The Jewish Annotated New Testament (215 page)

4.40
–41: Evening healings
(Mt 8.16–17; Mk 1.32–34).

40
:
Sun was setting
, concluding the Sabbath.

4.42
–44: Missionary mandate
(Mt 4.23; Mk 1.35–39).

42
:
Crowds
, Jesus retains popular support among the Jewish people.

43
:
Kingdom of God
, the major content of Jesus’ preaching; cf. Zech 14.9; Ps 93–99; the “Kiddush”; “May He give reign to His kingship in your lifetimes …” (“vayamlikh malkhutei beḤayeikhon uveyomeikhon …”),
b. Ber
. 14b.

44
:
Synagogues
, 4.15n.
Judea
, Jesus’ teaching expands beyond Galilee.

5.1
–11: Great catch of fish
(Mt 13.1–3a; 4.18–22; Mk 1.16–20; 4.1–2; Jn 21.4–7).

1
:
Lake of Gennesaret
, Sea of Galilee, called “Kinneret” (NRSV: Chinnereth) in the Tanakh (Num 34.11; Deut 3.17; Josh 13.27).
Word of God
, the Torah as interpreted by Jesus and/or a prophetic revelation from him.

5
:
Master
(Gk “epistatēs”), Luke’s equivalent for “Rabbi” (see Lk 9.33 || Mk 9.5).

8
:
Lord
, 1.17n.
Sinful
, Luke does not detail Peter’s transgressions. Confession of sin is not a typical response to a miracle, but here appropriate, cf. 5.32.

11
:
Left everything
, including families (see 5.28; 8.21; 9.61; 18.29 and compare 1 Kings 19.20).

5.12
–16: Healing the man with leprosy
(Mt 8.1–4; Mk 1.40–45). See also Lev 13–14; Num 12.9–15; 2 Kings 5.1–14; Lk 4.27; 17.11–19;
Ant
. 3.264.

12
:
Leprosy
, generic skin ailment, not Hansen’s disease. The man is not depicted as outcast.
Make me clean
, cured, thus ritually pure.

13
:
Touched
, contrary to many homiletic appropriations, no Jewish law forbids touching a person with leprosy (Josephus,
Ag. Ap
. 1.281, suggests that one who touches a person suffering from leprosy would be “esteemed unclean”).

14
:
Tell no one
, the “messianic secret,” as this motif is commonly known, is more prevalent in Luke’s source, Mark. Its rationale remains debated; suggestions include to emphasize teaching over miracles and to avoid Antipas’s attention (see 8.56; also 7.22; 22.70; 23.3).
Show yourself to the priest
, the priest needs to pronounce him as having been cleansed (Lev 13).
Moses commanded
, Lev 14.1–57.

16
:
Pray
, see 3.21n.

5.17
–26: Healing the paralyzed man
(Mt 9.1–8; Mk 2.1–12).

17
:
Pharisees
, see, “Jewish Movements of the NT Period,” p.
526
.
Teachers of the law
(see Acts 5.34; 1 Tim 1.7), a Christian rather than Jewish term.

19
:
Tiles
, Mark describes a mud-plaster roof; Luke gives the home an upgrade.

20
:
Sins are forgiven
, the comment implies a connection between infirmity and sin (see Ex 34.7; Jn 9.2). Jews also recognized illness as caused by demons (see 4.39n.), as tests of the righteous (especially Job), and as part of life.

21
:
Scribes
, Heb “soferim.”
Blasphemies
, a capital offense (see Lev 24.14–16), although Jesus does not here blaspheme by using the divine name. Were Jesus guilty of blasphemy, his opponents would do more than question
in [their] hearts
(v. 22). In 4QPrNab, a Jewish exorcist forgives the sins of an ailing man.

24
:
Son of Man
, Jesus’ self-designation, variously indicating a mortal (Ezek 2.1; Ps 8.4) or an apocalyptic redeemer (Dan 7.13–14;
1 En
. 71).

25
:
Glorifying God
, also 18.43. Luke does not directly equate Jesus with “God” here, but later readers could make the connection (see 4.8n.).

5.27
–28: Levi’s call
(Mt 9.9–13; Mk 2.13–17).

27
:
Tax collector
, 3.12n.

28
:
Left everything
, 5.11n.

5.29
–39: Table fellowship
(Mt 9.14–17; Mk 2.18–22). See “Food and Table Fellowship,” p.
521
.

29
:
Banquet
, settings for instruction (7.36; 10.38; 11.37; 14.1,7,12,15) and suggesting symposiums.

33
:
Fast
, for spiritual discipline (not a reference to fast days such as Yom Kippur); Tacitus (
Hist
. 5.4) suggests fasting can be seen as a distinctly Jewish activity.

34
–35:
Bridegroom
, a frequent (self-)designation for Jesus (cf. Jn 3.29); see Isa 62.5; the term connotes creation of new families, celebration, and potentially precedence over other obligations (Deut 24.5).

35
:
Those days
, after Jesus departs.

36
:
Parable
, see “Midrash and Parables in the NT,” p.
565
.

39
:
The old is good
(see Sir 9.10;
m. Avot
4.20); although enigmatic (parables often are), the saying likely indicates that the old (non-messianic Judaism) and the new (Jesus’ teachings) are incompatible.

6.1
–11: Sabbath practices
(Mt 12.1–14; Mk 2.23–3.6).

1
:
Early (especially non-Jewish) followers of Jesus debated
Sabbath
practice (see Col 2.16); whereas the Tanakh enjoins “work” on the Sabbath (e.g., Ex 20.10; 31.14–15; Lev 23.3), it does not define what constitutes work.

2
:
Not lawful
, Ex 34.21; for stricter rabbinic rules, see
m. Shabb
. 7.2. Plucking grain in another’s field is legal (Deut 23.24–25).

3
:
What David did
, 1 Sam 21.1–6.

4
.
Bread of the Presence
, see Lev 24.5–9.

5
:
Son of Man
, 5.24n. If this expression is taken in a non-messianic way, v. 5 is comparable to Rabbi Simeon B. Menasya’s comment on Ex 31.14 (“You shall keep the Sabbath, because it is holy for you”): “The words ‘unto you’ imply that the Sabbath is given to you, and that you are not given to the Sabbath” (
Mek., Ki Tissa
[to Ex 31]).

6
:
Synagogue
, 4.15n.

7
:
Cure on the Sabbath
, see 4.21–27n.

9
:
Save life
, “Pikuach nefesh” (“saving a life”) always overrides other Sabbath laws, see 6.5n.; 1 Macc 2.40–41;
b. Yoma
84b.

10
:
Hand was restored
, Jesus does not touch the man, and therefore prevents suspicion of “working.”

11
:
Fury
, Gk “anoia” connotes “madness” or “lack of understanding.”
What they might do
, Pharisees have no political or juridical authority.

6.12
–16: The twelve apostles
(Mt 10.1–4; Mk 3.13–19a). See also Acts 1.13.

12
:
Pray
, see 3.21n.

13
:
Twelve
(8.1; Acts 6.2; etc.) symbolizes reconstitution of the twelve tribes of Israel.
Apostles
(Gk “apostolos,” “those sent”), compare Heb “shalia
ḥ
” who, whether a man or a woman, was the agent or emissary of the sender; the concept of “shalia
ḥ
shel ’adam kemoto” [“a person’s agent is as the person himself”] and thus fully representative of the sender (see
m. Ber
. 5.5;
b. Qidd
. 42b–43a).

14
:
Peter
, nickname meaning “rock.” The names of the Twelve vary among Gospels, but Peter is always named first and Judas Iscariot last.
John
, Gk “Ioannēs,” Heb “Yo anan.”
James
, Gk “Iacobos,” Heb “Ya‘aqov” (Jacob).
Bartholomew
, Heb/Aram “Bar Tolmai,” “Son of Tolmai.”

15
:
Zealot
, in the revolt against Rome (66–70), a political revolutionary; here the term suggests Phineas (Num 25.11) and Elijah (1 Kings 18.40; 19.10); see also 2 Cor 7.7,11,12.

16
:
Iscariot
, perhaps “a man [from the Judean village] of Kerioth” (Josh 15.25); if so, Judas was the only Judean among the Twelve; perhaps from the Aram “sheqarya,” “false one, liar.”