Luke 24
The women go to the tomb at dawn. Two on the road to Emmaus know him in the breaking of bread, and after a last appearing in Jerusalem he parts from them.
At deep dawn renders ὄρθρος βαθύς (orthros bathys) — the Greek says “deep dawn”, and this edition keeps the phrase.
They found the stone rolled away — this book does not say who rolled it.
Did not find the body — the base text does not have “of the Lord Jesus” here, though the twenty-four versions this edition compares all print it. The omission is followed.
Two men — this book has two; Mark 16:5 has one young man, Matthew 28:2 one angel.
Why this rendering
Luke.24.4 Observation
Syntactic observation
This one phrase calls two places in this book at once. ἐσθής, clothing, stands twice in the four Gospels and both are Luke's, the other being 23:11 — the splendid robe Herod put on him in mockery. ἀστράπτω, to flash, also stands twice and both are Luke's, the other being 17:24, where the lightning shines from one end under heaven to the other as the Son of Man will. So what the two at the tomb wear is the same word as the robe of mockery, and what that clothing does is the word used of the day of the Son of Man. The text does not state the link. What the figures at the tomb are called differs across the books: Matt 28:2, 5 has one ἄγγελος κυρίου, an angel of the Lord; Mark 16:5 one νεανίσκος, a young man; John 20:12 ἀγγέλους δύο, two angels; and Luke 24:4 ἄνδρες δύο, two men — neither the number nor the name is the same in all four. Yet at 24:23 what the women reported is ἀγγέλων ὀπτασίαν, a vision of angels, so within the text they are named again later. ὀπτασία stands twice in the four Gospels and both are Luke's, the other being 1:22, the vision Zechariah saw in the sanctuary. ἔμφοβος, afraid, stands twice in the four Gospels and both are in this chapter (24:5, 24:37).
Rendering options · 2
Basis That the four books differ in number and name is the datum. And the text itself calls them angels at 24:23, so there is no call for the translation to do it first — set v.4 beside v.23 and it happens within the text. The two words stand twice each in this book, so splitting the renderings loses the links. Among the fourteen versions surveyed not one turns them into angels — the number differs across the books, yet all read two men. Six keep ἐσθής the same word as at 23:11 (KRV, RNKSV, YLT, ASV, NLT, WEB); only one, LSV, keeps ἀστράπτω the same as at 17:24, and that same LSV splits ἐσθής — no version holds both links.
Basis Since v.23 says angels, saying so at v.4 reads more easily; and one word for Herod's robe and the tomb's clothing sits oddly.
Rejected The oddness is the datum: that the robe of mockery and the clothing at the tomb are one word is a fact confirmable only within this book, and splitting them makes it unconfirmable. And turning v.4 into angels leaves the renaming at v.23 with nothing to do — the translation does in advance what the text does for itself.
Lost in translation
Verses 1-5 say that the subject is women by word-form alone — φέρουσαι, εἰσελθοῦσαι, ἀπορεῖσθαι αὐτάς, κλινουσῶν, ἐμφόβων … αὐτῶν are all feminine, and the names do not come until v.10. A Greek reader therefore knows from v.1 who went to the tomb. English has no way to mark it: they carries no gender, and putting in the women is not a word-form but a noun the text does not have. This edition supplies no persons before v.10, so the gender is invisible for those nine verses. Of the nine locales five carry it, and English is not one of them.
The living one among the dead — the question is this book's own.
Has been raised stands in the passive — the text does not say who raised him. In Galilee — this book has them remember what he said there; Mark 16:7 sends them to Galilee to see him.
Sinful men — the wording of 9:44 and 18:32 is put back into the angels' mouths.
They remembered his words — the remembering is the whole of the message.
To the eleven and to all the rest — the circle is wider than the eleven.
Mary of James — the Greek says only “of James”, which may be his mother, wife or daughter. The writer names the women only now.
Nonsense renders λῆρος (lēros), used once in the four Gospels — a medical word for the raving of the sick.
The manuscripts are divided over this verse — the base text marks it as doubtful, and this edition keeps it with that mark in view. Of the twenty-five versions this edition compares, none marks it.
Why this rendering
Luke.24.12 Observation
Syntactic observation
The base text prints the whole of this verse inside variant marks ⸂⸃, without the square brackets used at 22:19b-20 and at 24:40, 51 and 52. So the base text this edition has worked through marks three grades: no mark, variant marks only, and square brackets as well. And the two words this verse carries overlap with John 20. παρακύπτω, to stoop and look in, stands three times in the four Gospels — Luke 24:12, John 20:5 and 20:11 — and ὀθόνιον, linen cloths, five times — Luke 24:12, John 19:40, 20:5, 20:6 and 20:7. So one verse of Luke overlaps with John alone in both words; neither stands in Matthew or Mark. And the verse interlocks with 24:24, where those going to Emmaus say that some of those with us went to the tomb, taking this verse up again. The λῆρος of the verse before, nonsense, is a hapax in the four Gospels, and ἀπιστέω, to disbelieve, stands four times — Mark 16:11, 16:16 and Luke 24:11, 24:41 — that is, only in Mark's longer ending and in this chapter.
Rendering options · 2
Basis The base text prints it (DECISIONS C1). And here there is a further ground inside the text: 24:24 takes this verse up, so dropping v.12 leaves v.24 pointing at nothing. That it is marked is recorded outside. All fourteen versions surveyed print v.12, and none brackets it. At 23:17 five diverged and at 23:34 one (NET) kept the mark; here there is no divergence at all.
Basis It carries a mark and so stands lower, and the overlap with John 20 may itself be a sign of later entry.
Rejected The base text marks this verse and 24:40 differently — brackets at v.40 and none here — and that difference is the editors' judgement, which evening out erases. And which side of an overlap came first is not for this edition to decide; only that they overlap is recorded.
Lost in translation
πρὸς αὑτόν reads either to his own home or to himself, that is, inwardly. The first attaches to ἀπῆλθεν, the second to θαυμάζων, and the Greek does not settle which. All nine locales must choose, and that a choice was made is invisible to the reader. The versions divide too — of the twenty-six comparison versions carried here, eleven read to his home (YLT, ASV, WEB, KOR1910, the Elberfelder and others), eleven read to himself (Vulgate secum, KJV, BSB, the Synodal, the Peshitta and others), and four do not render πρὸς αὑτόν at all (Luther, Reina-Valera 1909, Taishō 1917, Meiji 1887). They split down the middle. This edition has chosen to his own home.
Stadia names a length, so it stands as a measure. Emmaus — its place is not known. This road stands only in this book.
Conversing (ὁμιλέω, homileō) — the word behind “homily”.
Jesus himself drew near — the writer tells the reader who it is before the two know.
Their eyes were held — the passive does not say by whom, and verse 31 opens them the same way.
Gloomy-faced (σκυθρωπός, skythrōpos) is used in the four Gospels only here and at Matthew 6:16.
Sojourning (παροικέω, paroikeō) is used once in the four Gospels — living as a stranger in a place.
Mighty in deed and word — the two are put in that order.
Our chief priests — the two count themselves among the people whose rulers did it.
Redeem (λυτρόομαι, lytroomai) shares its root with the ransom-word of Mark 10:45, and this edition keeps “redeem” and “ransom” together.
Astounded (ἐξίστημι, existēmi) — one of six amazement-verbs this edition keeps apart.
Who say he is alive — the two report the report, and do not vouch for it.
But him they did not see — the sentence turns on the last words.
Slow in heart (βραδὺς τῇ καρδίᾳ) keeps the Greek phrase.
Was it not necessary — the “must” of 9:22 is put as a question.
Interpreted renders διερμηνεύω (diermēneuō), the verb behind “hermeneutics”. The writer does not report a word of what he said.
Made as though to go further — the Greek says he acted as one going on, and the text does not explain it.
Pressed him hard (παραβιάζομαι, parabiazomai) — a forcing word, used in the four Gospels only here and at Acts.
Taking the bread he blessed it — the words of 9:16, and now the guest is the host.
He became unseen renders ἄφαντος (aphantos) — one word, built on the same root as “manifest”; every locale of this edition must spell it out. Used once in the four Gospels.
Why this rendering
Luke.24.31 Observation
Syntactic observation
διανοίγω, to open, comes three times in this chapter, and what is opened differs each time — at v.31 the eyes, at v.32 the scriptures, at v.45 the mind (νοῦς). The verb stands five times in the four Gospels: once in Mark (7:34, Ephphatha, be opened) and four times in Luke, three of the four in this chapter and the other at 2:23, every male that opens the womb. So the places it stands in this book are a womb, eyes, scriptures and a mind. And the recognising falls at the breaking of bread: the build of v.30, λαβὼν … εὐλόγησεν καὶ κλάσας ἐπεδίδου, matches 9:16, the feeding of the five thousand, and v.35 names it κλάσις τοῦ ἄρτου, the breaking of the bread, where κλάσις is a hapax in the four Gospels. ἄφαντος, vanished from sight, is also a hapax in the four Gospels. Nearly all the words of the Emmaus road stand only here: ὁμιλέω, to converse (24:14, 15); ἀντιβάλλω, to exchange; παροικέω, to sojourn; ὀρθρινός, at dawn; ἀνόητος, foolish; βραδύς, slow; διερμηνεύω, to interpret; προσποιέομαι, to make as if; παραβιάζομαι, to urge strongly; ἑσπέρα, evening; ἀθροίζω, to gather — each a hapax in the four Gospels or confined to this chapter. σκυθρωπός, gloomy, stands twice, the other being Matt 6:16, do not be gloomy-faced like the hypocrites when you fast. And the ἐξηγέομαι of v.35, to relate, stands twice in the four Gospels, the other being John 1:18, the one at the Father's side has expounded him.
Rendering options · 2
Basis One verb comes three times in one chapter and only what is opened changes; that build shows only if the rendering is the same. Rendering it as made to understand or made clear at each place turns the three into different sayings. The versions split seven to seven. Seven bind all four places with one word (YLT, ASV, KJV, LSV, ESV, MSG, WEB). The seven that separate do not separate in the same place: BSB and NIV2011 hold the three in ch. 24 together and turn only 2:23 into firstborn; NASB, NET and NLT part only at 24:32, where they read explain; and KRV and RNKSV part at both 31 and 32. So all fourteen read open at 24:45, and scatter at the two places before it.
Basis Opening the scriptures sits oddly in Korean and English, and the sense shifts a little at each place.
Rejected The oddness is the build — opening the scriptures is not ordinary Greek either, and its unordinariness comes precisely from being the same word as opening eyes and opening a mind. Rendering each by sense leaves no way to confirm the three are one verb.
Lost in translation
ἄφαντος is built by negating the root of φαίνω, to appear, and the same root stands in this chapter at v.11 as ἐφάνησαν, their words appeared to them as nonsense. So within chapter 24 the way the women's report appeared and the way he became un-appearing run off one root. The chapter's word for seeing is another one — the ὁράω of vv.23, 24, 34 and 39. All nine locales render toward not being seen — 보이지 않게 되다, became unseen, tornou-se invisível, 不见了, стал невидим, 見えなくなられた, wurde unsichtbar, devint invisible, se hizo invisible. All four keep the became of ἐγένετο, but the root lands on ὁράω’s side rather than on v.11's. The tie to v.11 survives in no locale.
κλάσας (having broken) in v.30 and κλάσις (the breaking) in v.35 are participle and noun off one root: v.35 names the moment of recognition with v.30's own word. English keeps the root as it stands — broke and breaking. Of the nine locales the link survives in eight.
Our heart burning within us — the Greek has one heart for the two of them.
That same hour — they walk back the sixty stadia at night.
Has appeared to Simon — only this book records it, and the appearance itself is never told.
In the breaking of the bread — the phrase names the whole meal by its gesture.
The base text does not have “and said to them, ‘Peace to you’” here, though the versions this edition compares all print it. The omission is followed, as at verse 3.
A spirit (πνεῦμα, pneuma) — this book says spirit, where Mark 6:49 says ghost.
Reasonings is the word of 5:22 and 9:46.
Flesh and bones — this book says bones; John 20:27 speaks of the marks of the nails.
The square brackets are the base text's own mark — the manuscripts are divided over this verse. Of the twenty-five versions this edition compares, none marks it, and even the two that bracket 24:51 and 24:52 leave this one unmarked.
Why this rendering
Luke.24.40 Observation
Syntactic observation
There are three sets of square brackets in this chapter — the whole of v.40; καὶ ἀνεφέρετο εἰς τὸν οὐρανόν, and he was carried up into heaven, in v.51; and προσκυνήσαντες αὐτόν, having done obeisance to him, in v.52. Counting 22:19b-20, the base text this edition has worked through has four bracketed passages, and all four are in Luke 22 and 24. The double brackets ⟦ ⟧ around Mark 16:9-20 and the shorter ending are a different mark — those enclose the standing of a whole ending, these four enclose a single sentence or phrase. All three here fall at the chapter's close, on the bodily appearing and the being carried up. What lies inside the brackets matters: the showing of the hands and feet, the being carried into heaven, and the disciples' worship. Take the three away and chapter 24 still has him tell them to handle him and eat fish (vv.39 and 41-43 carry no mark), but the ascending remains only as he parted from them (διέστη). διΐστημι stands twice in the four Gospels and both are Luke's, the other being 22:59, when about an hour had passed. ἀναφέρω, to carry up, stands three times: Matt 17:1 and Mark 9:2 are leading them up a mountain, and the third is here, inside the brackets. The words of v.39 stand only here as well: ψηλαφάω, to handle, is a hapax in the four Gospels, and ὀστέον, bone, stands three times — Matt 23:27 (the bones in whitewashed tombs), Luke 24:39, and John 19:36 (not a bone shall be broken). βρώσιμος, eatable, and ὀπτός, broiled, are hapax in the four Gospels too.
Rendering options · 2
Basis The base text prints them so (DECISIONS C1), and this edition already took that road at 22:19b-20 and does not change direction here. Where the brackets fall is itself the datum — that all four cluster in the two chapters of passion and resurrection can be seen only if the marking is carried across. Among the fourteen versions surveyed not one keeps brackets at all three places. But here something differs from 22:19b-20: KRV and RNKSV do keep brackets at 24:51b and 24:52a. Across the twelve chapters surveyed (Luke 13-24) these are the only two places either Korean version brackets anything, and both match the base text's brackets down to the words. Yet they do not bracket 24:40 — of the three places the base text bracketed, they follow two. NASB and LSV also use brackets, but for words they supply (LSV reserving double brackets for text it doubts), and at these three places they carry neither mark.
Basis Brackets interrupt reading, and these are widely read as text.
Rejected Dropping them erases a doubt the editors marked and hides where the four cluster. This edition exists to publish the grounds of its choices, so there is no reason not to carry across a doubt the base text states itself. Not one of the thirteen versions examined keeps the brackets — this edition stands alone here, as it already did in chapter 22.
Lost in translation
διΐστημι stands twice in the four Gospels, both in Luke: at 22:59 an hour had come between, at 24:51 he came between himself and them, that is, parted from them. One verb covers a gap opening in time and a gap opening between persons, and of the nine locales only one has a word that holds both — English is not it. English renders it differently in each place, recorded as a divergence. All twenty-six comparison versions divide it too — an hour *passed* at 22:59, he *parted* at 24:51.
The base text uses three grades: no mark, variant marks ⸂⸃, and square brackets [ ]. This edition carries the brackets across but not the variant marks. So 24:12, which is marked, and 24:39, which is marked, look to the reader exactly like unmarked verses. The middle grade disappears. What is left of it is this record.
Did not believe for joy — the writer names the reason, which is not doubt.
Broiled fish — only this book has him eat, and it is the proof offered.
He ate before them — three words, and the whole argument of verse 39 rests on them.
The law of Moses and the prophets and the psalms — this three-part naming of the scriptures stands only here in the four Gospels.
Opened their mind renders διανοίγω (dianoigō) — the same verb as of the scriptures at verse 32 and of the eyes at verse 31, and this edition keeps one rendering for all three.
Thus it is written — no place is named for the quotation.
Forgiveness (ἄφεσις, aphesis) — this edition keeps one word for all eight places in the four Gospels.
You are witnesses — the Greek is bare: “you are witnesses of these things”.
Clothed with power — the Greek verb is the one for putting on a garment. The word order puts “from on high” after “power”, and English cannot keep that order. Recorded as a loss.
Why this rendering
Luke.24.49 Observation
Syntactic observation
ὕψος, height, stands twice in the four Gospels and both are Luke's — one at the book's opening and one at its close. At 1:78 it is ἀνατολὴ ἐξ ὕψους, a dawn from on high, inside Zechariah's song; at 24:49 ἐξ ὕψους δύναμιν, power from on high. Even the phrase is the same. And where the book ends interlocks with where it began: at 1:8-10 Zechariah is inside the sanctuary and the people pray outside, while 24:53 has the disciples inside the temple continually, blessing God. The words differ (ναός at 1:9, ἱερόν at 24:53), but the place is the same. The three members of v.44 stand only here as well: the law of Moses and the prophets and the psalms named side by side occurs nowhere else in the four Gospels. At v.47 μετάνοια, repentance, stands beside ἄφεσις, release — a pairing that already came at Luke 3:3, of John the Baptist. And the ὄντως of v.34 stands four times in the four Gospels, Luke's two being 23:47 (the centurion at the cross) and here — as recorded at Luke 23, the two places the adverb stands in this book are the cross and the resurrection.
Rendering options · 2
Basis The Greek phrase is the same. What this edition does is show where a word stands elsewhere in the book, and here the first chapter and the last are joined — splitting the renderings loses the joint. Twelve of the fourteen render the two places alike — ten with from on high, KRV and RNKSV with 위로부터. NLT reads from heaven in both: a different word, but the link is kept. Only two break it, and for different reasons — NIV2011 writes from heaven at 1:78 and from on high at 24:49, while MSG drops the phrase altogether at 1:78.
Basis Power from on high sits a little oddly, and what is meant is from heaven.
Rejected From heaven mixes it with οὐρανός, which actually stands in this chapter at v.51, so the two words could not be told apart. And splitting it from 1:78 loses that the book's two ends are bound by one phrase.
Lost in translation
The Greek runs ἕως οὗ ἐνδύσησθε ἐξ ὕψους δύναμιν, putting from on high before power: where it comes from is heard before what comes. English puts power first outright — power from on high. Of the nine locales six invert the order and the other three keep it only as a modifier, which carries no weight of its own: in none of the nine does the order of emphasis stand as it stands in Greek.
εὐλογέω stands four times in this chapter — over the bread (30), over the disciples, twice (50, 51), and over God (53). In Greek all four are one verb. English keeps all four as one word (bless), and the same word stands at 1:64, 2:34 and 9:16, so nothing has to be given up here: both the four of this chapter and the thread from the book's first chapter to its last verse (1:64, Zechariah blessing God, to 24:53, they blessing God) stay visible at once. Of the nine locales six hold all four; three must split, and there the four of this chapter scatter.
As far as toward Bethany — the Greek is awkward, and this edition keeps the awkwardness.
The square brackets are the base text's own mark — the manuscripts are divided over “And he was carried up into heaven”. Only two of the twenty-five versions this edition compares mark it, and neither marks 24:40.
The brackets again — “having done obeisance to him” is doubtful in the same way. Of the four bracketed places in this book (22:19b–20, 24:40, 24:51, 24:52), no version this edition compares marks all four.
Blessing God — the book ends in the temple where it began at 1:9, and on the word Zechariah could not say.