Luke 1:38

1:38 So ¹  Mary said, “Yes, ²  I am a servant ³  of the Lord; let this happen to me ⁴  according to your word.” ⁵  Then ⁶  the angel departed from her.

Luke 3:2

3:2 during the high priesthood ⁷  of Annas and Caiaphas, the word ⁸  of God came to John the son of Zechariah in the wilderness. ⁹ 

Luke 5:1

The Call of the Disciples

5:1 Now ¹⁰  Jesus was standing by the Lake of Gennesaret, ¹¹  and the crowd was pressing around him ¹²  to hear the word of God.

Luke 7:7

7:7 That is why ¹³  I did not presume ¹⁴  to come to you. Instead, say the word, and my servant must be healed. ¹⁵ 

Luke 8:21

8:21 But he replied ¹⁶  to them, “My mother and my brothers are those ¹⁷  who hear the word of God and do it.” ¹⁸ 

Luke 12:10

12:10 And everyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but the person who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit ¹⁹  will not be forgiven. ²⁰ 

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¹ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “so” to indicate the transition to a new topic.

² tn Grk “behold.”

³ tn Traditionally, “handmaid”; Grk “slave woman.” Though δούλη (doulh) is normally translated “woman servant,” the word does not bear the connotation of a free woman serving another. BDAG notes that “‘servant’ for ‘slave’ is largely confined to Biblical transl. and early American times… in normal usage at the present time the two words are carefully distinguished” (BDAG 260 s.v. δοῦλος). The most accurate translation is “bondservant,” sometimes found in the ASV for δοῦλος (doulos), in that it often indicates one who sells himself or herself into slavery to another. But as this is archaic, few today understand its force.

⁴ tn Grk “let this be to me.”

⁵ sn The remark according to your word is a sign of Mary’s total submission to God’s will, a response that makes her exemplary.

⁶ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the narrative.

⁷ sn Use of the singular high priesthood to mention two figures is unusual but accurate, since Annas was the key priest from a.d. 6-15 and then his relatives were chosen for many of the next several years. After two brief tenures by others, his son-in-law Caiaphas came to power and stayed there until a.d. 36.

⁸ tn The term translated “word” here is not λόγος (logos) but ῥῆμα (rJhma), and thus could refer to the call of the Lord to John to begin ministry.

⁹ tn Or “desert.”

¹⁰ tn Grk “Now it happened that.” The introductory phrase ἐγένετο (egeneto, “it happened that”), common in Luke (69 times) and Acts (54 times), is redundant in contemporary English and has not been translated.

¹¹ sn The Lake of Gennesaret is another name for the Sea of Galilee. Cf. the parallel in Matt 4:18.

¹² sn The image of the crowd pressing around him suggests the people leaning forward to catch Jesus’ every word.

¹³ tn Or “roof; therefore.”

¹⁴ tn Grk “I did not consider myself worthy to come to you.” See BDAG 94 s.v. ἀξιόω 1. “Presume” assumes this and expresses the idea in terms of offense.

¹⁵ tc The aorist imperative ἰαθήτω (iaqhtw, “must be healed”) is found in Ì^75vid B L 1241 sa. Most mss (א A C D W Θ Ψ Ë^1,13 33 Ï latt bo) have instead a future indicative, ἰαθήσεται (iaqhsetai, “will be healed”). This is most likely an assimilation to Matt 8:8, and thus, as a motivated reading, should be considered secondary. The meaning either way is essentially the same.

tn The aorist imperative may be translated as an imperative of command (“must be healed” or, more periphrastically, “command [my servant] to be healed”) or as a permissive imperative (“let my servant be healed”), which lessens the force of the imperative somewhat in English.

¹⁶ tn Grk “answering, he said.” This is redundant in contemporary English and has been simplified to “he replied.”

¹⁷ tn There is some discussion about the grammar of this verse in Greek. If “these” is the subject, then it reads, “These are my mother and brothers, those who.” If “these” is a nominative absolute, which is slightly more likely, then the verse more literally reads, “So my mother and brothers, they are those who.” The sense in either case is the same.

¹⁸ sn Hearing and doing the word of God is another important NT theme: Luke 6:47-49; Jas 1:22-25.

¹⁹ sn Blasphemy against the Holy Spirit probably refers to a total rejection of the testimony that the Spirit gives to Jesus and the plan of God. This is not so much a sin of the moment as of one’s entire life, an obstinate rejection of God’s message and testimony. Cf. Matt 12:31-32 and Mark 3:28-30.

²⁰ tn Grk “it will not be forgiven the person who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit.”