4:31 So 1 he went down to Capernaum, 2 a town 3 in Galilee, and on the Sabbath he began to teach the people. 4
6:6 On 8 another Sabbath, Jesus 9 entered the synagogue 10 and was teaching. Now 11 a man was there whose right hand was withered. 12
On the Sabbath they rested according to the commandment. 16
1 tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “so” to indicate the continuation of the topic; in light of his rejection at Nazareth, Jesus went on to Capernaum.
2 sn Capernaum was a town on the northwest shore of the Sea of Galilee, 680 ft (204 m) below sea level. It was a major trade and economic center in the North Galilean region, and it became the hub of operations for Jesus’ Galilean ministry.
map For location see Map1-D2; Map2-C3; Map3-B2.
3 tn Or “city.”
4 tn Grk “them”; the referent (the people) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
5 sn See the note on Pharisees in 5:17.
6 tn Note that the verb is second person plural (with an understood plural pronominal subject in Greek). The charge is again indirectly made against Jesus by charging the disciples.
7 sn The alleged violation expressed by the phrase what is against the law is performing work on the Sabbath. That the disciples ate from such a field is no problem given Deut 23:25, but Sabbath activity is another matter in the leaders’ view (Exod 20:8-11 and Mishnah, m. Shabbat 7.2). The supposed violation involved reaping, threshing, winnowing, and preparing food. This probably explains why the clause describing the disciples “rubbing” the heads of grain in their hands is mentioned last, in emphatic position. This was preparation of food.
8 tn Grk “Now it happened that on.” 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.
9 tn Grk “he”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
10 sn See the note on synagogues in 4:15.
11 tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “now” to indicate the transition to a new topic. In addition, because the Greek sentence is rather long and complex, a new sentence was started here in the translation.
12 tn Grk “a man was there and his right hand was withered.”
sn Withered means the man’s hand was shrunken and paralyzed.
13 tn Here δέ (de) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the narrative.
14 tn On this term see BDAG 140-41 s.v. ἄρωμα. The Jews did not practice embalming, so these preparations were used to cover the stench of decay and slow decomposition. The women planned to return and anoint the body. But that would have to wait until after the Sabbath.
15 tn Or “ointments.” This was another type of perfumed oil.
16 sn According to the commandment. These women are portrayed as pious, faithful to the law in observing the Sabbath.