24 “When an impure spirit comes out of a person, it goes through arid places seeking rest and does not find it. Then it says, ‘I will return to the house I left.’ 25 When it arrives, it finds the house swept clean and put in order. 26 Then it goes and takes seven other spirits more wicked than itself, and they go in and live there. And the final condition of that person is worse than the first.”(A)

27 As Jesus was saying these things, a woman in the crowd called out, “Blessed is the mother who gave you birth and nursed you.”(B)

28 He replied, “Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God(C) and obey it.”(D)

The Sign of Jonah(E)

29 As the crowds increased, Jesus said, “This is a wicked generation. It asks for a sign,(F) but none will be given it except the sign of Jonah.(G) 30 For as Jonah was a sign to the Ninevites, so also will the Son of Man be to this generation. 31 The Queen of the South will rise at the judgment with the people of this generation and condemn them, for she came from the ends of the earth to listen to Solomon’s wisdom;(H) and now something greater than Solomon is here. 32 The men of Nineveh will stand up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it, for they repented at the preaching of Jonah;(I) and now something greater than Jonah is here.

The Lamp of the Body(J)

33 “No one lights a lamp and puts it in a place where it will be hidden, or under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, so that those who come in may see the light.(K) 34 Your eye is the lamp of your body. When your eyes are healthy,[a] your whole body also is full of light. But when they are unhealthy,[b] your body also is full of darkness. 35 See to it, then, that the light within you is not darkness. 36 Therefore, if your whole body is full of light, and no part of it dark, it will be just as full of light as when a lamp shines its light on you.”

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Notas al pie

  1. Luke 11:34 The Greek for healthy here implies generous.
  2. Luke 11:34 The Greek for unhealthy here implies stingy.

Response to Jesus’ Work

24 “When an unclean spirit[a] goes out of a person,[b] it passes through waterless places[c] looking for rest but[d] not finding any. Then[e] it says, ‘I will return to the home I left.’[f] 25 When it returns,[g] it finds the house[h] swept clean and put in order.[i] 26 Then it goes and brings seven other spirits more evil than itself, and they go in and live there, so[j] the last state of that person[k] is worse than the first.”[l]

27 As[m] he said these things, a woman in the crowd spoke out[n] to him, “Blessed is the womb[o] that bore you and the breasts at which you nursed!”[p] 28 But he replied,[q] “Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and obey[r] it!”

The Sign of Jonah

29 As[s] the crowds were increasing, Jesus[t] began to say, “This generation is a wicked generation; it looks for a sign,[u] but no sign will be given to it except the sign of Jonah.[v] 30 For just as Jonah became a sign to the people of Nineveh,[w] so the Son of Man will be a sign[x] to this generation.[y] 31 The queen of the South[z] will rise up at the judgment[aa] with the people[ab] of this generation and condemn them, because she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon—and now,[ac] something greater[ad] than Solomon is here! 32 The people[ae] of Nineveh will stand up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it, because they repented when Jonah preached to them[af]—and now,[ag] something greater than Jonah is here!

Internal Light

33 “No one after lighting a lamp puts it in a hidden place[ah] or under a basket,[ai] but on a lampstand, so that those who come in can see the light. 34 Your eye is the lamp of your body. When your eye is healthy,[aj] your whole body is full of light, but when it is diseased,[ak] your body is full of darkness. 35 Therefore see to it[al] that the light in you[am] is not darkness. 36 If[an] then[ao] your whole body is full of light, with no part in the dark,[ap] it will be as full of light as when the light of a lamp shines on you.”[aq]

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Notas al pie

  1. Luke 11:24 sn This is a reference to an evil spirit. See Luke 4:33.
  2. Luke 11:24 tn Grk “man.” This is a generic use of ἄνθρωπος (anthrōpos), referring to both males and females.
  3. Luke 11:24 sn The background for the reference to waterless places is not entirely clear, though some Jewish texts suggest spirits must have a place to dwell, but not with water (Luke 8:29-31; Tob 8:3). Some suggest that the image of the desert or deserted cities as the places demons dwell is where this idea started (Isa 13:21; 34:14).
  4. Luke 11:24 tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “but” to indicate the contrast present in this context.
  5. Luke 11:24 tc ‡ Most mss, including a few early and significant ones (P45 א* A C D W Ψ ƒ1,13 M lat), lack τότε (tote, “then”). Other mss, including some early and important ones (P75 א2 B L Θ Ξ 070 33 579 892 1241 co), have the adverb. Although the external evidence better supports the longer reading, the internal evidence is on the side of the shorter, for conjunctions and adverbs were frequently added by copyists to remove asyndeton and to add clarification. The shorter reading is thus preferred. The translation, however, adds “Then” because of English stylistic requirements. NA28 has τότε in brackets indicating doubts as to its authenticity.
  6. Luke 11:24 tn Grk “I will return to my house from which I came.”
  7. Luke 11:25 tn Grk “comes.”
  8. Luke 11:25 tn The words “the house” are not in Greek but are implied.
  9. Luke 11:25 sn The image of the house swept clean and put in order refers to the life of the person from whom the demon departed. The key to the example appears to be that no one else has been invited in to dwell. If an exorcism occurs and there is no response to God, then the way is free for the demon to return. Some see the reference to exorcism as more symbolic; thus the story’s only point is about responding to Jesus. This is possible and certainly is an application of the passage.
  10. Luke 11:26 tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “so” to indicate the concluding point of the story.
  11. Luke 11:26 tn Grk “man.” This is a generic use of ἄνθρωπος (anthrōpos), referring to both males and females.
  12. Luke 11:26 sn The point of the story is that to fail to respond is to risk a worse fate than when one started.
  13. Luke 11:27 tn Grk “And it happened that as.” 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 δέ (de) has not been translated.
  14. Luke 11:27 tn Grk “lifted up her voice and said.” This idiom is somewhat redundant in contemporary English and has been simplified to “spoke out.”
  15. Luke 11:27 tn For this term see L&N 8.69.
  16. Luke 11:27 sn Both the reference to the womb and the breasts form a figure of speech called metonymy. In this case the parts are mentioned instead of the whole; the meaning is “Blessed is your mother!” The warnings seem to have sparked a little nervousness that brought forth this response. In the culture a mother was valued for the accomplishments of her son. So this amounts to a compliment to Jesus.
  17. Luke 11:28 tn Grk “said.”
  18. Luke 11:28 sn This is another reference to hearing and doing the word of God, which here describes Jesus’ teaching; see Luke 8:21.
  19. Luke 11:29 tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated.
  20. Luke 11:29 tn Grk “he”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
  21. Luke 11:29 sn The mention of a sign alludes back to Luke 11:16. Given what Jesus had done, nothing would be good enough. This leads to the rebuke that follows.
  22. Luke 11:29 sn As the following comparisons to Solomon and Jonah show, in the present context the sign of Jonah is not an allusion to Jonah being three days in the belly of the fish, but to Jesus’ teaching about wisdom and repentance.
  23. Luke 11:30 tn Grk “to the Ninevites.” What the Ninevites experienced was Jonah’s message (Jonah 3:4, 10; 4:1).
  24. Luke 11:30 tn The repetition of the words “a sign” are not in the Greek text, but are implied and are supplied here for clarity.
  25. Luke 11:30 tc Only the Western ms D and a few Itala mss add here a long reference to Jonah being in the belly of the fish for three days and nights and the Son of Man being three days in the earth, apparently harmonizing the text to the parallel in Matt 12:40.
  26. Luke 11:31 sn On the queen of the South see 1 Kgs 10:1-3 and 2 Chr 9:1-12, as well as Josephus, Ant. 8.6.5-6 (8.165-175). The South most likely refers to modern southwest Arabia, possibly the eastern part of modern Yemen, although there is an ancient tradition reflected in Josephus which identifies this geo-political entity as Ethiopia.
  27. Luke 11:31 sn For the imagery of judgment, see Luke 10:13-15 and 11:19. The warnings are coming consistently now.
  28. Luke 11:31 tn Grk “men”; the word here (ἀνήρ, anēr) usually indicates males or husbands, but occasionally is used in a generic sense of people in general, as is the case here (cf. BDAG 79 s.v. 1, 2). The same term, translated the same way, occurs in v. 32.
  29. Luke 11:31 tn Grk “behold.”
  30. Luke 11:31 sn The message of Jesus was something greater than what Solomon offered. On Jesus and wisdom, see Luke 7:35; 10:21-22; 1 Cor 1:24, 30.
  31. Luke 11:32 tn See the note on the word “people” in v. 31.
  32. Luke 11:32 tn Grk “at the preaching of Jonah.”sn The phrase repented when Jonah preached to them confirms that in this context the sign of Jonah (v. 30) is his message.
  33. Luke 11:32 tn Grk “behold.”
  34. Luke 11:33 tn Or perhaps “in a cellar” (L&N 28.78). The point is that the light of Jesus’ teaching has been put in public view.
  35. Luke 11:33 tc The phrase “or under a basket” is lacking in some significant and early mss (P45,75 L Γ Ξ 070 ƒ1 700* 1241 2542 sys sa). It is hard to decide in this case, since the inclusion of “or under a basket” is widely attested by some early and decent witnesses, as well as the overwhelming majority of mss (א A B C D W Θ Ψ ƒ13 M latt). The parallel passage in Luke 8:16 does not include “under a basket.” If the phrase “under a basket” were added as a harmonization with Mark 4:21 and Matt 5:15, it is perhaps surprising that scribes did not add the phrase at Luke 8:16 as well. It seems somewhat more likely that a scribe copying Luke would be inclined to harmonize 11:33 with 8:16 by omitting the phrase here. Thus, the words “or under a basket” seem to have the marks of authenticity.tn Or “a bowl”; this refers to any container for dry material of about eight liters (two gallons) capacity. It could be translated “basket, box, bowl” (L&N 6.151).
  36. Luke 11:34 tn Or “sound” (so L&N 23.132 and most scholars). A few scholars take this word to mean something like “generous” here (L&N 57.107), partly due to the immediate context of this saying in Matt 6:22 which concerns money, in which case the “eye” is a metonymy for the entire person (“if you are generous”).
  37. Luke 11:34 tn Or “when it is sick” (L&N 23.149).sn There may be a slight wordplay here, as this term can also mean “evil,” so the figure uses a term that points to the real meaning of being careful as to what one pays attention to or looks at. Ancient understanding of vision involved light coming into the body from outside, and “light” thus easily becomes a metaphor for teaching. As a “diseased” eye would hinder the passage of light, so in the metaphor Jesus’ teaching would be blocked from being internalized in the hearer.
  38. Luke 11:35 tn This is a present imperative, calling for a constant watch (L&N 24.32; ExSyn 721).
  39. Luke 11:35 sn Here you is a singular pronoun, individualizing the application.
  40. Luke 11:36 tn This is a first class condition in the Greek text, so the example ends on a hopeful, positive note.
  41. Luke 11:36 tn Grk “Therefore”; the same conjunction as at the beginning of v. 35, but since it indicates a further inference or conclusion, it has been translated “then” here.
  42. Luke 11:36 tn Grk “not having any part dark.”
  43. Luke 11:36 tn Grk “it will be completely illumined as when a lamp illumines you with its rays.”