Discovery BoxLuke 11:15-16 
Context11:15 But some of them said, “By the power of Beelzebul, 1 the ruler 2 of demons, he casts out demons.” 11:16 Others, to test 3 him, 4 began asking for 5 a sign 6 from heaven.
Luke 11:53-54
Context11:53 When he went out from there, the experts in the law 7 and the Pharisees began to oppose him bitterly, 8 and to ask him hostile questions 9 about many things, 11:54 plotting against 10 him, to catch 11 him in something he might say.
1 tn Grk “By Beelzebul.”
sn Beelzebul is another name for Satan. So some people recognized Jesus’ work as supernatural, but called it diabolical.
2 tn Or “prince.”
3 tn Grk “testing”; the participle is taken as indicating the purpose of the demand.
4 tn The pronoun “him” is not in the Greek text, but is implied. Direct objects were frequently omitted in Greek when clear from the context.
5 tn Grk “seeking from him.” The imperfect ἐζήτουν (ezhtoun) is taken ingressively. It is also possible to regard it as iterative (“kept on asking”).
6 sn What exactly this sign would have been, given what Jesus was already doing, is not clear. But here is where the fence-sitters reside, refusing to commit to him.
7 tn Or “the scribes.” See the note on the phrase “experts in the law” in 5:21.
8 tn Or “terribly.”
9 tn For this term see L&N 33.183.
10 tn Grk “lying in ambush against,” but this is a figurative extension of that meaning.
11 tn This term was often used in a hunting context (BDAG 455 s.v. θηρεύω; L&N 27.30). Later examples of this appear in Luke 20.
