Lukas 9:29-30

9:29 As ¹  he was praying, ²  the appearance of his face was transformed, ³  and his clothes became very bright, a brilliant white. ⁴  9:30 Then ⁵  two men, Moses and Elijah, ⁶  began talking with him. ⁷ 

Lukas 22:40

22:40 When he came to the place, ⁸  he said to them, “Pray that you will not fall into temptation.” ⁹ 

[9:29]  ¹ tn Grk “And as.” Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

[9:29]  ² tn Here the preposition ἐν (en) plus the dative articular aorist infinitive has been translated as a temporal clause (ExSyn 595).

[9:29]  ³ tn Or “the appearance of his face became different.”

[9:29]  sn In 1st century Judaism and in the NT, there was the belief that the righteous get new, glorified bodies in order to enter heaven (1 Cor 15:42-49; 2 Cor 5:1-10). This transformation means the righteous will share the glory of God. One recalls the way Moses shared the Lord’s glory after his visit to the mountain in Exod 34. So the disciples saw the appearance of his face transformed, and they were getting a sneak preview of the great glory that Jesus would have (only his glory is more inherent to him as one who shares in the rule of the kingdom).

[9:29]  ⁴ tn Or “became bright as a flash of lightning” (cf. BDAG 346 s.v. ἐξαστράπτω); or “became brilliant as light” (cf. BDAG 593 s.v. λευκός 1).

[9:30]  ⁵ tn Grk “And behold.” Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style. The Greek word ἰδού (idou) at the beginning of this statement has not been translated because it has no exact English equivalent here, but adds interest and emphasis (BDAG 468 s.v. 1).

[9:30]  ⁶ sn Commentators and scholars discuss why Moses and Elijah are present. The most likely explanation is that Moses represents the prophetic office (Acts 3:18-22) and Elijah pictures the presence of the last days (Mal 4:5-6), the prophet of the eschaton (the end times).

[9:30]  ⁷ tn Grk “two men were talking with him, who were Moses and Elijah.” The relative clause has been simplified to an appositive and transposed in keeping with contemporary English style.

[22:40]  ⁸ sn Luke does not mention Gethsemane by name, but calls it simply the place.

[22:40]  ⁹ sn Jesus’ instructions to pray not to fall into temptation is an allusion to Luke 22:28-38, especially 22:31. The temptation is Satan’s challenge to them to defect, like what happened to Judas and what will happen to Peter.