Luke 6:21

6:21 “Blessed are you who hunger ¹  now, for you will be satisfied. ² 

“Blessed are you who weep now, for you will laugh. ³ 

Luke 6:25

6:25 “Woe to you who are well satisfied with food ⁴  now, for you will be hungry.

“Woe to you ⁵  who laugh ⁶  now, for you will mourn and weep.

Luke 11:9

11:9 “So ⁷  I tell you: Ask, ⁸  and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and the door ⁹  will be opened for you.

Luke 19:43

19:43 For the days will come upon you when your enemies will build ¹⁰  an embankment ¹¹  against you and surround you and close in on you from every side.

Luke 24:48

24:48 You are witnesses ¹²  of these things.

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¹ sn You who hunger are people like the poor Jesus has already mentioned. The term has OT roots both in conjunction with the poor (Isa 32:6-7; 58:6-7, 9-10; Ezek 18:7, 16) or by itself (Ps 37:16-19; 107:9).

² sn The promise you will be satisfied is the first of several “reversals” noted in these promises. The beatitudes and the reversals that accompany them serve in the sermon as an invitation to enter into God’s care, because one can know God cares for those who turn to him.

³ sn You will laugh alludes to the joy that comes to God’s people in the salvation to come.

⁴ tn Grk “who are filled.” See L&N 23.18 for the translation “well satisfied with food.”

⁵ tc The wording “to you” (ὑμῖν, Jumin) is lacking in several witnesses (א B K L T W Θ Ξ 0147 Ë^1,13 579 700 892 1241 2542 al), though found in most (Ì⁷⁵ A D Q Ψ 33 Ï lat co). The longer reading looks to be a clarifying addition; nevertheless, “to you” is included in the translation because of English requirements.

⁶ sn That is, laugh with happiness and joy.

⁷ tn Here καί (kai, from καγώ [kagw]) has been translated as “so” to indicate the conclusion drawn from the preceding parable.

⁸ sn The three present imperatives in this verse (Ask…seek…knock) are probably intended to call for a repeated or continual approach before God.

⁹ tn Grk “it”; the referent (a door) is implied by the context and has been specified in the translation for clarity.

¹⁰ sn Jesus now predicted the events that would be fulfilled in the fall of Jerusalem in a.d. 70. The details of the siege have led some to see Luke writing this after Jerusalem’s fall, but the language of the verse is like God’s exilic judgment for covenant unfaithfulness (Hab 2:8; Jer 6:6, 14; 8:13-22; 9:1; Ezek 4:2; 26:8; Isa 29:1-4). Specific details are lacking and the procedures described (build an embankment against you) were standard Roman military tactics.

¹¹ sn An embankment refers to either wooden barricades or earthworks, or a combination of the two.

¹² sn You are witnesses. This becomes a key concept of testimony in Acts. See Acts 1:8.