Luke 11:27-29

New English Translation

Footnotes

1. 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.
2. 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.”
3. Luke 11:27 tn For this term see L&N 8.69.
4. 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.
5. Luke 11:28 tn Grk “said.”
6. 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.
7. Luke 11:29 tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated.
8. Luke 11:29 tn Grk “he”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
9. 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.
10. 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.