Lukas 3:1

The Ministry of John the Baptist

3:1 In the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar, ¹  when Pontius Pilate ²  was governor of Judea, and Herod ³  was tetrarch ⁴  of Galilee, and his brother Philip ⁵  was tetrarch of the region of Iturea and Trachonitis, and Lysanias ⁶  was tetrarch of Abilene,

Lukas 3:8

3:8 Therefore produce ⁷  fruit ⁸  that proves your repentance, and don’t begin to say ⁹  to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father.’ ¹⁰  For I tell you that God can raise up children for Abraham from these stones! ¹¹ 

Lukas 7:20

7:20 When ¹²  the men came to Jesus, ¹³  they said, “John the Baptist has sent us to you to ask, ¹⁴  ‘Are you the one who is to come, or should we look for another?’” ¹⁵ 

Lukas 7:39

7:39 Now when the Pharisee who had invited him saw this, ¹⁶  he said to himself, “If this man were a prophet, ¹⁷  he would know who and what kind of woman ¹⁸  this is who is touching him, that she is a sinner.”

Lukas 9:22

9:22 saying, “The Son of Man must suffer ¹⁹  many things and be rejected by the elders, ²⁰  chief priests, and experts in the law, ²¹  and be killed, and on the third day be raised.” ²² 

Lukas 13:7

13:7 So ²³  he said to the worker who tended the vineyard, ‘For ²⁴  three years ²⁵  now, I have come looking for fruit on this fig tree, and each time I inspect it ²⁶  I find none. Cut ²⁷  it down! Why ²⁸  should it continue to deplete ²⁹  the soil?’

Lukas 14:26

14:26 “If anyone comes to me and does not hate ³⁰  his own father and mother, and wife and children, and brothers and sisters, and even his own life, ³¹  he cannot be my disciple.

[3:1]  ¹ tn Or “Emperor Tiberius” (“Caesar” is a title for the Roman emperor).

[3:1]  sn Tiberius Caesar was the Roman emperor Tiberius Claudius Caesar Augustus, who ruled from a.d. 14-37.

[3:1]  ² sn The rule of Pontius Pilate is also described by Josephus, J. W. 2.9.2-4 (2.169-177) and Ant. 18.3.1 (18.55-59).

[3:1]  ³ sn Herod refers here to Herod Antipas, son of Herod the Great. He ruled from 4 b.c.-a.d. 39, sharing the rule of his father’s realm with his two brothers. One brother, Archelaus (Matt 2:22) was banished in a.d. 6 and died in a.d. 18; the other brother, Herod Philip (mentioned next) died in a.d. 34.

[3:1]  ⁴ sn A tetrarch was a ruler with rank and authority lower than a king, who ruled only with the approval of the Roman authorities. This was roughly equivalent to being governor of a region. Several times in the NT, Herod tetrarch of Galilee is called a king (Matt 14:9, Mark 6:14-29), reflecting popular usage.

[3:1]  ⁵ sn Philip refers to Herod Philip, son of Herod the Great and brother of Herod Antipas. Philip ruled as tetrarch of Iturea and Trachonitis from 4 b.c.-a.d. 34.

[3:1]  ⁶ sn Nothing else is known about Lysanias tetrarch of Abilene.

[3:8]  ⁷ tn The verb here is ποιέω (poiew; see v. 4).

[3:8]  ⁸ 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]  ⁹ tn In other words, “do not even begin to think this.”

[3:8]  ¹⁰ 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]  ¹¹ 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.

[7:20]  ¹² tn Grk “And when.” Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

[7:20]  ¹³ tn Grk “him”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[7:20]  ¹⁴ tn Grk “to you, saying,” but since this takes the form of a question, it is preferable to use the phrase “to ask” in English.

[7:20]  ¹⁵ tn This question is repeated word for word from v. 19.

[7:39]  ¹⁶ 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]  ¹⁷ 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]  ¹⁸ sn The Pharisees believed in a form of separationism that would have prevented them from any kind of association with such a sinful woman.

[9:22]  ¹⁹ sn The necessity that the Son of Man suffer is the particular point that needed emphasis, since for many 1st century Jews the Messiah was a glorious and powerful figure, not a suffering one.

[9:22]  ²⁰ sn Rejection in Luke is especially by the Jewish leadership (here elders, chief priests, and experts in the law), though in Luke 23 almost all will join in.

[9:22]  ²¹ tn Or “and scribes.” See the note on the phrase “experts in the law” in 5:21.

[9:22]  ²² sn The description of the Son of Man being rejected…killed, and…raised is the first of six passion summaries in Luke: 9:44; 17:25; 18:31-33; 24:7; 24:46-47.

[13:7]  ²³ tn Here δέ (de) has been translated as “so” to indicate the man’s response as a result of the lack of figs in the preceding clause.

[13:7]  ²⁴ tn Grk “Behold, for.”

[13:7]  ²⁵ sn The elapsed time could be six years total since planting, since often a fig was given three years before one even started to look for fruit. The point in any case is that enough time had been given to expect fruit.

[13:7]  ²⁶ tn The phrase “each time I inspect it” is not in the Greek text but has been supplied to indicate the customary nature of the man’s search for fruit.

[13:7]  ²⁷ tc ‡ Several witnesses (Ì⁷⁵ A L Θ Ψ 070 ˹³ 33 579 892 al lat co) have “therefore” (οὖν, oun) here. This conjunction has the effect of strengthening the logical connection with the preceding statement but also of reducing the rhetorical power and urgency of the imperative. In light of the slightly greater internal probability of adding a conjunction to an otherwise asyndetic sentence, as well as significant external support for the omission (א B D W ˹ Ï), the shorter reading appears to be more likely as the original wording here. NA²⁷ puts the conjunction in brackets, indicating some doubts as to its authenticity.

[13:7]  ²⁸ tn Grk “Why indeed.” Here καί (kai) has not been translated.

[13:7]  ²⁹ sn Such fig trees would deplete the soil, robbing it of nutrients needed by other trees and plants.

[14:26]  ³⁰ tn This figurative use operates on a relative scale. God is to be loved more than family or self.

[14:26]  ³¹ tn Grk “his own soul,” but ψυχή (yuch) is frequently used of one’s physical life. It clearly has that meaning in this context.