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.
11:9 “So 12 I tell you: Ask, 13 and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and the door 14 will be opened for you.
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 unrolling the scroll he found.” Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style. Instead a new sentence has been started in the translation.
4 tn Grk “opening,” but a scroll of this period would have to be unrolled. The participle ἀναπτύξας (anaptuxa") has been translated as a finite verb due to the requirements of contemporary English style.
5 tn Or “Therefore pay close attention”; Grk “Take heed therefore how you hear.”
6 tn Grk “and.” Here καί (kai) has been translated as “but” to indicate the contrast present in this context.
7 sn The phrase what he thinks he has is important, because it is not what a person thinks he has that is important but whether he actually has something or not. Jesus describes the person who does not heed his word as having nothing. The person who has nothing loses even that which he thought was something but was not. In other words, he has absolutely nothing at all. Jesus’ teaching must be taken seriously.
8 tn Or perhaps, “trample on” (which emphasizes the impact of the feet on the snakes). See L&N 15.226.
9 sn Snakes and scorpions are examples of the hostility in the creation that is defeated by Jesus. The use of battle imagery shows who the kingdom fights against. See Acts 28:3-6.
10 tn Or “I have given you authority to tread on snakes and scorpions, and [authority] over the full force of the enemy.” The second prepositional phrase can be taken either as modifying the infinitive πατεῖν (patein, “to tread”) or the noun ἐξουσίαν (exousian, “power”). The former is to be preferred and has been represented in the translation.
sn The enemy is a reference to Satan (mentioned in v. 18).
11 tn This is an emphatic double negative in the Greek text.
12 tn Here καί (kai, from καγώ [kagw]) has been translated as “so” to indicate the conclusion drawn from the preceding parable.
13 sn The three present imperatives in this verse (Ask…seek…knock) are probably intended to call for a repeated or continual approach before God.
14 tn Grk “it”; the referent (a door) is implied by the context and has been specified in the translation for clarity.
15 tn Grk “to everyone who has, he will be given more.”
sn Everyone who has will be given more. Again, faithfulness yields great reward (see Luke 8:18; also Matt 13:12; Mark 4:25).
16 sn The one who has nothing has even what he seems to have taken away from him, ending up with no reward at all (see also Luke 8:18). The exact force of this is left ambiguous, but there is no comfort here for those who are pictured by the third slave as being totally unmoved by the master. Though not an outright enemy, there is no relationship to the master either. Three groups are represented in the parable: the faithful of various sorts (vv. 16, 18); the unfaithful who associate with Jesus but do not trust him (v. 21); and the enemies (v. 27).
17 tn Grk “to attain to.”
18 sn Life in the age to come is different than life here (they neither marry nor are given in marriage). This means Jesus’ questioners had made a false assumption that life was the same both now and in the age to come.