Matthew 11:6

11:6 Blessed is anyone ¹  who takes no offense at me.”

Matthew 13:57

13:57 And so they took offense at him. But Jesus said to them, “A prophet is not without honor except in his hometown and in his own house.”

Luke 2:34

2:34 Then ²  Simeon blessed them and said to his mother Mary, “Listen carefully: ³  This child ⁴  is destined to be the cause of the falling and rising ⁵  of many in Israel and to be a sign that will be rejected. ⁶ 

Luke 4:23-29

4:23 Jesus ⁷  said to them, “No doubt you will quote to me the proverb, ‘Physician, heal yourself!’ ⁸  and say, ‘What we have heard that you did in Capernaum, ⁹  do here in your hometown too.’” 4:24 And he added, ¹⁰  “I tell you the truth, ¹¹  no prophet is acceptable ¹²  in his hometown. 4:25 But in truth I tell you, there were many widows in Israel in Elijah’s days, ¹³  when the sky ¹⁴  was shut up three and a half years, and ¹⁵  there was a great famine over all the land. 4:26 Yet ¹⁶  Elijah was sent to none of them, but only to a woman who was a widow at Zarephath in Sidon. ¹⁷  4:27 And there were many lepers in Israel in the time of the prophet Elisha, ¹⁸  yet ¹⁹  none of them was cleansed except Naaman the Syrian.” ²⁰  4:28 When they heard this, all the people ²¹  in the synagogue were filled with rage. 4:29 They got up, forced ²²  him out of the town, ²³  and brought him to the brow of the hill on which their town was built, so that ²⁴  they could throw him down the cliff. ²⁵ 

Luke 7:23

7:23 Blessed is anyone ²⁶  who takes no offense at me.”

John 6:60-61

6:60 Then many of his disciples, when they heard these things, ²⁷  said, “This is a difficult ²⁸  saying! ²⁹  Who can understand it?” ³⁰  6:61 When Jesus was aware ³¹  that his disciples were complaining ³²  about this, he said to them, “Does this cause you to be offended? ³³ 

John 6:1

The Feeding of the Five Thousand

6:1 After this ³⁴  Jesus went away to the other side of the Sea of Galilee (also called the Sea of Tiberias). ³⁵ 

Colossians 1:23

1:23 if indeed you remain in the faith, established and firm, ³⁶  without shifting ³⁷  from the hope of the gospel that you heard. This gospel has also been preached in all creation under heaven, and I, Paul, have become its servant.

[11:6]  ¹ tn Grk “whoever.”

[2:34]  ² tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the narrative.

[2:34]  ³ tn Grk “behold.”

[2:34]  ⁴ tn Grk “this one”; the referent (the child) is supplied in the translation for clarity.

[2:34]  ⁵ sn The phrase the falling and rising of many emphasizes that Jesus will bring division in the nation, as some will be judged (falling) and others blessed (rising) because of how they respond to him. The language is like Isa 8:14-15 and conceptually like Isa 28:13-16. Here is the first hint that Jesus’ coming will be accompanied with some difficulties.

[2:34]  ⁶ tn Grk “and for a sign of contradiction.”

[4:23]  ⁷ tn Grk “And he”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity. Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

[4:23]  ⁸ sn The proverb Physician, heal yourself! means that Jesus should prove his claims. It is a “Prove it to us!” mentality that Jesus says the people have.

[4:23]  ⁹ sn The remark “What we have heard that you did at Capernaum” makes many suspect that Luke has moved this event forward in sequence to typify what Jesus’ ministry was like, since the ministry in Capernaum follows in vv. 31-44. The location of this event in the parallel of Mark 6:1-6 also suggests this transposition.

[4:24]  ¹⁰ tn Grk “said,” but since this is a continuation of previous remarks, “added” is used here.

[4:24]  ¹¹ tn Grk “Truly (ἀμήν, amhn), I say to you.”

[4:24]  ¹² sn Jesus argues that he will get no respect in his own hometown. There is a wordplay here on the word acceptable (δεκτός, dektos), which also occurs in v. 19: Jesus has declared the “acceptable” year of the Lord (here translated year of the Lord’s favor), but he is not “accepted” by the people of his own hometown.

[4:25]  ¹³ sn Elijah’s days. Jesus, by discussing Elijah and Elisha, pictures one of the lowest periods in Israel’s history. These examples, along with v. 24, also show that Jesus is making prophetic claims as well as messianic ones. See 1 Kgs 17-18.

[4:25]  ¹⁴ tn Or “the heaven”; the Greek word οὐρανός (ouranos) may be translated “sky” or “heaven,” depending on the context. Since the context here refers to a drought (which produced the famine), “sky” is preferable.

[4:25]  ¹⁵ tn Grk “as.” The particle ὡς can also function temporally (see BDAG 1105-6 s.v. 8).

[4:26]  ¹⁶ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “yet” to indicate the contrast.

[4:26]  ¹⁷ sn Zarephath in Sidon was Gentile territory (see 1 Kgs 17:9-24). Jesus’ point was that he would be forced to minister elsewhere, and the implication is that this ministry would ultimately extend (through the work of his followers) to those outside the nation.

[4:27]  ¹⁸ sn On Elisha see 2 Kgs 5:1-14.

[4:27]  ¹⁹ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “yet” to indicate the contrast.

[4:27]  ²⁰ sn The reference to Naaman the Syrian (see 2 Kgs 5:1-24) is another example where an outsider and Gentile was blessed. The stress in the example is the missed opportunity of the people to experience God’s work, but it will still go on without them.

[4:28]  ²¹ tn The words “the people” are not in the Greek text but have been supplied.

[4:29]  ²² tn Grk “cast.”

[4:29]  ²³ tn Or “city.”

[4:29]  ²⁴ tn The Greek conjunction ὥστε (Jwste) here indicates their purpose.

[4:29]  ²⁵ sn The attempt to throw him down the cliff looks like “lynch law,” but it may really be an indication that Jesus was regarded as a false prophet who was worthy of death (Deut 13:5). Such a sentence meant being thrown into a pit and then stoned.

[7:23]  ²⁶ tn Grk “whoever.”

[6:60]  ²⁷ tn The words “these things” are not present in the Greek text but are implied. Direct objects in Greek were often omitted when clear from the context, and must be supplied for the English reader.

[6:60]  ²⁸ tn Or “hard,” “demanding.”

[6:60]  ²⁹ tn Or “teaching”; Grk “word.”

[6:60]  ³⁰ tn Or “obey it”; Grk “hear it.” The Greek word ἀκούω (akouw) could imply hearing with obedience here, in the sense of “obey.” It could also point to the acceptance of what Jesus had just said, (i.e., “who can accept what he said?” However, since the context contains several replies by those in the crowd of hearers that suggest uncertainty or confusion over the meaning of what Jesus had said (6:42; 6:52), the meaning “understand” is preferred here.

[6:61]  ³¹ tn Grk “When Jesus knew within himself.”

[6:61]  ³² tn Or “were grumbling.”

[6:61]  ³³ tn Or “Does this cause you to no longer believe?” (Grk “cause you to stumble?”)

[6:1]  ³⁴ tn Again, μετὰ ταῦτα (meta tauta) is a vague temporal reference. How Jesus got from Jerusalem to Galilee is not explained, which has led many scholars (e.g., Bernard, Bultmann, and Schnackenburg) to posit either editorial redaction or some sort of rearrangement or dislocation of material (such as reversing the order of chaps. 5 and 6, for example). Such a rearrangement of the material would give a simple and consistent connection of events, but in the absence of all external evidence it does not seem to be supportable. R. E. Brown (John [AB], 1:236) says that such an arrangement is attractive in some ways but not compelling, and that no rearrangement can solve all the geographical and chronological problems in John.

[6:1]  ³⁵ sn This is a parenthetical note by the author. Only John in the New Testament refers to the Sea of Galilee by the name Sea of Tiberias (see also John 21:1), but this is correct local usage. In the mid-20’s Herod completed the building of the town of Tiberias on the southwestern shore of the lake; after this time the name came into use for the lake itself.

[1:23]  ³⁶ tn BDAG 276 s.v. ἑδραῖος suggests “firm, steadfast.”

[1:23]  ³⁷ tn BDAG 639 s.v. μετακινέω suggests “without shifting from the hope” here.