Luke 4:9

4:9 Then the devil brought him to Jerusalem, had him stand on the highest point of the temple, and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down from here,

Luke 17:20

The Coming of the Kingdom

17:20 Now at one point the Pharisees asked Jesus when the kingdom of God 10  was coming, so he answered, “The kingdom of God is not coming with signs 11  to be observed,


tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the narrative.

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

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

tn Grk “and stood him.”

sn The reference to the highest point of the temple probably refers to the one point on the temple’s southeast corner where the site looms directly over a cliff some 450 feet (135 m) high. However, some have suggested the reference could be to the temple’s high gate.

tn This is another first class condition, as in v. 3.

tn The words “at one point” are supplied to indicate that the following incident is not necessarily in chronological sequence with the preceding event.

sn See the note on Pharisees in 5:17.

tn Grk “having been asked by the Pharisees.” The passive construction has been translated as an active one in keeping with contemporary English style, and the direct object, Jesus, has been supplied from the context.

10 sn The kingdom of God is a major theme of Jesus. It is a realm in which Jesus rules and to which those who trust him belong. See Luke 6:20; 11:20; 17:20-21.

11 tn Or “is not coming in a way that it can be closely watched” (L&N 24.48). Although there are differing interpretations of what this means, it probably refers to the cosmic signs often associated with the kingdom’s coming in the Jewish view (1 En. 91, 93; 2 Bar. 53—74). See D. L. Bock, Luke (BECNT), 2:1412-14, also H. Riesenfeld, TDNT 8:150.