Luke 7:8

7:8 For I too am a man set under authority, with soldiers under me. ¹  I say to this one, ‘Go,’ and he goes, ²  and to another, ‘Come,’ and he comes, and to my slave, ‘Do this,’ and he does it.” ³ 

Luke 8:29

8:29 For Jesus ⁴  had started commanding ⁵  the evil ⁶  spirit to come out of the man. (For it had seized him many times, so ⁷  he would be bound with chains and shackles ⁸  and kept under guard. But ⁹  he would break the restraints and be driven by the demon into deserted ¹⁰  places.) ¹¹ 

¹ tn Grk “having soldiers under me.”

² sn I say to this one, ‘Go,’ and he goes. The illustrations highlight the view of authority the soldier sees in the word of one who has authority. Since the centurion was a commander of a hundred soldiers, he understood what it was both to command others and to be obeyed.

³ 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.

⁴ tn Grk “he”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

⁵ tc ‡ Although the external evidence favors the aorist παρήγγειλεν (parhngeilen, “he commanded”; Ì⁷⁵ B Θ Ξ Ψ Ë¹³ 579 700 1241 1424 2542 pm), the internal evidence favors the imperfect παρήγγελλεν (parhngellen, here translated “he had started commanding”; א A C K L W Γ Δ 1 33 565 892 pm). The aorist is suspect because it can more easily be taken as a single command, and thus an immediate exorcism. The imperfect would most likely be ingressive (BDF §§328; 329; 331), suggesting that Jesus started to command the evil spirit to depart, and continued the command.

⁶ tn Grk “unclean.”

⁷ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “so,” introducing a clause that gives the result of the man being seized by the demon.

⁸ tn Or “fetters”; these were chains for the feet.

⁹ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “but” to indicate the contrast present in this context.

¹⁰ tn Grk “into the deserts.” The plural use here has been translated as “deserted places,” that is, uninhabited areas.

¹¹ sn This is a parenthetical, explanatory comment by the author.