Luke 1:16

1:16 He ¹  will turn ²  many of the people ³  of Israel to the Lord their God.

Luke 2:28

2:28 Simeon ⁴  took him in his arms and blessed God, saying, ⁵ 

Luke 13:20

13:20 Again ⁶  he said, “To what should I compare the kingdom of God? ⁷ 

Luke 18:27

18:27 He replied, “What is impossible ⁸  for mere humans ⁹  is possible for God.”

Luke 24:53

24:53 and were continually in the temple courts ¹⁰  blessing ¹¹  God. ¹² 

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¹ tn Grk “And he.” Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

² sn The word translated will turn is a good summary term for repentance and denotes John’s call to a change of direction (Luke 3:1-14).

³ tn Grk “sons”; but clearly this is a generic reference to people of both genders.

⁴ tn Grk “he”; the referent (Simeon) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

⁵ tn Grk “and said.” The finite verb in Greek has been replaced with a participle in English to improve the smoothness of the translation.

⁶ tn Grk “And again.” Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

⁷ 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.

⁸ sn The term impossible is in the emphatic position in the Greek text. God makes the impossible possible.

⁹ tn The plural Greek term ἄνθρωποις (anqrwpois) is used here in a generic sense, referring to both men and women (cf. NASB 1995 update, “people”). Because of the contrast here between mere mortals and God (“impossible for men…possible for God”) the phrase “mere humans” has been used in the translation.

¹⁰ tn Grk “in the temple.”

sn Luke’s gospel story proper ends where it began, in the temple courts (Luke 1:4-22). The conclusion is open-ended, because the story continues in Acts with what happened from Jerusalem onwards, once the promise of the Father (v. 49) came.

¹¹ tc The Western text (D it) has αἰνοῦντες (ainounte", “praising”) here, while the Alexandrian mss (Ì⁷⁵ א B C* L) have εὐλογοῦντες (eulogounte", “blessing”). Most mss, especially the later Byzantine mss, evidently combine these two readings with αἰνοῦντες καὶ εὐλογοῦντες (A C² W Θ Ψ Ë^1,13 33 Ï lat). It is more difficult to decide between the two earlier readings. Internal arguments can go either way, but what seems decisive in this instance are the superior witnesses for εὐλογοῦντες.

¹² tc The majority of Greek mss, some of which are important witnesses (A B C² Θ Ψ Ë¹³ Ï lat), add “Amen” to note the Gospel’s end. Such a conclusion is routinely added by scribes to NT books because a few of these books originally had such an ending (cf. Rom 16:27; Gal 6:18; Jude 25). A majority of Greek witnesses have the concluding ἀμήν in every NT book except Acts, James, and 3 John (and even in these books, ἀμήν is found in some witnesses). It is thus a predictable variant. Further, since significant witnesses lack the word (Ì⁷⁵ א C* D L W 1 33 pc it co ), it is evidently not original.