Luke 9:10

The Feeding of the Five Thousand

9:10 When¹ the apostles returned,² they told Jesus³ everything they had done. Then⁴ he took them with him and they withdrew privately to a town⁵ called Bethsaida.⁶

Luke 11:49

11:49 For this reason also the wisdom⁷ of God said, ‘I will send them prophets and apostles, some of whom they will kill and persecute,’

Luke 24:10

24:10 Now it was Mary Magdalene,⁸ Joanna,⁹ Mary the mother of James, and the other women with them who told these things to the apostles.

¹tn Grk “And when.” Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

²tn The participle ὑποστρέψαντες (Jupostreyante") has been taken temporally.

³tn Grk “him”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

⁴tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the narrative.

⁵tc There is a seeming myriad of variants for this text. Many mss read εἰς τόπον ἔρημον (ei" topon erhmon, “to a deserted place”; א*^,2 [1241]) or εἰς τόπον ἔρημον πόλεως καλουμένης Βηθσαϊδά (ei" topon erhmon polew" kaloumenh" Bhqsai>da, “to a deserted place of a town called Bethsaida”; [A] C W Ξ^mg [Ë^1,13] [565] Ï) here, while others have εἰς κώμην λεγομένην Βηδσαϊδά (ei" kwmhn legomenhn Bhdsai>da, “to a village called Bedsaida”; D), εἰς κώμην καλουμένην Βηθσαϊδά εἰς τόπον ἔρημον (ei" kwmhn kaloumenhn Bhqsai>da ei" topon erhmon, “to a village called Bethsaida to a deserted place”; Θ), or εἰς τόπον καλουμένον Βηθσαϊδά (ei" topon kaloumenon Bhqsaida, “to a place called Bethsaida”; Ψ). The Greek behind the translation (εἰς πόλιν καλουμένην Βηθσαϊδά, ei" polin kaloumenhn Bhqsai>da) is supported by (Ì⁷⁵) א¹ B L Ξ* 33 2542 pc co. The variants can be grouped generally into those that speak of a “deserted place” and those that speak of a place/city/town called Bethsaida. The Byzantine reading is evidently a conflation of the earlier texts, and should be dismissed as secondary. The variants that speak of a deserted place are an assimilation to Mark 6:32, as well a harmonization with v. 12, and should also be regarded as secondary. The reading that best explains the rise of the others – both internally and externally – is the one that stands behind the translation and is found in the text of NA²⁷.

tn Or “city.”

⁶sn Bethsaida was a town on the northeast side of the Sea of Galilee. Probably this should be understood to mean a place in the vicinity of the town. It represents an attempt to reconcile the location with the place of the miraculous feeding that follows.

⁷sn The expression the wisdom of God is a personification of an attribute of God that refers to his wise will.

⁸sn Mary Magdalene is always noted first in the appearance lists in the gospels. It is unusual that the first appearance would involve women as in this culture their role as witnesses would not be well accepted. It is a sign of the veracity of the account, because if an ancient were to create such a story he would never have it start with women.

⁹sn On Joanna see Luke 8:1-3.