5:17 Now on 1 one of those days, while he was teaching, there were Pharisees 2 and teachers of the law 3 sitting nearby (who had come from every village of Galilee and Judea and from Jerusalem), 4 and the power of the Lord was with him 5 to heal.
1 tn Grk “And 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.
2 sn Pharisees were members of one of the most important and influential religious and political parties of Judaism in the time of Jesus. There were more Pharisees than Sadducees (according to Josephus, Ant. 17.2.4 [17.42] there were more than 6,000 Pharisees at about this time). Pharisees differed with Sadducees on certain doctrines and patterns of behavior. The Pharisees were strict and zealous adherents to the laws of the OT and to numerous additional traditions such as angels and bodily resurrection.
3 tn That is, those who were skilled in the teaching and interpretation of the OT law. These are called “experts in the law” (Grk “scribes”) in v. 21.
4 sn Jesus was now attracting attention outside of Galilee as far away as Jerusalem, the main city of Israel.
map For location see Map5-B1; Map6-F3; Map7-E2; Map8-F2; Map10-B3; JP1-F4; JP2-F4; JP3-F4; JP4-F4.
5 tc Most
6 tn Grk “the day began to decline,” looking to the approach of sunset.
7 tn Here δέ (de) has been translated as “so” to indicate that the disciples’ request was related to the approach of sunset.
8 tn Grk “him”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
9 tn That is, find someone to show them hospitality. L&N 34.61 has “find lodging,” using this verse as an example.
10 tn Or “in a desert” (meaning a deserted or desolate area with sparse vegetation). Here ὧδε (Jwde) has not been translated.
11 sn On the queen of the South see 1 Kgs 10:1-3 and 2 Chr 9:1-12, as well as Josephus, Ant. 8.6.5-6 (8.165-175). The South most likely refers to modern southwest Arabia, possibly the eastern part of modern Yemen, although there is an ancient tradition reflected in Josephus which identifies this geo-political entity as Ethiopia.
12 sn For the imagery of judgment, see Luke 10:13-15 and 11:19. The warnings are coming consistently now.
13 tn Grk “men”; the word here (ἀνήρ, anhr) usually indicates males or husbands, but occasionally is used in a generic sense of people in general, as is the case here (cf. BDAG 79 s.v. 1, 2). The same term, translated the same way, occurs in v. 32.
14 tn Grk “behold.”
15 sn The message of Jesus was something greater than what Solomon offered. On Jesus and wisdom, see Luke 7:35; 10:21-22; 1 Cor 1:24, 30.
16 tn Here δέ (de) has been translated as “so” to indicate the man’s response as a result of the lack of figs in the preceding clause.
17 tn Grk “Behold, for.”
18 sn The elapsed time could be six years total since planting, since often a fig was given three years before one even started to look for fruit. The point in any case is that enough time had been given to expect fruit.
19 tn The phrase “each time I inspect it” is not in the Greek text but has been supplied to indicate the customary nature of the man’s search for fruit.
20 tc ‡ Several witnesses (Ì75 A L Θ Ψ 070 Ë13 33 579 892 al lat co) have “therefore” (οὖν, oun) here. This conjunction has the effect of strengthening the logical connection with the preceding statement but also of reducing the rhetorical power and urgency of the imperative. In light of the slightly greater internal probability of adding a conjunction to an otherwise asyndetic sentence, as well as significant external support for the omission (א B D W Ë1 Ï), the shorter reading appears to be more likely as the original wording here. NA27 puts the conjunction in brackets, indicating some doubts as to its authenticity.
21 tn Grk “Why indeed.” Here καί (kai) has not been translated.
22 sn Such fig trees would deplete the soil, robbing it of nutrients needed by other trees and plants.