Luke 1:32

1:32 He ¹  will be great, ²  and will be called the Son of the Most High, ³  and the Lord God will give him the throne of his father ⁴  David.

Luke 2:10

2:10 But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid! Listen carefully, ⁵  for I proclaim to you good news ⁶  that brings great joy to all the people:

Luke 5:29

5:29 Then ⁷  Levi gave a great banquet ⁸  in his house for Jesus, ⁹  and there was a large crowd of tax collectors and others sitting ¹⁰  at the table with them.

Luke 6:23

6:23 Rejoice in that day, and jump for joy, because ¹¹  your reward is great in heaven. For their ancestors ¹²  did the same things to the prophets. ¹³ 

Luke 7:16

7:16 Fear ¹⁴  seized them all, and they began to glorify ¹⁵  God, saying, “A great prophet ¹⁶  has appeared ¹⁷  among us!” and “God has come to help ¹⁸  his people!”

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¹ tn Grk “this one.”

² sn Compare the description of Jesus as great here with 1:15, “great before the Lord.” Jesus is greater than John, since he is Messiah compared to a prophet. Great is stated absolutely without qualification to make the point.

³ sn The expression Most High is a way to refer to God without naming him. Such avoiding of direct reference to God was common in 1st century Judaism out of reverence for the divine name.

⁴ tn Or “ancestor.”

⁵ tn Grk “behold.”

⁶ tn Grk “I evangelize to you great joy.”

⁷ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the narrative.

⁸ sn A great banquet refers to an elaborate meal. Many of the events in Luke take place in the context of meal fellowship: 7:36-50; 9:12-17; 10:38-42; 11:37-54; 14:1-24; 22:7-38; 24:29-32, 41-43.

⁹ tn Grk “him”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

¹⁰ tn Grk “reclining.” This term reflects the normal practice in 1st century Jewish culture of eating a meal in a semi-reclining position. Since it is foreign to most modern readers, the translation “sitting” has been substituted.

¹¹ tn Grk “because behold.” The Greek word ἰδού (idou) at the beginning of this clause has not been translated because it has no exact English equivalent here, but adds interest and emphasis (BDAG 468 s.v. 1).

¹² tn Or “forefathers”; Grk “fathers.”

¹³ sn Mistreatment of the prophets is something Luke often notes (Luke 11:47-51; Acts 7:51-52).

¹⁴ tn Or “Awe.” Grk “fear,” but the context and the following remark show that it is mixed with wonder; see L&N 53.59. This is a reaction to God’s work; see Luke 5:9.

¹⁵ tn This imperfect verb has been translated as an ingressive imperfect.

¹⁶ sn That Jesus was a great prophet was a natural conclusion for the crowd to make, given the healing; but Jesus is more than this. See Luke 9:8, 19-20.

¹⁷ tn Grk “arisen.”

¹⁸ tn Grk “visited,” but this conveys a different impression to a modern reader. L&N 85.11 renders the verb, “to be present, with the implication of concern – ‘to be present to help, to be on hand to aid.’ … ‘God has come to help his people’ Lk 7:16.” The language recalls Luke 1:68, 78.