11:7 While they were going away, Jesus began to speak to the crowd about John: “What did you go out into the wilderness 8 to see? A reed shaken by the wind? 9
1 sn The command for silence was probably meant to last only until the cleansing took place with the priests and sought to prevent Jesus’ healings from becoming the central focus of the people’s reaction to him. See also 9:30, 12:16, 16:20, and 17:9 for other cases where Jesus asks for silence concerning him and his ministry.
2 tn Grk “gift.”
3 sn On the phrase bring the offering that Moses commanded see Lev 14:1-32.
4 tn Or “as an indictment against them.” The pronoun αὐτοῖς (autoi") may be a dative of disadvantage.
5 tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated.
6 tn Grk “how or what you might speak.”
7 tn Grk “in that hour.”
8 tn Or “desert.”
9 tn There is a debate as to whether one should read this figuratively (“to see someone who is easily blown over?”) or literally (Grk “to see the wilderness vegetation?… No, to see a prophet”). Either view makes good sense, but the following examples suggest the question should be read literally and understood to point to the fact that a prophet drew them to the desert.