Lukas 4:16

Rejection at Nazareth

4:16 Now ¹  Jesus ²  came to Nazareth, ³  where he had been brought up, and went into the synagogue ⁴  on the Sabbath day, as was his custom. ⁵  He ⁶  stood up to read, ⁷ 

Lukas 16:16

16:16 “The law and the prophets were in force ⁸  until John; ⁹  since then, ¹⁰  the good news of the kingdom of God ¹¹  has been proclaimed, and everyone is urged to enter it. ¹² 

Lukas 19:46

19:46 saying to them, “It is written, ‘My house will be a house of prayer,’ ¹³  but you have turned it into a den ¹⁴  of robbers!” ¹⁵ 

[4:16]  ¹ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “now” to indicate the transition to a new topic.

[4:16]  ² tn Grk “he”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[4:16]  ³ sn Nazareth was Jesus’ hometown (which is why he is known as Jesus of Nazareth) about 20 miles (30 km) southwest from Capernaum.

[4:16]  map For location see Map1 D3; Map2 C2; Map3 D5; Map4 C1; Map5 G3.

[4:16]  ⁴ sn See the note on synagogues in 4:15.

[4:16]  ⁵ tn Grk “according to his custom.”

[4:16]  ⁶ tn Grk “And he.” Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

[4:16]  ⁷ sn In normative Judaism of the period, the OT scripture was read and discussed in the synagogue by the men who were present. See the Mishnah, m. Megillah 3-4; m. Berakhot 2. First came the law, then the prophets, then someone was asked to speak on the texts. Normally one stood up to read out of respect for the scriptures, and then sat down (v. 20) to expound them.

[16:16]  ⁸ tn There is no verb in the Greek text; one must be supplied. Some translations (NASB, NIV) supply “proclaimed” based on the parallelism with the proclamation of the kingdom. The transitional nature of this verse, however, seems to call for something more like “in effect” (NRSV) or, as used here, “in force.” Further, Greek generally can omit one of two kinds of verbs – either the equative verb or one that is already mentioned in the preceding context (ExSyn 39).

[16:16]  ⁹ sn John refers to John the Baptist.

[16:16]  ¹⁰ sn Until John; since then. This verse indicates a shift in era, from law to kingdom.

[16:16]  ¹¹ sn The kingdom of God is a major theme of Jesus. It is a realm in which Jesus rules and to which those who trust him belong. See Luke 6:20; 11:20; 17:20-21.

[16:16]  ¹² tn Many translations have “entereth violently into it” (ASV) or “is forcing his way into it” (NASB, NIV). This is not true of everyone. It is better to read the verb here as passive rather than middle, and in a softened sense of “be urged.” See Gen 33:11; Judg 13:15-16; 19:7; 2 Sam 3:25, 27 in the LXX. This fits the context well because it agrees with Jesus’ attempt to persuade his opponents to respond morally. For further discussion and details, see D. L. Bock, Luke (BECNT), 2:1352-53.

[19:46]  ¹³ sn A quotation from Isa 56:7.

[19:46]  ¹⁴ tn Or “a hideout” (see L&N 1.57).

[19:46]  ¹⁵ sn A quotation from Jer 7:11. The meaning of Jesus’ statement about making the temple courts a den of robbers probably operates here at two levels. Not only were the religious leaders robbing the people financially, but because of this they had also robbed them spiritually by stealing from them the opportunity to come to know God genuinely. It is possible that these merchants had recently been moved to this location for convenience.