Discovery BoxLuke 4:25 
Context4:25 But in truth I tell you, there were many widows in Israel in Elijah’s days, 1 when the sky 2 was shut up three and a half years, and 3 there was a great famine over all the land.
Luke 10:30
Context10:30 Jesus replied, 4 “A man was going down 5 from Jerusalem 6 to Jericho, 7 and fell into the hands of robbers, who stripped him, beat 8 him up, and went off, leaving him half dead. 9
Luke 19:8
Context19:8 But Zacchaeus stopped and said to the Lord, “Look, Lord, half of my possessions I now give 10 to the poor, and if 11 I have cheated anyone of anything, I am paying back four times as much!”
1 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.
2 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.
3 tn Grk “as.” The particle ὡς can also function temporally (see BDAG 1105-6 s.v. 8).
4 tn Grk “answering, said.” This is redundant in contemporary English and has been simplified to “replied.”
5 sn The journey from Jerusalem to Jericho was 17 mi (27 km), descending some 1800 ft (540 m) in altitude. It was known for its danger because the road ran through areas of desert and caves where the robbers hid.
6 map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.
7 map For location see Map5 B2; Map6 E1; Map7 E1; Map8 E3; Map10 A2; Map11 A1.
8 tn Grk “and beat,” but καί (kai) has not been translated since English normally uses a coordinating conjunction only between the last two elements in a series of three or more.
9 sn That is, in a state between life and death; severely wounded.
10 sn Zacchaeus was a penitent man who resolved on the spot to act differently in the face of Jesus’ acceptance of him. In resolving to give half his possessions to the poor, Zacchaeus was not defending himself against the crowd’s charges and claiming to be righteous. Rather as a result of this meeting with Jesus, he was a changed individual. So Jesus could speak of salvation coming that day (v. 9) and of the lost being saved (v. 10).
11 tn This is a first class condition in the Greek text. It virtually confesses fraud.
