Lukas 5:20

5:20 When ¹  Jesus ²  saw their ³  faith he said, “Friend, ⁴  your sins are forgiven.” ⁵ 

Lukas 7:47-50

7:47 Therefore I tell you, her sins, which were many, are forgiven, thus she loved much; ⁶  but the one who is forgiven little loves little.” 7:48 Then ⁷  Jesus ⁸  said to her, “Your sins are forgiven.” ⁹  7:49 But ¹⁰  those who were at the table ¹¹  with him began to say among themselves, “Who is this, who even forgives sins?” 7:50 He ¹²  said to the woman, “Your faith ¹³  has saved you; ¹⁴  go in peace.”

[5:20]  ¹ tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

[5:20]  ² tn Grk “he”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[5:20]  ³ sn The plural pronoun their makes it clear that Jesus was responding to the faith of the entire group, not just the paralyzed man.

[5:20]  ⁴ tn Grk “Man,” but the term used in this way was not derogatory in Jewish culture. Used in address (as here) it means “friend” (see BDAG 82 s.v. ἄνθρωπος 8).

[5:20]  ⁵ tn Grk “Man, your sins are forgiven you.” Luke stresses the forgiveness of sins (cf. 1:77; 3:3; 24:47). In 5:20 he uses both the perfect ἀφέωνται and the personal pronoun σοι which together combine to heighten the subjective aspect of the experience of forgiveness. The σοι has been omitted in translation in light of normal English style.

[5:20]  sn The passive voice here is a divine passive (ExSyn 437). It is clear that God does the forgiving.

[7:47]  ⁶ tn Grk “for she loved much.” The connection between this statement and the preceding probably involves an ellipsis, to the effect that the ὅτι clause gives the evidence of forgiveness, not the ground. For similar examples of an “evidentiary” ὅτι, cf. Luke 1:22; 6:21; 13:2. See discussion in D. L. Bock, Luke [BECNT], 1:703-5. Further evidence that this is the case here is the final statement: “the one who is forgiven little loves little” means that the one who is forgiven little is thus not able to love much. The REB renders this verse: “her great love proves that her many sins have been forgiven; where little has been forgiven, little love is shown.”

[7:47]  sn She loved much. Jesus’ point is that the person who realizes how great a gift forgiveness is (because they have a deep sense of sin) has a great love for the one who forgives, that is, God. The woman’s acts of reverence to Jesus honored him as the one who brought God’s message of grace.

[7:48]  ⁷ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the narrative.

[7:48]  ⁸ tn Grk “he”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[7:48]  ⁹ sn Jesus showed his authority to forgive sins, something that was quite controversial. See Luke 5:17-26 and the next verse.

[7:49]  ¹⁰ tn Grk “And”; here καί (kai) has been translated as an adversative (contrastive).

[7:49]  ¹¹ tn Grk “were reclining at table.”

[7:50]  ¹² tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated.

[7:50]  ¹³ sn On faith see Luke 5:20; 7:9; 8:25; 12:28; 17:6; 18:8; 22:32.

[7:50]  ¹⁴ sn The questioning did not stop Jesus. He declared authoritatively that the woman was forgiven by God (your faith has saved you). This event is a concrete example of Luke 5:31-32.