Discovery BoxLuke 8:9-10 
Context8:9 Then 1 his disciples asked him what this parable meant. 2 8:10 He 3 said, “You have been given 4 the opportunity to know 5 the secrets 6 of the kingdom of God, 7 but for others they are in parables, so that although they see they may not see, and although they hear they may not understand. 8
1 tn Here δέ (de) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the narrative.
2 tn Grk “what this parable might be” (an optative after a secondary tense, in keeping with good Koine style).
3 tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated.
4 tn This is an example of a so-called “divine passive,” with God understood to be the source of the revelation (see ExSyn 437-38).
5 tn Grk “it has been given to you to know.” The dative pronoun occurs first, in emphatic position in the Greek text, although this position is awkward in contemporary English.
6 tn Grk “the mysteries.”
sn The key term secrets (μυστήριον, musthrion) can mean either (1) a new revelation or (2) a revealing interpretation of existing revelation as in Dan 2:17-23, 27-30. Jesus seems to be explaining how current events develop old promises, since the NT consistently links the events of Jesus’ ministry and message with old promises (Rom 1:1-4; Heb 1:1-2). The traditional translation of this word, “mystery,” is misleading to the modern English reader because this English word suggests a secret which people have tried to uncover but which they have failed to understand (L&N 28.77).
7 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.
8 sn A quotation from Isa 6:9. Thus parables both conceal or reveal depending on whether one is open to hearing what they teach.
