Luke 1:35

1:35 The angel replied, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. Therefore the child to be born will be holy; he will be called the Son of God.

Luke 4:36

4:36 They were all amazed and began to say to one another, “What’s happening here? For with authority and power he commands the unclean spirits, and they come out!”

Luke 9:43

9:43 Then 10  they were all astonished at the mighty power 11  of God.

Another Prediction of Jesus’ Suffering

But while the entire crowd 12  was amazed at everything Jesus 13  was doing, he said to his disciples,

Luke 22:53

22:53 Day after day when I was with you in the temple courts, 14  you did not arrest me. 15  But this is your hour, 16  and that of the power 17  of darkness!”


tn Grk “And the angel said to her.” Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style. The pronoun αὐτῇ (auth, “to her”) has not been included in the translation since it is redundant in contemporary English.

sn The phrase will overshadow is a reference to God’s glorious presence at work (Exod 40:34-35; Ps 91:4).

tn Or “the one born holy will be called the Son of God.” The wording of this phrase depends on whether the adjective is a predicate adjective, as in the text, or is an adjective modifying the participle serving as the subject. The absence of an article with the adjective speaks for a predicate position. Other less appealing options supply a verb for “holy”; thus “the one who is born will be holy”; or argue that both “holy” and “Son of God” are predicates, so “The one who is born will be called holy, the Son of God.”

tc A few mss (C* Θ Ë1 33 pc) add “by you” here. This looks like a scribal addition to bring symmetry to the first three clauses of the angel’s message (note the second person pronoun in the previous two clauses), and is too poorly supported to be seriously considered as authentic.

tn Or “Therefore the holy child to be born will be called the Son of God.” There are two ways to understand the Greek phrase τὸ γεννώμενον ἅγιον (to gennwmenon {agion) here. First, τὸ γεννώμενον could be considered a substantival participle with ἅγιον as an adjective in the second predicate position, thus making a complete sentence; this interpretation is reflected in the translation above. Second, τὸ ἅγιον could be considered a substantival adjective with γεννώμενον acting as an adjectival participle, thus making the phrase the subject of the verb κληθήσεται (klhqhsetai); this interpretation is reflected in the alternative reading. Treating the participle γεννώμενον as adjectival is a bit unnatural for the very reason that it forces one to understand ἅγιον as substantival; this introduces a new idea in the text with ἅγιον when an already new topic is being introduced with γεννώμενον. Semantically this would overload the new subject introduced at this point. For this reason the first interpretation is preferred.

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

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

tn Grk “What is this word?” The Greek term λόγος (logos) has a wide range of meaning. Here it seems to mean, “What is this matter?” More idiomatically it would be, “What’s going on here?!”

sn The phrase with authority and power is in an emphatic position in the Greek text. Once again the authority of Jesus is the point, but now it is not just his teaching that is emphasized, but his ministry. Jesus combined word and deed into a powerful testimony in Capernaum.

10 tn Here δέ (de) has been translated as “then” to indicate the response at the conclusion of the account.

11 sn The revelation of the mighty power of God was the manifestation of God’s power shown through Jesus. See Acts 10:38.

12 tn Grk “all”; the referent (the crowd) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

13 tc Most mss, especially the later ones (A C W Θ Ψ 0115 Ë13 33 892 Ï al), actually supply ὁ ᾿Ιησοῦς (Jo Ihsous, “Jesus”) here. Since the earliest and best witnesses, along with many others (Ì75 א B D L Ξ Ë1 579 700 1241 2542 pc lat), lack the name, and since scribes were unlikely to intentionally omit it, the shorter reading is preferred as the original reading.

tn Grk “he”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity. Some mss have done the same.

14 tn Grk “in the temple.”

15 tn Grk “lay hands on me.”

16 tn Or “your time.”

17 tn Or “authority,” “domain.”