Luke 2:21

2:21 At ¹  the end of eight days, when he was circumcised, he was named Jesus, the name given by the angel ²  before he was conceived in the womb.

Luke 2:46

2:46 After ³  three days ⁴  they found him in the temple courts, ⁵  sitting among the teachers, ⁶  listening to them and asking them questions.

Luke 9:28

The Transfiguration

9:28 Now ⁷  about eight days ⁸  after these sayings, Jesus ⁹  took with him Peter, John, and James, and went up the mountain to pray.

Luke 19:43

19:43 For the days will come upon you when your enemies will build ¹⁰  an embankment ¹¹  against you and surround you and close in on you from every side.

Luke 21:6

21:6 “As for these things that you are gazing at, the days will come when not one stone will be left on another. ¹²  All will be torn down!” ¹³ 

Luke 23:29

23:29 For this is certain: ¹⁴  The days are coming when they will say, ‘Blessed are the barren, the wombs that never bore children, and the breasts that never nursed!’ ¹⁵ 

---

¹ tn Grk “And when eight days were completed.” Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

² sn Jesus’ parents obeyed the angel as Zechariah and Elizabeth had (1:57-66). These events are taking place very much under God’s direction.

³ tn Grk “And it happened that after.” 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.

⁴ sn Three days means there was one day out, another day back, and a third day of looking in Jerusalem.

⁵ tn Grk “the temple.”

⁶ tn This is the only place in Luke’s Gospel where the term διδάσκαλος (didaskalo", “teacher”) is applied to Jews.

⁷ tn Grk “Now it happened that about.” 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.

⁸ tn Matt 17:1 and Mark 9:2 specify the interval more exactly, saying it was the sixth day. Luke uses ὡσεί (Jwsei, “about”) to give an approximate reference.

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

¹⁰ sn Jesus now predicted the events that would be fulfilled in the fall of Jerusalem in a.d. 70. The details of the siege have led some to see Luke writing this after Jerusalem’s fall, but the language of the verse is like God’s exilic judgment for covenant unfaithfulness (Hab 2:8; Jer 6:6, 14; 8:13-22; 9:1; Ezek 4:2; 26:8; Isa 29:1-4). Specific details are lacking and the procedures described (build an embankment against you) were standard Roman military tactics.

¹¹ sn An embankment refers to either wooden barricades or earthworks, or a combination of the two.

¹² sn With the statement days will come when not one stone will be left on another Jesus predicted the total destruction of the temple, something that did occur in a.d. 70.

¹³ tn Grk “the days will come when not one stone will be left on another that will not be thrown down.”

¹⁴ tn Grk “For behold.”

¹⁵ tn Grk “Blessed are the barren, and the wombs that have not borne, and the breasts that have not nursed!”

sn Normally barrenness is a sign of judgment, because birth would be seen as a sign of blessing. The reversal of imagery indicates that something was badly wrong.