Lukas 5:23

5:23 Which is easier, ¹  to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Stand up and walk’?

Lukas 9:43

9:43 Then ²  they were all astonished at the mighty power ³  of God.

Another Prediction of Jesus’ Suffering

But while the entire crowd ⁴  was amazed at everything Jesus ⁵  was doing, he said to his disciples,

Lukas 12:5

12:5 But I will warn ⁶  you whom you should fear: Fear the one who, after the killing, ⁷  has authority to throw you ⁸  into hell. ⁹  Yes, I tell you, fear him!

[5:23]  ¹ sn Which is easier is a reflective kind of question. On the one hand to declare sins are forgiven is easier, since one does not need to see it, unlike telling a paralyzed person to walk. On the other hand, it is harder, because for it to be true one must possess the authority to forgive the sin.

[9:43]  ² tn Here δέ (de) has been translated as “then” to indicate the response at the conclusion of the account.

[9:43]  ³ sn The revelation of the mighty power of God was the manifestation of God’s power shown through Jesus. See Acts 10:38.

[9:43]  ⁴ tn Grk “all”; the referent (the crowd) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[9:43]  ⁵ tc Most mss, especially the later ones (A C W Θ Ψ 0115 ˹³ 33 892 Ï al), actually supply ὁ ᾿Ιησοῦς (Jo Ihsous, “Jesus”) here. Since the earliest and best witnesses, along with many others (Ì⁷⁵ א B D L Ξ Ë¹ 579 700 1241 2542 pc lat), lack the name, and since scribes were unlikely to intentionally omit it, the shorter reading is preferred as the original reading.

[9:43]  tn Grk “he”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity. Some mss have done the same.

[12:5]  ⁶ tn Grk “will show,” but in this reflective context such a demonstration is a warning or exhortation.

[12:5]  ⁷ sn The actual performer of the killing is not here specified. It could be understood to be God (so NASB, NRSV) but it could simply emphasize that, after a killing has taken place, it is God who casts the person into hell.

[12:5]  ⁸ tn The direct object (“you”) is understood.

[12:5]  ⁹ sn The word translated hell is “Gehenna” (γέεννα, geenna), a Greek transliteration of the Hebrew words ge hinnom (“Valley of Hinnom”). This was the valley along the south side of Jerusalem. In OT times it was used for human sacrifices to the pagan god Molech (cf. Jer 7:31; 19:5-6; 32:35), and it came to be used as a place where human excrement and rubbish were disposed of and burned. In the intertestamental period, it came to be used symbolically as the place of divine punishment (cf. 1 En. 27:2, 90:26; 4 Ezra 7:36).