Luke

19:45-20:18

Culmination of Messiah's Mission, 19:45-24:53

1. The Messiah and the Temple, 19:45-21:38

i] Jesus cleanses the temple

Luke now records Jesus' ministry in Jerusalem at the temple, and his engagement with Israel's religious authorities. First, Luke records Jesus' cleansing of the temple and the strong reaction of the religious authorities. In an attempt to draw Jesus out, the religious authorities demand that Jesus explain by what authority he acts as he does. Luke concludes with an allegorical parable serving to explain the disastrous consequences facing religious Israel for failing to recognise and receive their messianic king.

Messianic authority resides with Jesus, and Israel's failure to recognise it prompts divine judgment.

i] Context: See 1:5-25. The six episodes which make up the teaching unit, The Messiah and the Temple, 19:45-20:18, serve as the first section of the concluding major section The Culmination of Messiah's Mission, 19:45-24:53. This major section loosely follows Mark, with Luke including some material from his own sources (Q, L, ??). Luke is not so much focused on the chronology of Jesus' final days in Jerusalem, but approaches the subject more thematically. Ellis proposes three thematic blocks of six episodes - three six-layered sandwiches: First, the Messiah and his engagement with the religion of Israel and its place in redemptive history, 19:45-21:38; Second, the meaning of Messiah's death - the last supper to Jesus' trial, 22:1-23:25; Third, the glorification of the messiah - the exaltation of Jesus and his realisation of the kingdom, 23:26-24:53.

The first section, The Messiah and the Temple, 19:45-21:38, records Jesus' cleansing of the temple and his ongoing interaction with Israel's religious authorities; they have rejected the cornerstone and now it will crush them, 19:45-20:18. Jesus' debates with the religious authorities continue over the next four episodes: legal, 20:19-26; theological, 20:27-40; interpretive, 20:41-44; and moral, 20:45-21:4. The debates are set to entrap Jesus, but they only serve to show up the blind state of Israel's religious authorities. The first section concludes in the sixth episode with Jesus' teaching on the coming Day of the Lord, 21:5-38.

"The rejection of Jesus by the Sanhedrin is a dominant note, and it is significant for the meaning of the temple episodes. Jesus comes to the temple of Israel to purge and renew it. Instead of accepting his messianic role, the Sanhedrin insistently resists and rejects him. Jesus, in turn, accepts the rejection as the purpose of God. He then pronounces God's judgment on religious Judaism and its temple", Ellis.

ii] Background: The temple was a major cultic centre with trade and finance associated with its religious functions. Luke only mentions Jesus driving out the traders, but as Mark tells us, Jesus also focuses on the temple's financial activities. The yearly payment of the half shekel temple tax was an obligation placed on all Jews. Payment was required in Tyrian silver coinage (due to its purity) and this meant that pilgrims needed to exchange their foreign coinage in order to pay the tax. So, along with the sale of sacrificial offerings in the court of the Gentiles, money was changing hands, most likely at a premium and with a cut to the religious elite. According to the Mishnah, there were 13 tables for financial transactions. The Qumran sect took the view that such financial transactions in the temple were a profanity.

iii] Structure: The Cleansing of the Temple:

iv] Interpretation:

v] Synoptics:

The cleansing of the temple, 9:45-20:18: i] Jesus enters the temple, v45-48. Jesus' entry should probably be viewed in the terms of Malachi 3:2 and thus Jesus' cleansing of the temple is a prophetic act.

a) The cleansing, v45-46: Identifying his act as prophetic, Jesus first alludes to Isaiah 56:7. Unlike Mark, Luke does not record the phrase "for all nations." By the time that Luke is writing, the ever-increasing web of Christian congregations has replaced the temple as a centre of worship "for all nations." At first, believers in Jerusalem did attend the temple, as well as their various house-churches, but increasing Jewish hostility made the temple an unsafe place to visit, as Paul the apostle found out when he returned to Jerusalem after his last mission journey, cf., Acts 21. Jesus also alludes to Jeremiah 7:11, identifying the corruption of the temple hierarchy, possibly with regard finances.

kai "-" - and. The use here is transitional, but by using a coordinate kai Luke links Jesus' entry into the temple with his approach to Jerusalem.

eiselqwn (eisercomai) aor. part. "when Jesus entered" - having entered into [into the temple]. The participle is adverbial, best treated as temporal, as NIV. The repetition of the prepositional prefix eiV is stylistic.

ekballeiV (ekballw) pres. inf. "to drive out" - [he began] to throw out. The infinitive is complementary, completing the sense of the verb "to begin."

touV pwlountaV (pwlew) pres. part. "those who were selling" - the ones selling. The participle serves as a substantive, accusative object of the verb "to begin [to throw out]"; "those who were selling things there", Goodspeed.

legwn (legw) pres. part. "he said [to them]" - saying [to them]. Attendant circumstance participle expressing action accompanying the verb "to begin", "he began to throw out ..... and said ...", semi-redundant serving to introduce direct speech. For the classification adverbial, manner, see legwn, 4:35.

proseuchV (h) gen. "[a house] of prayer" - [it has been written, the house of me will be a house] of prayer. The genitive is adjectival, descriptive, idiomatic, "a house where people gather for prayer"; "a place where people pray", TH.

lhstwn (hV ou) gen. "[a den] of robbers" - [but/and you made it a cave] of robbers. The genitive is adjectival, descriptive, idiomatic / content, "a cave full of robbers". Culy suggests local, "a cave where thieves reside."

b) Opposition, v47-48: Luke now provides some background information. Jesus, as Israel's messianic king, takes up his rightful place in the temple, teaching the people of God day-by-day. It is interesting to note that the early believers continued to attend the temple daily for instruction by the apostles until they were excluded, Act.2:46. The religious authorities responded by planning Jesus' murder, but his popularity frustrated their plans. Rather than the Pharisees, the focus is now on the "chief priests", the scribes / teachers of the law (most of whom were probably Pharisees), and "leaders among the people" (a term peculiar to Luke, cf., Acts 25:2, 28:17), possibly a reference to "the elders", or just a catchall for chief priests, scribes, ....., ie., the religious authorities.

to kaw hJmeran "every day" - the according to day = daily. Idiomatic adverbial construction, usually without an article, but here with the article serving as an adverbial accusative. Zerwick classifies the article as redundant. The preposition kaq = kata + acc., is distributive.

h\n didaskwn (didaskw) pres. part. "he was teaching" - he was teaching. The imperfect verb to-be with the present participle forms a periphrastic imperfect construction, probably serving to emphasise aspect; "he spent every day in the temple teaching", Rieu.

en + dat. "at" - in [the temple]. Local, expressing space.

tou laou (oV) gen. "among the people" - [but/and the chief priests and the scribes and the leading men] of the people. The participle is genitive, partitive, or idiomatic / subordination, "over the people." Thompson suggests that kai before "the leading men" may be epexegetic, so "the chief priests and the scribes, that is, the leaders of the people = religious authorities."

apolesai (apollumi) aor. inf. "[trying] to kill [him]" - [were seeking] to kill [him]. The infinitive is usually classified as complementary, but it also serves to introduce a dependent statement of perception, expressing what the religious leaders were thinking about doing, or cause, what they were "trying" to do. "Were working out how best to assassinate him."

to "-" - [but/and they were not finding] the [what they might do]. The article serves as a nominalizer, turning the interrogative clause introduced by tiv, "what?", into a nominal clause, accusative direct object of the verb "to find"; "But they could not find a way to do it", CEV. The subjunctive verb "to do" is deliberative with tiv.

gar "because" - for. Here causal, introducing a causal clause explaining why the authorities could not find a way to take Jesus down.

autou gen. pro. "his words" - [all the people hung on, depended on] him. As it stands, the pronoun serves as a genitive of direct object after the ek prefix verb "to hang upon"; "all the people hung upon him, listening." The verb "to hang upon" is imperfect, certainly durative, even iterative, expressing repeated action. The word is rare, but probably takes the sense "to pay close attention to"; "all the people paid close attention to him."

akouwn (akouw) pres. part. "-" - listening, hearing. The participle is adverbial, best treated as temporal; "as they were listening." Possibly elliptical; "as they were listening to everything he had to say."

ii] A question concerning Jesus' authority, 20:1-8. Jesus, Israel's messianic prophet, priest and king, has taken his rightful place in his Father's house. Yet, religious Israel fails to recognise and receive their messiah. As in Mark's gospel, Luke now records a series of controversies between Jesus and the religious authorities. Such religious exchanges in Judaism, and throughout the Hellenistic world, serve to test the worth of a school of thought, and particularly, its leader. In the first controversy, the authorities challenge Jesus to identify by what authority he acts as he does. They are probably trying to draw Jesus on a claim of messianic, or divine, authority. In typical debating fashion, Jesus responds with a challenge. The authorities have long since dismissed the Baptist's claim to divine authority, but the common people haven't, so they back down - first round to Jesus.

a) Setting: Luke is somewhat more specific on the setting for the controversies. During his time in Jerusalem, Jesus is in the temple courts, and he is teaching the common people in the terms of euaggelizomenou, "communicating important news", obviously the gospel, "the way of God", v21. In this context, he is approached by members of the Sanhedrin.

kai egeneto (ginomai) aor. "-" - and it happened. Transitional, see egeneto, 1:8.

en + dat. "[one day]" - on [one of the days]. Temporal use of the preposition. The genitive hJmerwn, "days", is adjectival, partitive.

didaskontoV (didaskw) gen. pres. part. "as [Jesus] was teaching" - [he] teaching [in the temple]. The genitive participle and its genitive subject, autou, "he", forms a genitive absolute construction, temporal, as NIV.

euaggelizomenou (euaggelizw) gen. pres. mid. part. "proclaiming the good news" - [and] communicating important news. Genitive absolute, temporal, as above. The word usually refers to preaching the gospel, although in this context, some commentators argue that gospel preaching is unlikely, so Nolland. Bovon suggests that kai, "and", is epexegetic here, so explaining the content of Jesus' teaching. "Telling them the good news", NEB.

sun + dat. "with" - [the chief priests and the scribes] with [the elders stood by, attended / came upon him]. "Came up to him in protest and asked him", Cassirer.

b) One question deserves another, v2-4. The reader is well aware that Jesus' authority is derived from God, but not so the members of the Sanhedrin.

legonteV (legw) pres. part. "-" - [and he said toward them] saying. Attendant circumstance participle expressing action accompanying the verb "to say", redundant; a Semitism serving to introduce direct speech. For the classification adverbial, manner, see legwn, 4:35. Followed, as usual, by an indirect object, although formed by the preposition proV instead of a dative.

hJmin dat. pro. "[tell] us" - [say] to us. Dative of indirect object.

en + dat. "by" - in [what authority you do these things]. Instrumental, expressing means, as NIV. The antecedent of tauta, "these things", is unstated. Probably just Jesus' behaviour in the temple, but possibly his wider healing and teaching ministry.

oJ douV (didwmi) pres. part. "gave" - [or who] the one having given [this authority to you is]? The participle serves as a substantive, nominative subject of the verb to-be. The dative pronoun soi, "to you", serves as a dative of indirect object. "Who authorised you to speak and act like this?", Peterson.

apokriqeiV (apokrinomai) pas. part. "he replied" - [but/and] having answered [he said toward them]. Attendant circumstance participle expressing action accompanying the verb "to say", redundant; a Semitism introducing direct speech. As usual, followed by an indirect object, although here formed by the preposition proV + acc. rather than a dative. See apokriqeiV, 1:19.

logon (oV) acc. "-" - [i also will ask you] a word. The accusative is probably adverbial, reference / respect, "I will also ask you with respect to a word = a statement, proposition" = "counter question", Marshall. "I have a question for you, too", Phillips.

moi dat. pro. "[tell] me" - [and say] to me. Dative of indirect object.

Jesus is asking whether the Baptist's ministry was divinely sanctioned; in simple terms, "Was John a prophet?"

Iwannou (oV) gen. "[John's] baptism" - [the baptism] of john. The genitive is adjectival, possessive, identifying the possession of a derivative characteristic, "John's baptism", or verbal, subjective, "the baptism which John performed",

ek + gen. "from" - [was it] from [heaven, or] from [men]? Expressing source / origin; "Was the source of the baptism which John administered divine or human?", Barclay.

From the perspective of the religious authorities, the answer to the question "Was John a prophet?" has to be "No!" If "Yes", then they are bound to accept Jesus' messianic claims. Given that the populous thinks John was a prophet, then it is politically necessary for them to Take the Fifth, or at least adopt the Sergeant Shultz defence.

proV eJautouV "among themselves" - [but/and they reasoned] toward themselves. Luke has used this construction in place of the dative reciprocal pronoun allhloiV, "one another", dative of association, used either with or without the preposition en, so taking the sense "with one another"; "Upon this they set about debating the matter with one another", Cassirer.

legonteV (legw) pres. part. "and said" - saying. The participle is attendant, as in v2, although here the presence of a recitative oJti serves to introduce direct speech.

ean + subj. "if" - if, as may be the case, [we say from heaven, then]. Introducing a conditional clause 3rd. class where the proposed condition has the possibility of coming true. "We can't say God gave John this right, Jesus will ask us why we didn't believe John", CEV.

dia tiv "why" - [he will say] because of what = why. This causal construction serves to introduce an indirect question.

autw/ dat. pro. "him" - [did you not believe] him. Dative of direct object after the verb "to believe."

ean + subj. "if" - if, as may be the case, [we say from men, then all the people will stone us]. Conditional clause, as in v5.

gar "because" - for. Introducing a causal clause explaining why the authorities are unwilling to answer Jesus' question.

pepeismenoV (peiqw) perf. mid. part. "[they are] persuaded" - [they are] having been convinced. This construction, the present verb to-be with the perfect participle, forms a periphrastic perfect construction, probably serving to emphasise aspect.

einai (eimi) pres. inf. "[that John] was [a prophet]" - [john] to be [a prophet]. The infinitive introduces an object clause / dependent statement of perception expressing what the people are convinced of. The accusative subject of the infinitive is Iwannhn, "John". "The crowd will stone us to death because they think that John was a prophet", CEV.

mh eidenai (oida) perf. inf. "we don't know" - [and they answered] not to know. The infinitive introduces an object clause / dependent statement of indirect speech expressing what they said in answer to Jesus; "In the end they answered that they did not know", Rieu.

poqen adv. "where [it was from]" - from where john gained his authority]. Interrogative adverb; "where it came from", ESV.

autoiV dat. pro. "-" - [and jesus said] to them. Dative of indirect object.

egw pro. "I" - [neither] i [i am saying to you]. Emphatic by position and use,

en + dat. "by [what authority]" - in [what authority i do these things]. Instrumental use of the preposition, expressing means, as NIV.

iii] The parable of the wicked tenants, v9-19. As indicated in the notes above, the parable is a crises / kingdom parable given an allegorical twist by the attached scriptural texts, the noted response of the religious authorities, and the wider context. The kingdom of God is upon us, the day of judgment at hand, and this with particular reference to religious Israel - God's covenant people and heirs of God's kingdom. Luke would have the reader conclude that "religious Judaism, tenants of God's 'vineyard' Israel, mistreated God's prophets and killed God's 'Son' and 'heir'. Therefore, God will 'destroy' religious Judaism (with its temple) and give the vineyard to 'others'", Ellis.

a) The parable proper, v9-16. The parable is addressed to the laon, "people" = the gathered crowd, presumably a mixed group of disciples, pilgrims, temple-attendees and religious authorities.

legein (legw) pres. inf. "to tell" - [but/and he began] to say [this parable]. The infinitive is complementary, completing the sense of the verb "to begin."

proV + acc. "-" - toward [the people]. The preposition + acc. is used here instead of a dative to introduce an indirect object; see proV, 1:61.

gewrgoiV (oV) dat. "farmers" - [a certain man planted a vineyard and leased it] to tenants, farmers [and he went away sufficient time = a long time]. Dative of indirect object. Given it is a vineyard, the farmers are vinedressers.

kairw/ (oV) dat. "at harvest time" - [and] in time. The dative is adverbial, temporal, here with the sense "at the appropriate time", BDAG; "When the time came", ESV.

iJna + fut. "so [they would give]" - [he sent a servant toward the tenants] that [they will give]. Introducing a final clause expressing purpose, "in order that." Note the future tense is used instead of a subjunctive.

autw/ dat. pro. "him" - to him. Dative of indirect object.

apo + gen. "of" - from [the fruit]. Although the preposition normally expresses source / origin, it is likely that it is partitive here, so Fitzmyer, TH, ...., "of the fruit of the vineyard", so "some of / share of / part of the fruit "; "to receive his share of", Rieu.

tou ampelwnoV (wn, wnoV) gen. "of the vineyard" - of the vineyard. The genitive is adjectival, descriptive, idiomatic, "the fruit that is produced by the vineyard"; "his share of the produce of the vineyard", Rieu.

deiranteV (derw) aor. part. "beat" - [but/and the tenants] having beaten him, [sent away him]. Attendant circumstance participle expressing action accompanying the verb "to send away", "the tenants beat him and sent him away", ESV, but possibly adverbial, temporal, "after flogging him they sent him off." Note the order of the action in the Greek is reversed, although a variant reading uses temporal order. A reversed time order is used when the later action is regarded as more important (Israel's rejection of the prophets???); see Culy p.622.

kenon acc. adj. "empty-handed" - empty. The adjective serves as a substantive, accusative complement of the direct object auton, "him", standing in a double accusative construction and stating a fact about the object "him", namely, he was sent off "with nothing", Moffatt.

pemyai (pempw) aor. inf. "he sent" - [and he added = went on] to send [another slave]. The infinitive introduces an object clause / dependent statement of cause, explaining what he went on to do, namely, "to send another slave."

oiJ de "but" - but/and they. Transitional, indicating a change in subject from the "certain man" / the owner to the tenants.

kakeinon "that one also" - also that one. The conjunction is a crasis formed by kai, "and = also", + ekeinon, "that one."

deiranteV (derw) aor. part. "they beat [and treated shamefully]" - having beaten [and having dishonoured him, they sent away him empty]. As with "having dishonoured", the participle may be treated as attendant on the verb "to send away", as NIV, or adverbial, temporal, "after flogging him and insulting him, they sent him off with nothing." For kenon, "empty = with nothing", see v10.

pemyai (pempw) aor. inf. "he sent" - [and he added = went on] to send [a servant a third time]. See pemyai v11.

oiJ de "but" - but/and they [and = also this one]. Transitional, see v11.

traumatisanteV (traumatizw) aor. part. "they wounded" - having wounded [they threw out him]. Attendant circumstance participle expressing action accompanying the verb "to throw out"; "he was beaten terribly and thrown out of the vineyard", CEV. An adverbial sense may be intended, temporal; "after beating him they threw him out."

tou ampelwnoV (wn wnoV) gen. "[the owner] of the vineyard" - [but/and the lord = master] of the vineyard [said]. The genitive is adjectival, descriptive, idiomatic / subordination; "master over the vineyard."

tiv pro. "what" - what [may i do? i will send the beloved son of me]. The interrogative pronoun tiv with the deliberative subjunctive poihsw, "may I do?", forms a nominal phrase, accusative direct object of the verb "to say."

i[swV adv. "perhaps" - perhaps, surely [this one they will respect]. This adverb expresses "the hope for a different outcome", Thompson. Once only use in the NT.

idonteV (oJraw) aor. part. "when [the tenants] saw" - [but/and] having seen [him]. The participle is adverbial, best treated as temporal, as NIV,

proV "-" - [the tenants were discussing] toward [one another]. Similar use of the preposition as proV eJautouV, v6. Note the imperfect verb "to discuss"; possibly inceptive, "they began to discuss among themselves." "They put their heads together", Rieu.

legonteV (legw) pres. part. "they said" - saying. See legonteV, v2.

apokteinwmen (apokteinw) aor. subj. "let's kill [him]" - [this one is the heir,] let us kill [him]. Hortatory subjunctive.

iJna + subj. "-" - that [ours may be the inheritance]. Here introducing a final clause expressing purpose, "in order that the inheritance may be ours." "And we shall get everything that he would have had", Phillips.

ekbalonteV (ekballw) aor. part. "they threw him out" - [and] having thrown out [him outside the vineyard they killed him]. Attendant circumstance participle expressing action accompanying the verb "to kill", as NIV; "threw him out ...... and killed him."

tiv pro. what - what. The interrogative pronoun with the deliberative future poihsei, "will do", serves to introduce a rhetorical question.

oun "then" - therefore. Inferential, drawing a logical conclusion.

tou ampelwnoV (wn wnoV) gen. "of the vineyard" - [the lord = master] of the vineyard. For the genitive see tou ampelwnoV, v13.

autoiV dat. pro. "to them" - [will do] to them? Dative of indirect object.

alloiV dat. adj. "to others" - [he will come and will destroy these tenants and will give the vineyard] to others. Dative of indirect object.

b) The application, v16b-18. Only Luke has the response of those gathered to hear the parable, and he uses it to draw out the importance of the Scriptural texts. As if the audience asks "How can this be!", Jesus responds with "Why then does this text stand written?" That the parable should apply to the house of Israel is a shocking business, but scripture settles the matter. As the prophets make clear, "the stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone" and "anyone on whom it falls will be crushed".

akousanteV (akouw) aor. part. "when the people heard this" - [but/and] having heard what jesus said, [they said]. The participle is adverbial, best treated as temporal, as NIV. Note that the subject is unstated. The laon, "people", of v9, refers to the audience, an audience which included the religious authorities. So, the exclamation of the audience here, may come with rhetorical force.

mh genoito (ginomai) opt. mid. "God forbid!" - may it not become. The optative serves to express a wish. Only Luke uses this phrase among the synoptists, but the apostle Paul uses it in his epistles. It functions in rhetoric to express an objection to a proposition. In a debate we might say, "Hold on, that's a bit rich, you can't say that!" To which Jesus may reply, "Well! Why does Scripture say it?" To which the religious authorities conclude, "We need to get rid of this bloke."

"Those who were listening said, 'Oh, no! He'd never do that!', but Jesus didn't back down. 'Why, then, do you think this was written: ......'?", Peterson. The quoted text is Psalm 118:22, understood at the time to refer to the Servant of the Lord, cf., Zech.3:8ff.

oJ de "-" - but/and he. Transitional, indicating a change in subject from the crowd to Jesus.

embleyaV (emblepw) aor. part. "looked directly at" - having gazed at. Attendant circumstance participle expressing action accompanying the verb "to say"; "looked directly at ... and said." This descriptive note is found only in Luke, "fixed his eyes on them"; "Jesus looked them straight in the eyes and said", Phillips.

autoiV dat. pro. "them" - them [he said]. Dative of direct object after the en prefix verb "to gaze at."

oun "then" - therefore. Inferential, drawing a logical conclusion.

tiv pro. "what" - what, why [is this]. Probably here with the sense "why?", given that Jesus is most likely responding to a rhetorical objection.

to gegrammenon (grafw) perf. mid. part. "which is written" - having been written. The mediopassive participle is adjectival, attributive, limiting touto, "this"; "Why therefore this which has been written is; ....?" = "Why then is this written ......?"

oiJ oikodomounteV (oikodomew) pres. part. "the builders" - [a stone] the builders [rejected which]. The participle serves as a substantive, nominative subject of the verb "to reject." The accusative "stone" is properly nominative, a topic identifier resumed by o}n, "which" and picked up again by ou|toV, "this one". It has attracted to the accusative pronoun o}n, "which", object of the verb "to reject." "The stone that the builders rejected", ESV.

egenhqh eiV + acc. "has become" - [this one] came to be into. LXX literal translation of the Hebrew and simply means "became", TH. With the accusative noun kefalhn, "head [of the corner]", it serves as a predicate modifier of ou|toV, "this one", virtually "this one is equivalent to the head [of the corner]"; see Culy p.626.

gwniaV (a) gen. "corner[stone]" - [the head] of the corner. The genitive is adjectival, partitive. Not the capstone of a building's arch, but the cornerstone, the corner foundation stone which the building works off, as NIV.

Manson takes the view that this is a detached saying of Jesus. Either Luke has attached it, or it was attached to Luke's source-tradition some time earlier. It is a judgment saying, found also in Matthew 21:44. The link word is of course liqon, "stone". The saying makes the point that judgment is inevitable, so Marshall.

oJ peswn (piptw) aor. part. "who falls" - [all] having fallen [upon that sone will be crushed together]. If we read the adjective paV, "all", as a substantive, "everyone", then the participle is adjectival, attributive, limiting "everyone", as NIV.

d (de) "-" - but/and. Transitional, here contrastive.

ef (epi) + acc. "on" - upon. Spatial preposition.

o}n ... a]n + subj. "anyone [on] whom" - [upon] whomsoever [it may fall, it will scatter him]. Introducing an indefinite relative clause which in the present context is conditional; "Whoever it may fall on (If it falls on anyone, then ...), it will grind him to a pulp." "Whomsoever", o}n a]n is resumed by auton, "he".

iv] The reaction of the religious authorities, v19. This verse clearly indicates that the laon, "people = audience", includes the religious authorities. The personalising of what is primarily a crisis / kingdom parable, drives home the reality of coming judgment on faithless Israel. Rather than repent in sackcloth and ashes, the religious authorities plan Jesus' arrest.

epibalein (epiballw) aor. inf. "[looked for a way] to arrest" - [and the scribes and the chief priests sought] to lay hands on [him]. The infinitive is complementary, completing the sense of the verb "to seek."

en + dat. "immediately" - in [the same hour]. Temporal use of the preposition, introducing the temporal phrase "at the time, there and then", Zerwick.

kai "-" - and [they were afraid of the people]. Culy suggests that the conjunction here serves to introduce a parenthetical statement. The statement is certainly elliptical, with kia probably adversative, so Thompson: "[The authorities had wanted to arrest Jesus immediately, but they were afraid of the people. They were driven to seek his arrest because (gar) they knew that (oJti) he spoke this parable against them]"

gar "because" - because [they knew]. Introducing a causal clause explaining why they sought to arrest Jesus, "because" they knew that the parable was directed at them.

oJti "-" - that [he spoke this parable]. Introducing an object clause / dependent statement of perception expressing what they knew.

proV "against" - toward [them]. Here expressing either opposition, "against them", or reference / respect, "with respect to them."

Luke Introduction

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Exegetical Commentaries

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