9:16 Then 13 he took the five loaves and the two fish, and looking up to heaven he gave thanks 14 and broke them. He gave them to the disciples to set before the crowd.
1 tn Grk “before.”
2 tn Grk “and he”; because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, the conjunction καί (kai) has not been translated here. Instead a new English sentence is begun in the translation.
3 tn Grk “even from his mother’s womb.” While this idiom may be understood to refer to the point of birth (“even from his birth”), Luke 1:41 suggests that here it should be understood to refer to a time before birth.
sn He will be filled with the Holy Spirit, even before his birth. This is the language of the birth of a prophet (Judg 13:5, 7; Isa 49:1; Jer 1:5; Sir 49:7); see 1:41 for the first fulfillment.
4 tn Grk “And seeing.” The participle ἰδών (idwn) has been taken temporally. Here δέ (de) has not been translated.
5 tn Grk “and fell,” but καί (kai) has not been translated since English normally uses a coordinating conjunction only between the last two elements in a series of three or more.
6 tn Grk “What to me and to you?” (an idiom). The phrase τί ἐμοὶ καὶ σοί (ti emoi kai soi) is Semitic in origin, though it made its way into colloquial Greek (BDAG 275 s.v. ἐγώ). The equivalent Hebrew expression in the OT had two basic meanings: (1) When one person was unjustly bothering another, the injured party could say “What to me and to you?” meaning, “What have I done to you that you should do this to me?” (Judg 11:12; 2 Chr 35:21; 1 Kgs 17:18). (2) When someone was asked to get involved in a matter he felt was no business of his own, he could say to the one asking him, “What to me and to you?” meaning, “That is your business, how am I involved?” (2 Kgs 3:13; Hos 14:8). These nuances were apparently expanded in Greek, but the basic notions of defensive hostility (option 1) and indifference or disengagement (option 2) are still present. BDAG suggests the following as glosses for this expression: What have I to do with you? What have we in common? Leave me alone! Never mind! Hostility between Jesus and the demons is certainly to be understood in this context, hence the translation: “Leave me alone….”
7 sn On the title Most High see Luke 1:35.
8 sn The demons’ plea “do not torment me” is a recognition of Jesus’ inherent authority over evil forces. The request is that Jesus not bother them. There was an appointed time in which demons would face their judgment, and they seem to have viewed Jesus’ arrival on the scene as an illegitimate change in God’s plan regarding the time when their sentence would be executed.
9 tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated.
10 tn Or “could not remain unnoticed” (see L&N 28.83).
11 tn Because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, a new sentence was started here in the translation. The order of the clauses in the remainder of the verse has been rearranged to reflect contemporary English style.
12 tn Grk “told for what reason.”
13 tn Here δέ (de) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the narrative.
14 sn Gave thanks adds a note of gratitude to the setting. The scene is like two other later meals: Luke 22:19 and 24:30. Jesus gives thanks to God “with respect to” the provision of food. The disciples learn how Jesus is the mediator of blessing. John 6 speaks of him in this scene as picturing the “Bread of Life.”
15 tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the narrative.
16 tn “The word of the Lord” is a technical expression in OT literature, often referring to a divine prophetic utterance (e.g., Gen 15:1, Isa 1:10, Jonah 1:1). In the NT it occurs 15 times: 3 times as ῥῆμα τοῦ κυρίου (rJhma tou kuriou; here and in Acts 11:16, 1 Pet 1:25) and 12 times as λόγος τοῦ κυρίου (logo" tou kuriou; Acts 8:25; 13:44, 48, 49; 15:35, 36; 16:32; 19:10, 20; 1 Thess 1:8, 4:15; 2 Thess 3:1). As in the OT, this phrase focuses on the prophetic nature and divine origin of what has been said. Because of its technical nature the expression has been retained in the translation in preference to a smoother rendering like “remembered what the Lord had said” (cf. TEV, NLT).
17 tn This term also appears in v. 2.
18 tn Grk “behold, I” A transitional use of ἰδού (idou) has not been translated here.
19 tn Grk “nothing did I find in this man by way of cause.” The reference to “nothing” is emphatic.
20 tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.
21 tn This translates the Greek term ἀνήρ (anhr).
22 sn The role of Jesus as prophet is a function Luke frequently mentions: 4:25-27; 9:35; 13:31-35.