¹ tn Grk “But what.” Here ἀλλά (alla, a strong contrastive in Greek) produces a somewhat awkward sense in English, and has not been translated. The same situation occurs at the beginning of v. 26.

² tn Or “soft”; see L&N 79.100.

³ sn The reference to fancy clothes makes the point that John was not rich or powerful, in that he did not come from the wealthy classes.

⁴ tn See L&N 88.253, “to revel, to carouse, to live a life of luxury.”

⁵ tn Or “palaces.”

⁶ tn Grk “I tell you truly” (λέγω δὲ ὑμῖν ἀληθῶς, legw de Jumin alhqw").

⁷ tn The Greek negative here (οὐ μή, ou mh) is the strongest possible.

⁸ tn Grk “will not taste.” Here the Greek verb does not mean “sample a small amount” (as a typical English reader might infer from the word “taste”), but “experience something cognitively or emotionally; come to know something” (cf. BDAG 195 s.v. γεύομαι 2).

⁹ sn The meaning of the statement that some will not taste death before they see the kingdom of God is clear at one level, harder at another. Jesus predicts some will experience the kingdom before they die. When does this happen? (1) An initial fulfillment is the next event, the transfiguration. (2) It is also possible in Luke’s understanding that all but Judas experience the initial fulfillment of the coming of God’s presence and rule in the work of Acts 2. In either case, the “kingdom of God” referred to here would be the initial rather than the final phase.

¹⁰ tn Grk “He”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity. Here καί (kai) has been translated as “also” and δέ (de) has not been translated.

¹¹ sn A cloud rising in the west refers to moisture coming from the Mediterranean Sea.

¹² tn The term ὄμβρος (ombro") refers to heavy rain, such as in a thunderstorm (L&N 14.12).

¹³ sn Weeping and gnashing of teeth is a figure for remorse and trauma, which occurs here because of exclusion from God’s promise.

¹⁴ tn Grk “and Isaac and Jacob,” 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.

¹⁵ sn The kingdom of God is a major theme of Jesus. It is a realm in which Jesus rules and to which those who trust him belong. See Luke 6:20; 11:20; 17:20-21.

¹⁶ tn Or “being thrown out.” The present accusative participle, ἐκβαλλομένους (ekballomenous), related to the object ὑμᾶς (Jumas), seems to suggest that these evildoers will witness their own expulsion from the kingdom.

¹⁷ tn Grk “to complete it, lest.” Because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, a new sentence was started here in the translation and ἵνα μήποτε ({ina mhpote, “lest”) has been translated as “Otherwise.”

¹⁸ tn The participle θέντος (qentos) has been taken temporally.

¹⁹ tn The words “the tower” are not in the Greek text, but are implied. Direct objects were frequently omitted in Greek when clear from the context.

²⁰ tn The word “it” is not in the Greek text, but is implied. Direct objects were frequently omitted in Greek when clear from the context.

²¹ tn Or “mock,” “ridicule.” The person who did not plan ahead becomes an object of joking and ridicule.

²² tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

²³ tn Grk “He was trying to see who Jesus was.”

²⁴ tn Grk “and he was not able to because of the crowd, for he was short in stature.”

²⁵ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “so” to indicate the implied result of Zacchaeus not being able to see over the crowd.

²⁶ sn A sycamore tree would have large branches near the ground like an oak tree and would be fairly easy to climb. These trees reach a height of some 50 ft (about 15 m).

²⁷ tn Grk “that one”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

²⁸ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the narrative.

²⁹ tn Here the pronoun αὐτόν (auton), referring to Jesus, is in an emphatic position. The one thing they lacked was solid evidence that he was alive.