Discovery BoxLuke 13:31-32 
Context13:31 At that time, 1 some Pharisees 2 came up and said to Jesus, 3 “Get away from here, 4 because Herod 5 wants to kill you.” 13:32 But 6 he said to them, “Go 7 and tell that fox, 8 ‘Look, I am casting out demons and performing healings today and tomorrow, and on the third day 9 I will complete my work. 10
1 tn Grk “At that very hour.”
2 sn See the note on Pharisees in 5:17.
3 tn Grk “him”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
4 tn Grk “Go away and leave from here,” which is redundant in English and has been shortened to “Get away from here.”
5 sn Herod refers here to Herod Antipas. See the note on Herod Antipas in 3:1.
6 tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “but” to indicate the contrast present in this context.
7 tn The participle πορευθέντες (poreuqente") has been taken as indicating attendant circumstance.
8 sn That fox. This is not fundamentally a figure for cleverness as in modern western culture, but could indicate (1) an insignificant person (Neh 4:3; 2 Esd 13:35 LXX); (2) a deceiver (Song Rabbah 2.15.1 on 2:15); or someone destructive, a destroyer (Ezek 13:4; Lam 5:18; 1 En. 89:10, 42-49, 55). Luke’s emphasis seems to be on destructiveness, since Herod killed John the Baptist, whom Luke calls “the greatest born of women” (Luke 7:28) and later stands opposed to Jesus (Acts 4:26-28). In addition, “a person who is designated a fox is an insignificant or base person. He lacks real power and dignity, using cunning deceit to achieve his aims” (H. W. Hoehner, Herod Antipas [SNTSMS], 347).
9 sn The third day is a figurative reference to being further on in time, not a reference to three days from now. Jesus is not even in Jerusalem yet, and the events of the last days in Jerusalem take a good week.
10 tn Or “I reach my goal.” The verb τελειόω (teleiow) is a key NT term for the completion of God’s plan: See Luke 12:50; 22:37; John 19:30; and (where it has the additional component of meaning “to perfect”) Heb 2:10; 5:8-9; 7:28.
