Luke 4:40-41

4:40 As the sun was setting, all those who had any relatives 1  sick with various diseases brought them to Jesus. 2  He placed 3  his hands on every one of them and healed them. 4:41 Demons also came out 4  of many, crying out, 5  “You are the Son of God!” 6  But he rebuked 7  them, and would not allow them to speak, 8  because they knew that he was the Christ. 9 

1 tn Grk “everyone, as many as had those being sick.” The use of εἶχον (eicon, “had”) suggests that the subject of the accusative participle ἀσθενοῦντας (asqenountas, “those being sick”) is not simply acquaintances, but rather relatives, perhaps immediate family, and certainly close friends.

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

3 tn Or “laid.” The participle ἐπιτεθείς (epiteqei") has been translated as a finite verb due to requirements of contemporary English style.

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

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

6 tc Most mss (A Q Θ Ψ 0102 Ë1,13 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.

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

8 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).

9 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.