Luke 1:18

1:18 Zechariah ¹  said to the angel, “How can I be sure of this? ²  For I am an old man, and my wife is old as well.” ³ 

Luke 6:39

6:39 He also told them a parable: “Someone who is blind cannot lead another who is blind, can he? ⁴  Won’t they both fall ⁵  into a pit?

Luke 12:4

12:4 “I ⁶  tell you, my friends, do not be afraid of those who kill the body, ⁷  and after that have nothing more they can do.

Luke 12:56

12:56 You hypocrites! ⁸  You know how to interpret the appearance of the earth and the sky, but how can you not know how ⁹  to interpret the present time?

Luke 14:33

14:33 In the same way therefore not one of you can be my disciple if he does not renounce all his own possessions. ¹⁰ 

Luke 20:36

20:36 In fact, they can no longer die, because they are equal to angels ¹¹  and are sons of God, since they are ¹²  sons ¹³  of the resurrection.

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

² tn Grk “How will I know this?”

³ tn Grk “is advanced in days” (an idiom for old age).

⁴ tn Questions prefaced with μή (mh) in Greek anticipate a negative answer. This can sometimes be indicated by using a “tag” at the end in English (here it is “can he?”).

⁵ sn The picture of a blind man leading a blind man is a warning to watch who one follows: Won’t they both fall into a pit? The sermon has been about religious choices and reacting graciously to those who oppose the followers of Jesus. Here Jesus’ point was to be careful who you follow and where they are taking you.

⁶ tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated.

⁷ sn Judaism had a similar exhortation in 4 Macc 13:14-15.

⁸ sn In Luke, the term hypocrites occurs here, in 6:42, and in 13:15.

⁹ tc Most mss (Ì⁴⁵ A W Ψ Ë^1,13 Ï lat) have a syntax here that reflects a slightly different rhetorical question: “but how do you not interpret the present time?” The reading behind the translation, however, has overall superior support: Ì⁷⁵ א B L Θ 33 892 1241 pc.

¹⁰ tn Grk “Likewise therefore every one of you who does not renounce all his own possessions cannot be my disciple.” The complex double negation is potentially confusing to the modern reader and has been simplified in the translation. See L&N 57.70.

sn The application of the saying is this: Discipleship requires that God be in first place. The reference to renunciation of all his own possessions refers to all earthly attachments that have first place.

¹¹ sn Angels do not die, nor do they eat according to Jewish tradition (1 En. 15:6; 51:4; Wis 5:5; 2 Bar. 51:10; 1QH 3.21-23).

¹² tn Grk “sons of God, being.” The participle ὄντες (ontes) has been translated as a causal adverbial participle here.

¹³ tn Or “people.” The noun υἱός (Juios) followed by the genitive of class or kind (“sons of…”) denotes a person of a class or kind, specified by the following genitive construction. This Semitic idiom is frequent in the NT (L&N 9.4).