Lukas 5:21

5:21 Then ¹  the experts in the law ²  and the Pharisees began to think ³  to themselves, ⁴  “Who is this man ⁵  who is uttering blasphemies? ⁶  Who can forgive sins but God alone?”

Lukas 7:41

7:41 “A certain creditor ⁷  had two debtors; one owed him ⁸  five hundred silver coins, ⁹  and the other fifty.

[5:21]  ¹ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the narrative.

[5:21]  ² tn Or “Then the scribes.” The traditional rendering of γραμματεύς (grammateu") as “scribe” does not communicate much to the modern English reader, for whom the term might mean “professional copyist,” if it means anything at all. The people referred to here were recognized experts in the law of Moses and in traditional laws and regulations. Thus “expert in the law” comes closer to the meaning for the modern reader.

[5:21]  ³ tn Or “to reason” (in a hostile sense). See G. Schrenk, TDNT 2:97.

[5:21]  ⁴ tn The participle λέγοντες (legontes, “saying”) has not been translated because it is redundant in contemporary English.

[5:21]  ⁵ tn Grk “this one” (οὗτος, Joutos).

[5:21]  ⁶ sn Uttering blasphemies meant to say something that dishonored God. To claim divine prerogatives or claim to speak for God when one really does not would be such an act of offense. The remark raised directly the issue of the nature of Jesus’ ministry.

[7:41]  ⁷ sn A creditor was a moneylender, whose business was to lend money to others at a fixed rate of interest.

[7:41]  ⁸ tn The word “him” is not in the Greek text, but is implied.

[7:41]  ⁹ tn Grk “five hundred denarii.”

[7:41]  sn The silver coins were denarii. The denarius was worth about a day’s wage for a laborer; this would be an amount worth not quite two years’ pay. The debts were significant: They represented two months’ pay and one and three quarter years’ pay (20 months) based on a six day work week.