Luke 23

Syntactic observation

The sending to Herod and back (vv.6-12) is Luke's alone. The words hold it: ἀναπέμπω, to send up or send back, stands three times in the four Gospels and all three are in this chapter (23:7, 23:11, 23:15). ἔχθρα, enmity; προϋπάρχω, to have been before; εὐτόνως, vehemently; and ἐπισχύω, to insist the more, are each a hapax in the four Gospels. And two words call other places in this book. ἐξουθενέω, to despise, stands twice in the four Gospels and both are Luke's — 18:9, where the parable is told to those who counted themselves righteous and despised the rest, and here. So the hearers of that parable and Herod are bound by one verb. ἐσθής, clothing, also stands twice and both are Luke's — the λαμπρὰ ἐσθής of 23:11, the splendid robe Herod put on him in mockery, and 24:4, the two men in dazzling clothing at the tomb. So the only two places the word stands in this book are the robe of mockery and the clothing at the tomb. The text does not state the link. v.12 is Luke's alone as well: on that day Herod and Pilate became friends with each other, having been at enmity before. Matthew and Mark also have a robing, but theirs is the soldiers putting on purple (Mark 15:17), and this is Herod putting on splendour — a different word and a different hand.

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Syntactic observation

The base text prints the whole first sentence of this verse — Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing — inside variant marks ⸂⸃. There is one more such place in this chapter: the base text has no 23:17 at all (v.16 is followed at once by v.18). So Luke 23 holds a marked saying and an absent verse together. Counting the two places in chapter 22 (the brackets at 19b-20 and the marks at 43-44), the two chapters through which the passion runs contain four places the base text weighs differently. This edition follows its base text, so v.34 is printed and v.17 is not, and both facts are recorded. ἀφίημι, to release or forgive, is the word that stands where sins are forgiven in the four Gospels, and this follows the entries at Luke 11:4 and 17:3-4. The casting of lots that follows stands in all four books, and Luke's is the shortest: Matt 27:35 and Mark 15:24 have dividing and casting lots, and John 19:23-24 separates the garments from the tunic at length, while Luke ends it in a phrase.

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Syntactic observation

The two hanged with him are named differently, and what they do differs. Matthew 27:38 and Mark 15:27 have δύο λῃσταί, two robbers; Luke 23:32, 33 and 39 have κακοῦργοι, evildoers — and κακοῦργος stands three times in the four Gospels, all three in this chapter. And where Matt 27:44 and Mark 15:32 have both revile him, Luke 23:39-43 has one revile and the other rebuke him, and that one is answered. The answer carries a word found once in the four Gospels: παράδεισος, paradise, is a hapax in the four Gospels, as is ἄτοπος, out of place. And ἀμήν stands here (23:43), which is rare in Luke. The mockery of the crowd and the rulers carries this book's word too: ἐκμυκτηρίζω, to sneer, stands twice in the four Gospels and both are Luke's, the other being 16:14, where the money-loving Pharisees sneered at him. So the two places the word stands are lovers of money and the rulers at the cross — as recorded at Luke 16. Who mocks divides three ways as well: Matthew and Mark have passers-by, chief priests and those crucified with him; Luke has rulers, soldiers, and one of those hanged.

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Syntactic observation

The last word differs across the books. Matthew 27:46 and Mark 15:34 have him cry Ἠλὶ / Ἐλωῒ … λεμὰ σαβαχθάνι, why have you forsaken me, and both translate the Aramaic into Greek. Luke does not have it. Luke 23:46 has him cry Πάτερ, εἰς χεῖράς σου παρατίθεμαι τὸ πνεῦμά μου, Father, into your hands I entrust my spirit. The verb of dying parts too: Matt 27:50 has ἀφῆκεν τὸ πνεῦμα, he released the spirit; Mark 15:37 and Luke 23:46 have ἐξέπνευσεν, he breathed out. ἐκπνέω stands three times in the four Gospels — twice in Mark, once in Luke — and never in Matthew. So in the last word Luke parts from both Matthew and Mark, and in the last verb he goes with Mark. The verb of entrusting calls another place in this book: παρατίθημι stands eleven times in the four Gospels, five of them Luke's, and among them is 12:48 — to whom much was entrusted, of him more will be asked. He entrusts his spirit with the word that was used of entrusting. The sun of the verse before is this book's word as well: the ἐκλείπω of v.45 stands three times in the four Gospels and all three are Luke's — 16:9 (when wealth fails), 22:32 (that faith may not fail) and 23:45 (the sun failed).

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Syntactic observation

What the centurion says differs. Matthew 27:54 has Ἀληθῶς θεοῦ υἱὸς ἦν οὗτος, truly this was God's Son, and Mark 15:39 the same. Luke 23:47 has Ὄντως ὁ ἄνθρωπος οὗτος δίκαιος ἦν, truly this man was righteous. Matthew and Mark say God's Son; Luke says righteous. What he is called divides three ways too: Matt 27:54 ἑκατόνταρχος, Mark 15:39 κεντυρίων (from the Latin centurio), Luke 23:47 ἑκατοντάρχης — as recorded at Mark 15, only Mark uses the Latin word. And the adverb differs: Matthew and Mark have ἀληθῶς, Luke ὄντως. ὄντως stands four times in the four Gospels — Mark 11:32, Luke 23:47, Luke 24:34 (the Lord has truly risen) and John 8:36 — so the two places the adverb stands in Luke are the confession at the cross and the confession of the resurrection. v.48 is Luke's alone as well: the crowds return beating their breasts. στῆθος, as recorded at Luke 18, stands four times in the four Gospels, and Luke's two are 18:13 (the tax collector beating his breast) and here. θεωρία, a spectacle, is a hapax in the four Gospels. ἑκατοντάρχης stands four times, once in Matthew (8:13) and three times in Luke (7:2, 7:6, 23:47), so the places it stands in Luke are the centurion who asked for his slave's life and the centurion at the cross.

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