translation_id: net-engnet

book_id: LUK

label: NET study note

text: See the note on Pharisees in 5:17 .


text: The pursuit of popularity can lead to hypocrisy , if one is not careful.


text: I.e., be revealed by God. The passive voice verbs here (“be revealed,” be made known”) see the revelation as coming from God. The text is both a warning about bad things being revealed and an encouragement that good things will be made known, though the stress with the images of darkness and what is hidden in vv. 2-3 is on the attempt to conceal.


text: The term translated private rooms refers to the inner room of a house, normally without any windows opening outside, the most private location possible (BDAG 988 s.v. ταμεῖον 2).


text: Judaism had a similar exhortation in 4 Macc 13:14-15.


text: 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.


text: 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).


text: The pennies refer to the assarion, a small Roman copper coin. One of them was worth one sixteenth of a denarius or less than a half hour’s average wage. Sparrows were the cheapest thing sold in the market. God knows about even the most financially insignificant things; see Isa 49:15 .


text: Do not be afraid. One should respect and show reverence to God (v. 5 ), but need not fear his tender care.


text: This acknowledgment will take place at the judgment. Of course, the Son of Man is a reference to Jesus as it has been throughout the Gospel. On Jesus and judgment, see 22:69 ; Acts 10:42-43; 17:31 .


text: Blasphemy against the Holy Spirit probably refers to a total rejection of the testimony that the Spirit gives to Jesus and the plan of God. This is not so much a sin of the moment as of one’s entire life, an obstinate rejection of God’s message and testimony. Cf. Matt 12:31-32 and Mark 3:28-30 .


text: The saying looks at persecution both from a Jewish context as the mention of synagogues suggests, and from a Gentile one as the reference to the rulers and the authorities suggests. sn See the note on synagogues in 4:15 .


text: Tell my brother. In 1st century Jewish culture, a figure like a rabbi was often asked to mediate disputes, except that here mediation was not requested, but representation.


text: I have nowhere to store my crops. The thinking here is prudent in terms of recognizing the problem. The issue in the parable will be the rich man’s solution, particularly the arrogance reflected in v. 19 .


text: Note how often the first person pronoun is present in these verses. The farmer is totally self absorbed.


text: It is selfishness that is rebuked here, in the accumulation of riches for himself . Recall the emphasis on the first person pronouns throughout the parable.


text: The phrase how much more is a typical form of rabbinic argumentation, from the lesser to the greater. If God cares for the little things, surely he will care for the more important things.


text: His (that is, God’s) kingdom 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 .


text: The call to sell your possessions is a call to a lack of attachment to the earth and a generosity as a result.


text: Seeking heavenly treasure means serving others and honoring God by doing so; see Luke 6:35-36 .


text: Keep your lamps burning means to be ready at all times.


text: An ancient wedding celebration could last for days (Tob 11:18).


text: He…will come and wait on them is a reversal of expectation, but shows that what Jesus asks for he is willing to do as well; see John 13:5 and 15:18-27 , although those instances merely foreshadow what is in view here.


text: The second or third watch of the night would be between 9 p.m. and 3 a.m. on a Roman schedule and 10 p.m. to 6 a.m. on a Jewish schedule. Luke uses the four-watch schedule of the Romans in Acts 12:4 , so that is more probable here. Regardless of the precise times of the watches, however, it is clear that the late-night watches when a person is least alert are in view here.


text: On Jesus pictured as a returning thief , see 1 Thess 5:2, 4 ; 2 Pet 3:10 ; Rev 3:3; 16:15 .


text: Jesus made clear that his coming could not be timed, and suggested it might take some time – so long, in fact, that some would not be looking for him any longer ( at an hour when you do not expect him ).


text: Is the parable only for disciples ( us ) or for all humanity ( everyone )? Or does Peter mean for disciples ( us ) or for the crowd ( everyone )? The fact that unfaithful slaves are mentioned in v. 46 looks to a warning that includes a broad audience, though it is quality of service that is addressed. This means the parable focuses on those who are associated with Jesus.


text: The slave’s action in beginning to beat the other slaves was not only a failure to carry out what was commanded but involved doing the exact reverse.


text: Entrusted with much. To be gifted with precious responsibility is something that requires faithfulness.


text: This mission statement, “ I have come to bring fire on the earth ,” looks to the purging and division Jesus causes: See Luke 3:9, 17; 9:54; 17:29 for fire, 5:32; 7:34; 9:58; 12:51 for the topic of mission.


text: The figure of the baptism is variously interpreted, as some see a reference (1) to martyrdom or (2) to inundation with God’s judgment. The OT background, however, suggests the latter sense: Jesus is about to be uniquely inundated with God’s judgment as he is rejected, persecuted, and killed ( Ps 18:4, 16; 42:7; 69:1-2 ; Isa 8:7-8; 30:27-28 ; Jonah 2:3-6 ).


text: From now on is a popular phrase in Luke: 1:48; 5:10; 22:18, 69 ; see Mic 7:6 .


text: A cloud rising in the west refers to moisture coming from the Mediterranean Sea.


text: The south wind comes from the desert, and thus brings scorching heat.


text: In Luke, the term hypocrites occurs here, in 6:42 , and in 13:15 .


text: The term magistrate ( ἄρχων , arcwn ) refers to an official who, under the authority of the government, serves as judge in legal cases (see L&N 56.29).


text: The officer ( πράκτωρ , praktwr ) was a civil official who functioned like a bailiff and was in charge of debtor’s prison. The use of the term, however, does not automatically demand a Hellenistic setting (BDAG 859 s.v.; K. H. Rengstorf, TDNT 8:539; C. Maurer, TDNT 6:642).