Luke 23:7-11

23:7 When ¹  he learned that he was from Herod’s jurisdiction, ²  he sent him over to Herod, ³  who also happened to be in Jerusalem ⁴  at that time. 23:8 When ⁵  Herod saw Jesus, he was very glad, for he had long desired to see him, because he had heard about him and was hoping to see him perform ⁶  some miraculous sign. ⁷  23:9 So ⁸  Herod ⁹  questioned him at considerable length; Jesus ¹⁰  gave him no answer. 23:10 The chief priests and the experts in the law ¹¹  were there, vehemently accusing him. ¹²  23:11 Even Herod with his soldiers treated him with contempt and mocked him. Then, ¹³  dressing him in elegant clothes, ¹⁴  Herod ¹⁵  sent him back to Pilate.

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¹ tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

² sn Learning that Jesus was from Galilee and therefore part of Herod’s jurisdiction, Pilate decided to rid himself of the problem by sending him to Herod.

³ sn Herod was Herod Antipas, son of Herod the Great. See the note on Herod in 3:1.

⁴ sn Herod would probably have come to Jerusalem for the feast, although his father was only half Jewish (Josephus, Ant. 14.15.2 [14.403]). Josephus does mention Herod’s presence in Jerusalem during a feast (Ant. 18.5.3 [18.122]).

map For location see Map5-B1; Map6-F3; Map7-E2; Map8-F2; Map10-B3; JP1-F4; JP2-F4; JP3-F4; JP4-F4.

⁵ tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated.

⁶ tn Grk “to see some sign performed by him.” Here the passive construction has been translated as an active one in keeping with contemporary English style.

⁷ sn Herod, hoping to see him perform some miraculous sign, seems to have treated Jesus as a curiosity (cf. 9:7-9).

⁸ tn Here δέ (de) has been translated as “so” to indicate the implied result of the previous statements in the narrative about Herod’s desire to see Jesus.

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

¹⁰ tn Grk “he”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

¹¹ tn Or “and the scribes.” See the note on the phrase “experts in the law” in 5:21.

¹² sn Luke portrays the Jewish leadership as driving events toward the cross by vehemently accusing Jesus.

¹³ tn This is a continuation of the previous Greek sentence, but because of its length and complexity, a new sentence was started here in the translation by supplying “then” to indicate the sequence of events.

¹⁴ sn This mockery involved putting elegant royal clothes on Jesus, either white or purple (the colors of royalty). This was no doubt a mockery of Jesus’ claim to be a king.

¹⁵ tn Grk “he”; the referent (Herod) has been specified in the translation for clarity.