Lukas 3:8

3:8 Therefore produce ¹  fruit ²  that proves your repentance, and don’t begin to say ³  to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father.’ ⁴  For I tell you that God can raise up children for Abraham from these stones! ⁵ 

Lukas 5:22

5:22 When Jesus perceived ⁶  their hostile thoughts, ⁷  he said to them, ⁸  “Why are you raising objections ⁹  within yourselves?

Lukas 7:39

7:39 Now when the Pharisee who had invited him saw this, ¹⁰  he said to himself, “If this man were a prophet, ¹¹  he would know who and what kind of woman ¹²  this is who is touching him, that she is a sinner.”

Lukas 12:17

12:17 so ¹³  he thought to himself, ¹⁴  ‘What should I do, for I have nowhere to store my crops?’ ¹⁵ 

[3:8]  ¹ tn The verb here is ποιέω (poiew; see v. 4).

[3:8]  ² tn Grk “fruits.” The plural Greek term καρπούς has been translated with the collective singular “fruit” (so NIV; cf. Matt 3:8 where the singular καρπός is found). Some other translations render the plural καρπούς as “fruits” (e.g., NRSV, NASB, NAB, NKJV).

[3:8]  ³ tn In other words, “do not even begin to think this.”

[3:8]  ⁴ sn We have Abraham as our father. John’s warning to the crowds really assumes two things: (1) A number of John’s listeners apparently believed that simply by their physical descent from Abraham, they were certain heirs of the promises made to the patriarch, and (2) God would never judge his covenant people lest he inadvertently place the fulfillment of his promises in jeopardy. In light of this, John tells these people two things: (1) they need to repent and produce fruit in keeping with repentance, for only that saves from the coming wrath, and (2) God will raise up “children for Abraham from these stones” if he wants to. Their disobedience will not threaten the realization of God’s sovereign purposes.

[3:8]  ⁵ sn The point of the statement God is able from these stones to raise up children to Abraham is that ancestry or association with a tradition tied to the great founder of the Jewish nation is not an automatic source of salvation.

[5:22]  ⁶ sn Jesus often perceived people’s thoughts in Luke; see 4:23; 6:8; 7:40; 9:47. Such a note often precedes a rebuke.

[5:22]  ⁷ tn Grk “reasonings.” This is the noun form of the infinitive διαλογίζεσθαι (dialogizesqai, “began to reason to themselves”) used in v. 21. Jesus’ reply to them in the latter part of the present verse makes clear that these reasonings were mental and internal, so the translation “thoughts” was used here. On the hostile or evil nature of these thoughts, see G. Schrenk, TDNT 2:97.

[5:22]  ⁸ tn Grk “answering, he said to them.” This construction with passive participle and finite verb is pleonastic (redundant) and has been simplified in the translation.

[5:22]  ⁹ tn The Greek verb διαλογίζεσθε (dialogizesqe, “you reason”), used in context with διαλογισμούς (dialogismous, “reasonings”), connotes more than neutral reasoning or thinking. While the verb can refer to normal “reasoning,” “discussion,” or “reflection” in the NT, its use here in Luke 5:22, alongside the noun – which is regularly used with a negative sense in the NT (cf. Matt 15:19; Mark 7:21; Luke 2:35, 6:8, 9:47; Rom 1:21; 1 Cor 3:20; G. Schrenk, TDNT 2:96-97; D. L. Bock, Luke [BECNT], 1:484) – suggests the idea of “contention.” Therefore, in order to reflect the hostility evident in the reasoning of the Pharisees and teachers of the law, the verb has been translated as “raising objections.”

[7:39]  ¹⁰ tn The word “this” is not in the Greek text, but is implied. Direct objects were frequently omitted in Greek when clear from the context.

[7:39]  ¹¹ tn This is a good example of a second class (contrary to fact) Greek conditional sentence. The Pharisee said, in effect, “If this man were a prophet (but he is not)…”

[7:39]  ¹² sn The Pharisees believed in a form of separationism that would have prevented them from any kind of association with such a sinful woman.

[12:17]  ¹³ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “so” to indicate that this is a result of the preceding statement.

[12:17]  ¹⁴ tn Grk “to himself, saying.” The participle λέγων (legwn) is redundant in contemporary English and has not been translated here.

[12:17]  ¹⁵ sn I have nowhere to store my crops. The thinking here is prudent in terms of recognizing the problem. The issue in the parable will be the rich man’s solution, particularly the arrogance reflected in v. 19.