1 tn Grk “he”; the referent (John) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
2 tn Grk “Answering, he said to them.” This construction with passive participle and finite verb is pleonastic (redundant) and has been simplified in the translation to “answered them.”
3 tn Or “shirt” (a long garment worn under the cloak next to the skin). The name for this garment (χιτών, citwn) presents some difficulty in translation. Most modern readers would not understand what a ‘tunic’ was any more than they would be familiar with a ‘chiton.’ On the other hand, attempts to find a modern equivalent are also a problem: “Shirt” conveys the idea of a much shorter garment that covers only the upper body, and “undergarment” (given the styles of modern underwear) is more misleading still. “Tunic” was therefore employed, but with a note to explain its nature.
4 tn Grk “And the.” Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.
5 tn Grk “the”; in context the article is used as a possessive pronoun (ExSyn 215).
6 tn L&N 57.19 notes that in nonbiblical contexts in which the word οὐσία (ousia) occurs, it refers to considerable possessions or wealth, thus “estate.”
7 tn L&N 57.3, “to belong to or come to belong to, with the possible implication of by right or by inheritance.”
8 tn Here δέ (de) has been translated as “so” to indicate the father’s response to the younger son’s request.
9 tn Grk “the”; in context the article is used as a possessive pronoun (ExSyn 215).
10 sn He divided his assets between them. There was advice against doing this in the OT Apocrypha (Sir 33:20). The younger son would get half of what the older son received (Deut 21:17).
11 tn Grk “to attain to.”
12 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.