Discovery BoxLuke 24:4-9 
Context24:4 While 1 they were perplexed 2 about this, suddenly 3 two men stood beside them in dazzling 4 attire. 24:5 The 5 women 6 were terribly frightened 7 and bowed 8 their faces to the ground, but the men said to them, “Why do you look for the living 9 among the dead? 24:6 He is not here, but has been raised! 10 Remember how he told you, while he was still in Galilee, 11 24:7 that 12 the Son of Man must be delivered 13 into the hands of sinful men, 14 and be crucified, 15 and on the third day rise again.” 16 24:8 Then 17 the women remembered his words, 18 24:9 and when they returned from the tomb they told all these things to the eleven 19 and to all the rest.
1 tn Grk “And it happened that while.” The introductory phrase ἐγένετο (egeneto, “it happened that”), common in Luke (69 times) and Acts (54 times), is redundant in contemporary English and has not been translated. Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.
2 tn Or “bewildered.” The term refers to a high state of confusion and anxiety.
3 tn Grk “behold.”
4 sn The brilliantly shining clothing (dazzling attire) points to the fact that these are angels (see 24:23).
5 tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated.
6 tn Grk “they”; the referent (the women) has been specified in the translation for clarity (the same has been done in v. 8).
7 tn Or “They were extremely afraid.”
8 sn Bowed their faces to the ground. Such respect for angels is common: Dan 7:28; 10:9, 15.
9 sn By referring to Jesus as the living, the angels make it clear that he is alive. There should be no surprise.
10 tc The phrase “He is not here, but has been raised” is omitted by a few
tn The verb here is passive (ἠγέρθη, hgerqh). This “divine passive” (see ExSyn 437-38) points to the fact that Jesus was raised by God, and such activity by God is a consistent Lukan theological emphasis: Luke 20:37; 24:34; Acts 3:15; 4:10; 5:30; 10:40; 13:30, 37. A passive construction is also used to refer to Jesus’ exaltation: Luke 24:51; Acts 1:11, 22.
11 sn While he was still in Galilee looks back to the beginning of Jesus’ ministry. So the point is that this was announced long ago, and should come as no surprise.
12 tn Grk “saying that,” but this would be redundant in English. Although the translation represents this sentence as indirect discourse, the Greek could equally be taken as direct discourse: “Remember how he told you, while he was still in Galilee: ‘the Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, and be crucified, and on the third day rise again.’”
13 tn See Luke 9:22, 44; 13:33.
14 tn Because in the historical context the individuals who were primarily responsible for the death of Jesus (the Jewish leadership in Jerusalem in Luke’s view [see Luke 9:22]) would have been men, the translation “sinful men” for ἀνθρώπων ἁμαρτωλῶν (anqrwpwn Jamartwlwn) is retained here.
15 sn See the note on crucify in 23:21.
16 tn Here the infinitive ἀναστῆναι (anasthnai) is active rather than passive.
17 tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the narrative.
18 sn On his words see Luke 9:22.
19 sn Judas is now absent and “the twelve” have now become “the eleven.” Other disciples are also gathered with the remaining eleven.
