¹ tn Grk “before.”

² tn Grk “and he”; because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, the conjunction καί (kai) has not been translated here. Instead a new English sentence is begun in the translation.

³ tn Grk “even from his mother’s womb.” While this idiom may be understood to refer to the point of birth (“even from his birth”), Luke 1:41 suggests that here it should be understood to refer to a time before birth.

sn He will be filled with the Holy Spirit, even before his birth. This is the language of the birth of a prophet (Judg 13:5, 7; Isa 49:1; Jer 1:5; Sir 49:7); see 1:41 for the first fulfillment.

⁴ tn This phrase is a descriptive comparison. The Spirit is not a dove, but descends like one in some type of bodily representation.

⁵ tn Grk “my beloved Son,” or “my Son, the beloved [one].” The force of ἀγαπητός (agaphtos) is often “pertaining to one who is the only one of his or her class, but at the same time is particularly loved and cherished” (L&N 58.53; cf. also BDAG 7 s.v. 1).

⁶ tc Instead of “You are my one dear Son; in you I take great delight,” one Greek ms and several Latin mss and church fathers (D it Ju [Cl] Meth Hil Aug) quote Ps 2:7 outright with “You are my Son; today I have fathered you.” But the weight of the ms testimony is against this reading.

tn Or “with you I am well pleased.”

sn The allusions in the remarks of the text recall Ps 2:7a; Isa 42:1 and either Isa 41:8 or, less likely, Gen 22:12,16. God is marking out Jesus as his chosen one (the meaning of “[in you I take] great delight”), but it may well be that this was a private experience that only Jesus and John saw and heard (cf. John 1:32-33).

⁷ sn Elijah’s days. Jesus, by discussing Elijah and Elisha, pictures one of the lowest periods in Israel’s history. These examples, along with v. 24, also show that Jesus is making prophetic claims as well as messianic ones. See 1 Kgs 17-18.

⁸ tn Or “the heaven”; the Greek word οὐρανός (ouranos) may be translated “sky” or “heaven,” depending on the context. Since the context here refers to a drought (which produced the famine), “sky” is preferable.

⁹ tn Grk “as.” The particle ὡς can also function temporally (see BDAG 1105-6 s.v. 8).

¹⁰ tn Or “in return.”

¹¹ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the outcome or result. Because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, a new sentence was started in the translation at this point.

¹² sn The character of these actions reflects the grace and kindness of God, bearing witness to a “line of descent” or relationship of the individual to God (sons of the Most High). There is to be a unique kind of ethic at work with disciples. Jesus refers specifically to sons here because in the ancient world sons had special privileges which were rarely accorded to daughters. However, Jesus is most likely addressing both men and women in this context, so women too would receive these same privileges.

¹³ sn That is, “sons of God.”

¹⁴ tn Or “to the ungrateful and immoral.” The word “people” is not in the Greek text, but is implied.

¹⁵ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the narrative.

¹⁶ tc See the tc note on “Gerasenes” in v. 26 for the same geographical options for the textual variants.

¹⁷ tn Grk “all the people of the surrounding region of the Gerasenes,” but according to L&N 1.80, “περίχωρος may include not only the surrounding region but also the point of reference, for example…‘the Gerasenes and the people living around them’ Lk 8:37.”

¹⁸ tn Grk “him”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

¹⁹ tn Or “to depart from them.”

²⁰ sn Again there is great fear at God’s activity, but there is a different reaction. Some people want nothing to do with God’s presence. Mark 5:16 hints that economic reasons motivated their request.

²¹ tn Here δέ (de) has been translated as “so” to indicate that Jesus’ departure was the result of the Gerasenes’ response. A new sentence was started in the translation at this point for stylistic reasons.

²² tn Grk “returned,” but the effect is that he departed from the Gerasene region.

²³ tn This verb, δέχομαι (decomai), is a term of hospitality (L&N 34.53).

²⁴ sn Children were very insignificant in ancient culture, so this child would be the perfect object lesson to counter the disciples’ selfish ambitions.

²⁵ tn Grk “among you all, this one is great.” The absence of a comparative term here makes the point that comparison should not be done.

²⁶ tn Grk “And in all these things.” There is no way Lazarus could carry out this request even if divine justice were not involved.

²⁷ sn The great chasm between heaven and hell is impassable forever. The rich man’s former status meant nothing now.

²⁸ tn Grk “between us and you.”

²⁹ sn Great distress means that this is a period of great judgment.