Luke 1:40

1:40 and entered Zechariah’s house and greeted Elizabeth.

Luke 7:39

7:39 Now when the Pharisee who had invited him saw this, ¹  he said to himself, “If this man were a prophet, ²  he would know who and what kind of woman ³  this is who is touching him, that she is a sinner.”

Luke 18:26

18:26 Those who heard this said, “Then ⁴  who can be saved?” ⁵ 

Luke 20:4

20:4 John’s baptism ⁶  – was it from heaven or from people?” ⁷ 

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¹ tn The word “this” is not in the Greek text, but is implied. Direct objects were frequently omitted in Greek when clear from the context.

² tn This is a good example of a second class (contrary to fact) Greek conditional sentence. The Pharisee said, in effect, “If this man were a prophet (but he is not)…”

³ sn The Pharisees believed in a form of separationism that would have prevented them from any kind of association with such a sinful woman.

⁴ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of thought.

⁵ sn The assumption is that the rich are blessed, so if they risk exclusion, who is left to be saved?

⁶ sn John, like Jesus, was not a part of the official rabbinic order. So the question “John’s baptism – was it from heaven or from men?” draws an analogy between John the Baptist and Jesus. See Luke 3:1-20; 7:24-27. The phrase John’s baptism refers to the baptism practiced by John.

⁷ tn The plural Greek term ἀνθρώπων (anqrwpwn) is used here (and in v. 6) in a generic sense, referring to both men and women (cf. NAB, NRSV, “of human origin”; TEV, “from human beings”; NLT, “merely human”).

sn The question is whether John’s ministry was of divine or human origin.