Footnotes

1. Luke 7:18 tn Grk “And John’s.” Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style. This is a reference to John the Baptist as the following context makes clear.
2. Luke 7:18 tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “so” to indicate that John’s action was a result of the report he had heard.
3. Luke 7:18 tn Grk “And calling two of his disciples, John sent.” The participle προσκαλεσάμενος (proskalesamenos) has been translated as a finite verb due to requirements of contemporary English style.
4. Luke 7:19 tc ‡ Although most mss (א A W Θ Ψ ƒ¹ M it sy bo) read πρὸς τὸν ᾿Ιησοῦν (pros ton Iēsoun, “to Jesus”), other significant witnesses (B L Ξ ƒ¹³ 33 sa) read πρὸς τὸν κύριον (pros ton kurion, “to the Lord”). A decision is difficult in this instance, as there are good witnesses on both sides. In light of this, that “Jesus” is more widespread than “the Lord” with almost equally significant witnesses argues for its authenticity.
5. Luke 7:19 tn Grk “to Jesus, saying,” but since this takes the form of a question, it is preferable to use the phrase “to ask” in English.
6. Luke 7:19 sn Aspects of Jesus’ ministry may have led John to question whether Jesus was the promised stronger and greater one who is to come that he had preached about in Luke 3:15-17.
7. Luke 7:20 tn Grk “And when.” Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.
8. Luke 7:20 tn Grk “him”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
9. Luke 7:20 tn Grk “to you, saying,” but since this takes the form of a question, it is preferable to use the phrase “to ask” in English.
10. Luke 7:20 tn This question is repeated word for word from v. 19.
11. Luke 7:21 tn Grk “In that hour.”
12. Luke 7:21 tn Grk “he”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
13. Luke 7:21 tn Grk “and sicknesses,” 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.
14. Luke 7:21 tn Or “and bestowed (sight) on.”
15. Luke 7:22 tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “so” to indicate the relationship to Jesus’ miraculous cures in the preceding sentence.
16. Luke 7:22 tn Grk “answering, he said to them.” This is redundant in English and has been simplified in the translation to “he answered them.”
17. Luke 7:22 sn The same verb has been translated “inform” in 7:18.
18. Luke 7:22 sn What you have seen and heard. The following activities all paraphrase various OT descriptions of the time of promised salvation: Isa 35:5-6; 26:19; 29:18-19; 61:1. Jesus is answering not by acknowledging a title, but by pointing to the nature of his works, thus indicating the nature of the time.
19. Luke 7:22 sn See the note on lepers in Luke 4:27.
20. Luke 7:22 tn Grk “and the,” 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.
21. Luke 7:23 tn Grk “whoever.”
22. Luke 7:24 tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated.
23. Luke 7:24 tn Grk “he”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
24. Luke 7:24 tn Or “desert.”
25. Luke 7:24 tn It is debated whether this expression should be read figuratively (“to see someone who is easily blown over?”) or literally (“to see the wilderness vegetation blowing in the wind?…No, to see a prophet”). Either view is possible, but the following examples suggest the question should be read literally, meaning that an extraordinary event like the arrival of a prophet (rather than the common occurrence of plants blowing in the wind) drew them to the desert.
26. Luke 7:25 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.
27. Luke 7:25 sn The reference to soft clothing suggests that John was not rich or powerful, nor did he come from the wealthy or ruling classes. The crowds came out into the wilderness not to see the rich and famous, but to see a prophet.
28. Luke 7:25 tn See L&N 88.253, “to revel, to carouse, to live a life of luxury.”
29. Luke 7:25 tn This is a different Greek term than in the parallel in Matt 11:8. Cf. BDAG 169 s.v. βασίλειος, “the (royal) palace.”
30. Luke 7:26 tn John the Baptist is “more” because he introduces the one (Jesus) who brings the new era. The term is neuter, but may be understood as masculine in this context (BDAG 806 s.v. περισσότερος b.).
31. Luke 7:27 tn Grk “before your face” (an idiom).
32. Luke 7:27 sn The quotation is primarily from Mal 3:1 with pronouns from Exod 23:20, and provides a more precise description of John the Baptist’s role. He is the forerunner who points the way to the arrival of God’s salvation. His job is to prepare and guide the people (just as the cloud did for Israel in the wilderness at the time of the Exodus).
33. Luke 7:28 sn In the Greek text greater is at the beginning of the clause in the emphatic position. John the Baptist was the greatest man of the old era.
34. Luke 7:28 tc The earliest and best mss read simply ᾿Ιωάννου (Iōannou, “John”) here (P⁷⁵ א B L W Ξ ƒ¹ 579). Others turn this into “John the Baptist” (K 33 565 al it), “the prophet John the Baptist” (A [D] Θ ƒ¹³ M lat), or “the prophet John” (Ψ 700 [892 1241]). “It appears that προφήτης was inserted by pedantic copyists who wished thereby to exclude Christ from the comparison, while others added τοῦ βαπτιστοῦ, assimilating the text to Mt 11.11” (TCGNT 119).
35. Luke 7:28 sn After John comes a shift of eras. John stands at the end of the old era (those born of women), and is to some extent a pivotal or transitional figure. The new era which John heralds is so great that the lowest member of it (the one who is least in the kingdom of God) is greater than the greatest one of the previous era. (The parallel passage Matt 11:11 reads kingdom of heaven.)
36. Luke 7:28 sn The kingdom of God is a major theme of Jesus’ teaching. The nature of the kingdom of God in the NT and in Jesus’ teaching has long been debated by interpreters and scholars, with discussion primarily centering around the nature of the kingdom (earthly, heavenly, or both) and the kingdom’s arrival (present, future, or both). An additional major issue concerns the relationship between the kingdom of God and the person and work of Jesus himself. See Luke 6:20; 11:20; 17:20-21. Here the kingdom of God is not viewed as strictly future, though its full manifestation is yet to come. That is why membership in it starts right after John the Baptist.
37. Luke 7:29 tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “now” to indicate the parenthetical nature of the comment by the author.
38. Luke 7:29 sn See the note on tax collectors in 3:12.
39. Luke 7:29 tn Or “vindicated God”; Grk “justified God.” This could be expanded to “vindicated and responded to God.” The point is that God’s goodness and grace as evidenced in the invitation to John was justified and responded to by the group one might least expect, tax collector and sinners. They had more spiritual sensitivity than others. The contrastive response is clear from v. 30.
40. Luke 7:29 tn The participle βαπτισθέντες (baptisthentes) has been translated as a causal adverbial participle.
41. Luke 7:30 sn See the note on Pharisees in 5:17.
42. Luke 7:30 tn That is, the experts in the interpretation of the Mosaic law (see also Luke 5:17, although the Greek term is not identical there, and Luke 10:25, where it is the same).
43. Luke 7:30 tn Or “plan.”
44. Luke 7:30 tn The participle βαπτισθέντες (baptisthentes) has been translated as a causal adverbial participle; it could also be translated as means (“for themselves, by not having been baptized”). This is similar to the translation found in the NRSV.
45. Luke 7:30 tn Grk “by him”; the referent (John the Baptist) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
46. Luke 7:30 sn Luke 7:29-30 forms something of an aside by the author. To indicate this, they have been placed in parentheses.