2:15 When 1 the angels left them and went back to heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let us go over to Bethlehem 2 and see this thing that has taken place, that the Lord 3 has made known to us.”
1 tn Grk “And it happened that when.” 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. Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.
2 map For location see Map5-B1; Map7-E2; Map8-E2; Map10-B4.
3 sn Note how although angels delivered the message, it was the Lord whose message is made known, coming through them.
4 sn How one responds now to Jesus and his teaching is a reflection of how Jesus, as the Son of Man who judges, will respond then in the final judgment.
5 tn This pronoun (τοῦτον, touton) is in emphatic position in its own clause in the Greek text: “of that person the Son of Man will be ashamed…”
6 tn Grk “in the glory of him and of the Father and of the holy angels.” “Glory” is repeated here in the translation for clarity and smoothness because the literal phrase is unacceptably awkward in contemporary English.