Lukas 7:49

7:49 But ¹  those who were at the table ²  with him began to say among themselves, “Who is this, who even forgives sins?”

Lukas 1:53

1:53 he has filled the hungry with good things, ³  and has sent the rich away empty. ⁴ 

Lukas 2:1

The Census and the Birth of Jesus

2:1 Now ⁵  in those days a decree ⁶  went out from Caesar ⁷  Augustus ⁸  to register ⁹  all the empire ¹⁰  for taxes.

[7:49]  ¹ tn Grk “And”; here καί (kai) has been translated as an adversative (contrastive).

[7:49]  ² tn Grk “were reclining at table.”

[1:53]  ³ sn Good things refers not merely to material blessings, but blessings that come from knowing God.

[1:53]  ⁴ sn Another fundamental contrast of Luke’s is between the hungry and the rich (Luke 6:20-26).

[2:1]  ⁵ tn Grk “Now it happened that.” The introductory phrase ἐγένετο (egeneto, “it happened that”), common in Luke (69 times) and Acts (54 times), is redundant in contemporary English and has not been translated.

[2:1]  ⁶ sn This decree was a formal decree from the Roman Senate.

[2:1]  ⁷ tn Or “from the emperor” (“Caesar” is a title for the Roman emperor).

[2:1]  ⁸ sn Caesar Augustus refers to Octavian, who was Caesar from 27 b.c. to a.d. 14. He was known for his administrative prowess.

[2:1]  ⁹ tn Grk “that all the empire should be registered for taxes.” The passive infinitive ἀπογράφεσθαι (apografesqai) has been rendered as an active in the translation to improve the English style. The verb is regarded as a technical term for official registration in tax lists (BDAG 108 s.v. ἀπογράφω a).

[2:1]  sn This census (a decree…to register all the empire) is one of the more disputed historical remarks in Luke. Josephus (Ant. 18.1.1 [18.1-2]) only mentions a census in a.d. 6, too late for this setting. Such a census would have been a massive undertaking; it could have started under one ruler and emerged under another, to whose name it became attached. This is one possibility to explain the data. Another is that Quirinius, who became governor in Syria for the later census, may have been merely an administrator for this census. See also Luke 2:2.

[2:1]  ¹⁰ tn Grk “the whole (inhabited) world,” but this was a way to refer to the Roman empire (L&N 1.83).