16:16 “The law and the prophets were in force 15 until John; 16 since then, 17 the good news of the kingdom of God 18 has been proclaimed, and everyone is urged to enter it. 19
1 tn Grk “And the.” Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.
2 tn Grk “the one who is standing before God.”
3 tn Grk “to announce these things of good news to you.”
4 tn Grk “he”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
5 tn Here δεῖ (dei, “it is necessary”) indicates divine commission (cf. Luke 2:49).
6 sn The good news of the kingdom, the kingdom of the rule of God through the Messiah, is the topic of Jesus’ preaching.
7 tn Or “cities.”
8 sn Jesus was sent by God for this purpose. This is the language of divine commission.
9 tn Grk “because for this purpose I was sent.”
10 tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “so” to indicate the relationship to Jesus’ miraculous cures in the preceding sentence.
11 tn Grk “answering, he said to them.” This is redundant in English and has been simplified in the translation to “he answered them.”
12 sn The same verb has been translated “inform” in 7:18.
13 sn What you have seen and heard. The following activities all paraphrase various OT descriptions of the time of promised salvation: Isa 35:5-6; 26:19; 29:18-19; 61:1. Jesus is answering not by acknowledging a title, but by pointing to the nature of his works, thus indicating the nature of the time.
14 tn Grk “and the,” 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.
15 tn There is no verb in the Greek text; one must be supplied. Some translations (NASB, NIV) supply “proclaimed” based on the parallelism with the proclamation of the kingdom. The transitional nature of this verse, however, seems to call for something more like “in effect” (NRSV) or, as used here, “in force.” Further, Greek generally can omit one of two kinds of verbs – either the equative verb or one that is already mentioned in the preceding context (ExSyn 39).
16 sn John refers to John the Baptist.
17 sn Until John; since then. This verse indicates a shift in era, from law to kingdom.
18 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.
19 tn Many translations have “entereth violently into it” (ASV) or “is forcing his way into it” (NASB, NIV). This is not true of everyone. It is better to read the verb here as passive rather than middle, and in a softened sense of “be urged.” See Gen 33:11; Judg 13:15-16; 19:7; 2 Sam 3:25, 27 in the LXX. This fits the context well because it agrees with Jesus’ attempt to persuade his opponents to respond morally. For further discussion and details, see D. L. Bock, Luke (BECNT), 2:1352-53.