Luke 4:35-36

4:35 But ¹  Jesus rebuked him: ²  “Silence! Come out of him!” ³  Then, after the demon threw the man ⁴  down in their midst, he came out of him without hurting him. ⁵  4:36 They ⁶  were all amazed and began to say ⁷  to one another, “What’s happening here? ⁸  For with authority and power ⁹  he commands the unclean spirits, and they come out!”

Luke 4:41

4:41 Demons also came out ¹⁰  of many, crying out, ¹¹  “You are the Son of God!” ¹²  But he rebuked ¹³  them, and would not allow them to speak, ¹⁴  because they knew that he was the Christ. ¹⁵ 

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¹ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “but” to indicate the contrast involved in Jesus’ reply.

² tn Grk “rebuked him, saying.” The participle λέγων (legwn) is redundant in English and has not been translated.

³ sn The command Come out of him! is an example of Jesus’ authority (see v. 32). Unlike other exorcists, Jesus did not use magical incantations nor did he invoke anyone else’s name.

⁴ tn Grk “him”; the referent (the man) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

⁵ sn The departure of the evil spirit from the man without hurting him shows Jesus’ total deliverance and protection of this individual.

⁶ tn Grk “And they.” Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

⁷ tn This imperfect verb has been translated as an ingressive imperfect.

⁸ tn Grk “What is this word?” The Greek term λόγος (logos) has a wide range of meaning. Here it seems to mean, “What is this matter?” More idiomatically it would be, “What’s going on here?!”

⁹ sn The phrase with authority and power is in an emphatic position in the Greek text. Once again the authority of Jesus is the point, but now it is not just his teaching that is emphasized, but his ministry. Jesus combined word and deed into a powerful testimony in Capernaum.

¹⁰ sn Demons also came out. Note how Luke distinguishes healing from exorcism here, implying that the two are not identical.

¹¹ tn Grk “crying out and saying.” The participle λέγοντα (legonta) is redundant in English and has not been translated here.

¹² tc Most mss (A Q Θ Ψ 0102 Ë^1,13 Ï) read “the Christ, the Son of God.” But the earliest and best mss, along with several other witnesses (א B C D L W Ξ 33 579 700 1241 2542 lat sa), lack “the Christ” here. It is likely that later scribes wished to bring the demons’ confession in line with what Luke says they knew later in the verse.

¹³ tn Or “commanded,” but “rebuke” implies strong disapproval, which seems to be more in keeping with the context here (L&N 33.419).

¹⁴ sn Jesus would not allow the demons to speak because the time for such disclosure was not yet at hand, and such a revelation would have certainly been misunderstood by the people. In all likelihood, if the people had understood him early on to be the Son of God, or Messiah, they would have reduced his mission to one of political deliverance from Roman oppression (cf. John 6:15). Jesus wanted to avoid, as much as possible, any premature misunderstanding about who he was and what he was doing. However, at the end of his ministry, he did not deny such a title when the high priest asked him (22:66-71).

¹⁵ tn Or “Messiah”; both “Christ” (Greek) and “Messiah” (Hebrew and Aramaic) mean “one who has been anointed.”

sn Note how Luke associates Son of God with Messiah (Christ) in this context, a regal connection with OT roots (Ps 2:7). Also, see the note on Christ in 2:11.