Discovery BoxMatthew 26:61
Context26:61 and declared, “This man 1 said, ‘I am able to destroy the temple of God and rebuild it in three days.’”
Luke 14:29-30
Context14:29 Otherwise, 2 when he has laid 3 a foundation and is not able to finish the tower, 4 all who see it 5 will begin to make fun of 6 him. 14:30 They will say, 7 ‘This man 8 began to build and was not able to finish!’ 9
John 2:19-22
Context2:19 Jesus replied, 10 “Destroy 11 this temple and in three days I will raise it up again.” 2:20 Then the Jewish leaders 12 said to him, “This temple has been under construction 13 for forty-six years, 14 and are you going to raise it up in three days?” 2:21 But Jesus 15 was speaking about the temple of his body. 16 2:22 So after he was raised from the dead, his disciples remembered that he had said this, and they believed the scripture 17 and the saying 18 that Jesus had spoken.
[14:29] 2 tn Grk “to complete it, lest.” Because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, a new sentence was started here in the translation and ἵνα μήποτε ({ina mhpote, “lest”) has been translated as “Otherwise.”
[14:29] 3 tn The participle θέντος (qentos) has been taken temporally.
[14:29] 4 tn The words “the tower” are not in the Greek text, but are implied. Direct objects were frequently omitted in Greek when clear from the context.
[14:29] 5 tn The word “it” is not in the Greek text, but is implied. Direct objects were frequently omitted in Greek when clear from the context.
[14:29] 6 tn Or “mock,” “ridicule.” The person who did not plan ahead becomes an object of joking and ridicule.
[14:30] 7 tn Grk “make fun of him, saying.”
[14:30] 8 sn The phrase this man is often used in Luke in a derogatory sense; see “this one” and expressions like it in Luke 5:21; 7:39; 13:32; 23:4, 14, 22, 35.
[14:30] 9 sn The failure to finish the building project leads to embarrassment (in a culture where avoiding public shame was extremely important). The half completed tower testified to poor preparation and planning.
[2:19] 10 tn Grk “answered and said to them.”
[2:19] 11 tn The imperative here is really more than a simple conditional imperative (= “if you destroy”); its semantic force here is more like the ironical imperative found in the prophets (Amos 4:4, Isa 8:9) = “Go ahead and do this and see what happens.”
[2:20] 12 tn See the note on this phrase in v. 18.
[2:20] 13 tn A close parallel to the aorist οἰκοδομήθη (oikodomhqh) can be found in Ezra 5:16 (LXX), where it is clear from the following verb that the construction had not yet been completed. Thus the phrase has been translated “This temple has been under construction for forty-six years.” Some, however, see the term ναός (naos) here as referring only to the sanctuary and the aorist verb as consummative, so that the meaning would be “this temple was built forty-six years ago” (so ExSyn 560-61). Ultimately in context the logic of the authorities’ reply appears to fit more naturally if it compares length of time for original construction with length of time to reconstruct it.
[2:20] 14 sn According to Josephus (Ant. 15.11.1 [15.380]), work on this temple was begun in the 18th year of Herod the Great’s reign, which would have been ca. 19
[2:21] 15 tn Grk “that one”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity. This Greek term is frequently used as a way of referring to Jesus in the Johannine letters (cf. 1 John 2:6; 3:3, 5, 7, 16; 4:17).
[2:21] 16 tn The genitive “of his body” (τοῦ σώματος αὐτοῦ, tou swmato" autou) is a genitive of apposition, clarifying which temple Jesus was referring to. Thus, Jesus not only was referring to his physical resurrection, but also to his participation in the resurrection process. The New Testament thus records the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit as all performing the miracle of Christ's resurrection.
[2:22] 17 sn They believed the scripture is probably an anaphoric reference to Ps 69:9 (69:10 LXX), quoted in John 2:17 above. Presumably the disciples did not remember Ps 69:9 on the spot, but it was a later insight.
