduces a new episode in the ongoing narrative.

[4:1]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “the man knew,” a frequent euphemism for sexual relations.

[4:1]  ¹⁹ tn Or “she conceived.”

[4:1]  ²⁰ tn Here is another sound play (paronomasia) on a name. The sound of the verb קָנִיתִי (qaniti, “I have created”) reflects the sound of the name Cain in Hebrew (קַיִן, qayin) and gives meaning to it. The saying uses the Qal perfect of קָנָה (qanah). There are two homonymic verbs with this spelling, one meaning “obtain, acquire” and the other meaning “create” (see Gen 14:19, 22; Deut 32:6; Ps 139:13; Prov 8:22). The latter fits this context very well. Eve has created a man.

[4:1]  ²¹ tn Heb “with the Lord.” The particle אֶת־ (’et) is not the accusative/object sign, but the preposition “with” as the ancient versions attest. Some take the preposition in the sense of “with the help of” (see BDB 85 s.v. אֵת; cf. NEB, NIV, NRSV), while others prefer “along with” in the sense of “like, equally with, in common with” (see Lev 26:39; Isa 45:9; Jer 23:28). Either works well in this context; the latter is reflected in the present translation. Some understand אֶת־ as the accusative/object sign and translate, “I have acquired a man – the Lord.” They suggest that the woman thought (mistakenly) that she had given birth to the incarnate Lord, the Messiah who would bruise the Serpent’s head. This fanciful suggestion is based on a questionable allegorical interpretation of Gen 3:15 (see the note there on the word “heel”).

[4:25]  ²² tn The jussives in this verse are both Hiphil, the first from the verb “to gaze; to look intently [or, carefully],” (נָבַט, navat) and the second from the verb “to be smooth, straight” (יָשָׁר, yashar).

[4:25]  ²³ tn Heb “your eyelids.” The term “eyelids” is often a poetic synonym for “eye” (it is a metonymy of adjunct, something connected with the eye put for the eye that sees); it may intensify the idea as one might squint to gain a clearer look.