Luke 21:18-20

New English Translation

Footnotes

1. Luke 21:18 tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “yet” to indicate the contrast present in this context.
2. Luke 21:18 sn Given v. 16, the expression not a hair of your head will perish must be taken figuratively and refer to living ultimately in the presence of God.
3. Luke 21:19 sn By your endurance is a call to remain faithful, because trusting in Jesus is the means to life.
4. Luke 21:19 tc Some significant Greek witnesses plus the majority of mss (א D L W Ψ ƒ¹ M) read the aorist imperative κτήσασθε (ktēsasthe) here, though some mss (A B Θ ƒ¹³ 33 lat sa) read the future indicative κτήσεσθε (ktēsesthe). A decision is difficult because the evidence is so evenly balanced, but the aorist imperative is the harder reading and better explains the rise of the other. J. A. Fitzmyer assesses the translation options this way: “In English one has to use something similar [i.e., a future indicative], even if one follows the [aorist imperative]” (Luke [AB], 2:1341); in the same vein, although this translation follows the aorist imperative, because of English requirements it has been translated as though it were a future indicative.
5. Luke 21:19 tn Grk “your souls,” but ψυχή (psuchē) is frequently used of one’s physical life. In light of v. 16 that does not seem to be the case here. The entire phrase could be taken as an idiom meaning “you will save yourselves” (L&N 21.20), or (as in v. 18) this could refer to living ultimately in the presence of God.
6. Luke 21:20 sn See Luke 19:41-44. This passage refers to the events associated with the fall of Jerusalem, when the city is surrounded by armies.
7. Luke 21:20 tn Grk “her,” referring to the city of Jerusalem (the name “Jerusalem” in Greek is a feminine noun).
8. Luke 21:20 sn The phrase its desolation is a reference to the fall of the city, which is the only antecedent present in Luke’s account. The parallels to this in Matt 24:15 and Mark 13:14 refer to the temple’s desolation, though Matthew’s allusion is clearer. They focus on the parallel events of the end, not on the short term realization in a.d. 70. The entire passage has a prophetic “two events in one” typology, where the near term destruction (a.d. 70) is like the end. So the evangelists could choose to focus on the near time realization (Luke) or on its long term fulfillment, which mirrors it (Matthew, Mark).