Luke 7: 11-17 I propose a biblical analysis with the following steps: a study of each Greek word of the gospel passage, followed by an analysis of the structure of the narrative and its context, to which is added a comparison of parallel or similar passages. At the end of this analysis and as a conclusion, I propose to summarize what the evangelist meant, and I end up with some suggestions on how this Gospel could shed light on our current situation.
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egeneto (it happened) |
We have here the Greek verb ginomai which means:
to be, to become, to be born, to come into existence; to come into existence refers to an event, to something that happens. It is a very frequent verb in the gospels and Acts, but Luke is particularly fond of it: Mt = 76; Mk = 54; Lk = 132; Jn = 50; Acts = 110. Here, the verb is in the aorist tense, a Greek tense which refers to the past. It is a bit like our introductions to a story: "Once upon a time...". We should not be surprised, because the gospels are stories. Here again, let us note Luke's infatuation with ginomai in the aorist, i.e. egeneto: Mt 13; Mk = 18; Lk = 45; Jn = 14; Acts = 41.
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Verb ginomai in the Gospels-Acts | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
hexēs (next) |
The adverb hexēs means: in succession, after, the next day, next. It is used to
describe a sequence of events following one another. In the whole New Testament, Luke is the only one to use it: Mt = 0; Mk = 0; Lk = 2; Jn = 0; Acts = 3. In the Septuagint, the Greek translation of the Old Testament, this word rarely appears. Since it is found three times in Acts, especially in the "I" passage where Luke seems to be quoting from his travel notes (Acts 27:18), it can be seen as a feature of Luke's pen. The same is true of its twin kathexēs (with order, successively, next): Mt = 0; Mk = 0; Lk = 2; Jn = 0; Acts = 3, which is totally absent from the Septuagint. It has been translated by "then". But after what? In the previous scene, we were in Capernaum where Jesus healed the slave of a centurion.
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en tō eporeuthē (in the he went) |
The preposition en (in, on, at) followed by the dative article tō (the), then by a verb is a known construction in the Greek world. It is used to introduce the context of an event by specifying what action is taking place. Most of the time the verb introduced by en tō is conjugated in the infinitive; a typical case is Luke 2, 6: Egeneto de en tō einai autous ekei, i.e. it arrived in (en) the (tō) being (infinitive) them there (Joseph and Mary), which is translated in good English by: Now it happened (egeneto), as (en tō) they were there (in Bethlehem). When we look at all the gospels and the Acts of the Apostles, we see that the en tō + verb construction belongs primarily to Luke's style: Mt = 2; Mk = 2; Lk = 28; Jn = 0; Acts = 3. Let us make a brief review of its use by the 3rd gospel.
Of the 28 instances of the en tō + verb construction in Luke, 19 times the construction is introduced by egeneto, followed by en tō with an infinitive verb. Of course, in good French, we can't translate this construction as it is; en tō is often translated as "as", and the infinitive as an imperfect verb, or "when" and a past tense verb. Let's take a closer look.
As can be seen, this construction allows Luke to establish the context of a story. There are seven instances in Luke where in tō is still followed by an infinitive verb, but not introduced by egeneto. The emphasis then seems less on presenting the context of a narrative, but on determining the timing of an action or the existence of an action, so that en tō could be translated as when, at the time when, due to the fact that.
Finally, two cases stand out from the others by the absence of an infinitive verb. And this is found only in Luke. Yet these two cases are introduced by egeneto. Why didn't we use the infinitive as we would have expected? It is possible that the infinitive here is too imprecise a form about the time of an action and would not have conveyed the idea that the action is past and over (7:11) or still going on (8:1), unless Luke is dependent on a source he intends to respect.
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polin (town) |
The word polis (city, town) is common in the gospels, but Luke outshines all the others in its use: Mt = 27; Mk = 8; Lk = 40; Jn = 8; Acts = 43. This probably reflects his effort to update the gospel message: his audience is probably very urban, whereas Jesus' ministry took place in villages, small and large. A typical example is Lk 8:1, which echoes Mk 6:6 (And he went about the villages round about, teaching) by writing: he went by city and village, preaching; Luke probably insisted on adding city so that his audience would better identify with the narrative.
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kaloumenēn (called) |
Again, with the verb kaleō (to call, to name, to invite, to summon) we are faced with a favorite expression of Luke: Mt = 24; Mk = 4; Lk = 44; Jn = 2; Acts = 18. But there is more. He is the only one to use it in the present passive participle, in the sense of 'called', to designate a person or a place: Mt = 0; Mk = 0; Lk = 5; Jn = 0; Acts = 6.
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Verb kaleō in the Gospels-Acts | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Nain (Nain) |
This is the only mention of this village in the entire Bible. The name is probably a translation of the Hebrew: nāʾîn, which would mean a place of pasture. This village is located in southern Galilee, about 4 miles southwest of Mount Tabor, and almost 31 kilometers south of Capernaum (see map).
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syneporeuonto (they were going with) |
The verb symporeuomai (to go with, to walk with, to gather) is formed from two words, the verb poreuō (to walk, to make way, to go) preceded by the preposition syn (with, in the company of, at the same time as, with the help of). Except for one passage in Mark (10:1), Luke is alone in using this verb in the entire New Testament (7:11; 14:25; 24:15): Mt = 0; Mk = 1; Lk = 3; Jn = 0; Acts = 0. Moreover, the verb poreuomai itself is in frequent use by him: Mt = 29; Mk = 3; Lk = 52; Jn = 16; Acts = 37. The ministry of Jesus, especially its last part, is presented as a long journey to Jerusalem, the place of his death and resurrection. It is also for him the symbol of the Christian life, i.e. a long journey following him. That is why it is while walking that he explains in Lk 14:25 the demands of the life of following him, and in Lk 24:15 that he meets the disciples of Emmaus and interprets the Scriptures.
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mathētai (disciples) |
The word disciple means to be a student of a teacher. John the Baptist had disciples as did the Pharisees (5:33; 7:18). On a few occasions, Luke suggests that the disciples of Jesus refer to a very broad group of supporters (6:17; 19:37). But from this rather large pool he chooses twelve (6:13) whom he names apostles, i.e. sent ones, and later seventy-two whom he will send out to preach two by two (10:1). Of course, this group is taught by Jesus (8:9; 9:18, 43; 10:23; 11:1; 12:1.22; 16:1; 17:22; 20:45). But they are called to follow him physically, to borrow his ways and to do the same things as he did (5:30; 6:1, 20.40; 7:11; 9:40.54; 22:39.45). But above all, they must be capable of certain actions about which Jesus is very clear: to distance themselves from their family and be ready to renounce their own life (14: 26), to carry their cross (14: 27), to renounce all their possessions (14, 33). Finally, let us note that Jesus delegates to the group of disciples a number of tasks: to lead him in a boat (8:22), to feed the crowd (9:14-16), to fetch a colt for the entry into Jerusalem (19:29), to prepare the room for the last supper (22:11) (On this subject, see Meier).
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ochlos (crowd) |
A large (polys) crowd (ochlos) walked with Jesus, Luke tells us. Of the 41 times the word crowd appears (Mt = 50; Mk = 38; Lk = 41; Jn = 20; Acts = 22) in Luke, 7 times he stresses the adjective "large". Moreover, 16 times the word is in the plural: the crowds. If we ask the question: did Jesus really attract large crowds during his ministry? We should probably answer: yes (see J. P. Meier). In some ways, Luke's gospel is not original in the role it has the crowd play, except in one respect: he is the only one to write that "there was a large crowd of his disciples there, and a great multitude of people from all Judea and Jerusalem and the coast of Tyre and Sidon" (6:17); he is also the only one to write that "that his disciples as well as a large crowd were walking with him" (7:11; see also 14:25). In his case, the boundary between the crowd of well-wishers and his disciples is more nebulous. First, by speaking of a "great crowd of disciples" he means a much larger group than the twelve. Second, by attributing to them the same action as the disciples, i.e., walking with him, he gives them a similar identity. Let's think of people in this crowd, such as a Zacchaeus, whose lives will be changed by Jesus. Let us conclude with a brief analysis of the crowd in Luke that allows us to establish four categories.
Note that John the Baptist also attracted crowds (3: 7.10) Let us conclude our analysis of v. 1 by saying that Luke sets up a very large audience made up of the crowd and his disciples who are all following in Jesus' footsteps and preparing to be taught. |
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v. 12 And as he drew near to the gate of the city, behold, the dead body of the only begotten of a widow mother was brought to the ground, accompanied by a great multitude from the city.
Literally: Then as he drew near (ēngisen) to the gate (pylē) of the town, and behold (kai idou) was also carried out (exekomizeto) a having died (tethnēkōs) only begotten (monogenēs) son (huios) of the mother (mētri) of him and her she was a widow (chēra). And a crowd of the town, large (hikanos), was with her. |
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ēngisen (he drew near) |
With engizō (to approach, to draw near, to be close to), we continue with Luke's favorite vocabulary: Mt = 7; Mk = 3; Lk = 18; Jn = 0; Acts = 6). Seven times he uses this verb to describe the action of Jesus approaching a place or someone: he approaches Nain (7:12), Jericho (18:35), the descent from the Mount of Olives (19:37), Bethpage and Bethany (19:29), Jerusalem (19:41), Emmaus (24:28), two disciples (24:15). Luke thus seems to introduce an important event by giving us the context.
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pylē (gate) |
Contrary to what one might think, pylē is very infrequent and occurs only here in Luke's gospel: Mt = 4; Mk = 0; Lk = 1; Jn = 0; Acts = 4). In Matthew, the word has a symbolic meaning (narrow is the door that leads to life, the gates of Hades). In Luke, the word refers to physical doors: here, the gate of the village of Naim, which must therefore have had a wall, in the Acts of the Apostles, there is the Beautiful Gate of the Temple where an impotent man was begging from birth (3: 10), there are the gates of the city of Damascus that were guarded to arrest Paul (9: 24), there is the iron gate of the prison in Jerusalem where Peter is (12:10), and finally there is the gate of the city of Philippi in Greece which the Christians passed through to go and pray by the river (16:13). In the rest of the New Testament, only the letter to the Hebrews refers to a gate, that of the city of Jerusalem, to indicate that Jesus was crucified outside the gate (13:12). What information should we retain about the gate of a city? First, it presupposes that the city has a wall; it cannot be a simple hamlet. Secondly, it is an obligatory place of passage, and therefore it is there that the beggars stood. Moreover, it was outside the gate that the dead were buried or, as in Jerusalem, crucifixions took place. In short, the presence of a funeral procession at the gate of life is quite logical.
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kai idou (and behold) |
The expression idou (behold) is very frequent in Luke and Matthew: Mt = 62; Mk = 7; Lk = 57; Jn = 4; Acts = 23. And here we have the variant kai idou (and behold) found only in Matthew and Luke: Mt = 28; Mk = 0; Lk = 26; Jn = 0; Acts = 8. This observation calls for two comments: we are in the world of narrative, and this expression invites the reader to pay attention to the coming event; secondly, there is a kinship in the linguistic universe of the Greek world of Matthew and Luke, which brings justification to the proposition that the writing of their gospel belongs to the same period.
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exekomizeto (he was carried out) |
There is little to say about this word except that it is unique in the whole Bible. The word originally means: to put in a safe place. When we are faced with a unique word, two hypotheses are possible: either the unique situation commands a unique word, or Luke inserts elements of a narrative that he did not compose. We do not have sufficient information to make a decision.
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tethnēkōs (having died) |
The verb is not very frequent: Mt = 1; Mk = 1; Lk = 2; Jn = 2; Acts = 2. In Matthew it refers to the death of Herod, in Mark to Jesus, in John to Lazarus and Jesus, in Acts to Paul and Jesus. But in Luke it refers to the death of a widow's son, and in the next chapter to the daughter of the synagogue ruler. Also it is worth pointing out two things about these two examples: in both cases the verb is in the perfect tense to signal a totally past action, i.e. the person is really dead, then we have in the first case a man, and in the second case a woman, which fits with Luke's effort to have a fair balance of scenes with a man and those with a woman.
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monogenēs (only begotten) |
Only two evangelists use monogenēs (unique begotten): Mt = 0; Mk = 0; Lk = 3; Jn = 4; Acts = 0). But we are in two different universes: in John this word refers only to the situation of Jesus, uniquely begotten of the Father (1: 14.18; 3: 16.18), whereas in Luke it designates either the only son of a parent (7: 12; 9: 38), or the only daughter of a father (8: 42). Moreover, in the two accounts he takes from Mark (8:42; 9:38), it is he who adds the mention that the child is unique. Why does he do this? Probably to emphasize the dramatic element and thus the compassion of Jesus.
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huios (son) |
We will not be surprised to learn of the predominant place of a son in Jewish society, and therefore in the gospels: Mt = 89; Mk = 35; Lk = 77; Jn = 55; Acts = 21), compared to a daughter: Mt = 8; Mk = 7; Lk = 9; Jn = 1; Acts = 3). But these numbers are somewhat skewed by the very fact that the gospels focus on Jesus, who is a man. For example, of the 77 uses of "son" in Luke, 47 refer to Jesus as either the son of Joseph or Mary (5), the son of David (3), the son of the Most High God (14), the son of man (25). In Luke, the word "son" refers 18 times to a biological being from a father. We do not know the age of this son in our account, and we do not know if this widow had daughters, but the context suggests that he was her sole breadwinner.
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Noun huios in the Gospels-Acts | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
mētri (mother) |
What prompts the action of Jesus is a mother. The comparison we just made between son and daughter also applies to the comparison between father and mother, i.e. 293 mentions of "father" in the Gospels-Acts, for 75 mentions of "mother", more specifically: Mt = 26; Mk = 17; Lk = 17; Jn = 11; Acts = 4. But again, the very fact that God is called "Father" skews the comparison (for example, 75 times in John). In Luke, because of the place of Mary in his gospel, especially in the infancy narrative, of his 17 uses of "mother", 7 refer to Mary, 5 to a particular mother as here in our narrative, and 5 to the mother in general.
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Noun mētēr in the New Testament | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
chēra (widow) |
Luke gives some importance to widows: Mt = 0; Mk = 3; Lk = 9; Jn = 0; Acts = 3. Of his 9 uses, 3 are taken from Mark, but 6 are particular to him. And in the Acts of the Apostles he emphasizes the place of widows in the Christian community (6:1; 9:39.41). Given the fact that women had no social status in Jewish society, the absence of a man made their situation even more precarious financially. Thus, the early Christian communities provided for the needs of widows.
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hikanos (large) |
The word hikanos means literally: sufficient, in the sense of sufficient capacity or ability. It is a word found especially in Luke: Mt = 3; Mk = 3; Lk = 9; Jn = 0; Acts = 18. However, this word has several different nuances:
In short, there is a nuance between polys, the usual term for many, and hikanos, which has more of a sense of a certain number or a significant number. In Nain, there is a large crowd, but not a considerable one. |
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syn (with) |
The word syn (with) is worth mentioning simply to point out that this preposition is widely used by Luke and represents a feature of his style: Mt = 4; Mk = 6; Lk = 23; Jn = 3; Acts = 51.
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v. 13 When he saw her, the Lord was moved to the bowels and said to her, "Stop crying."
Literally: And having seen (idōn) her the Lord (kyrios) was move with compassion (esplanchnisthē) upon her and said to her, Do not weep (klaie). |
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idōn (having seen) |
The verb "to see" is very frequent in the gospels: Mt = 76; Mk = 60; Lk = 81; Jn = 83; Acts = 72. It is understandable, it is the most usual action of daily life. However, our account specifies that it is Jesus who sees, and from this we can expect a particular event: looking is not neutral with Jesus. This is the case for Luke. Of the 81 uses of the word horaō, nine have Jesus as the subject. And when we consider the nine instances where Jesus is the subject of the act of looking, we note that two things follow:
Thus, when the evangelist writes that Jesus "sees", it is to be expected that an action will follow. |
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kyrios (Lord) |
The term kyrios (lord, master, owner, husband) is well known to us, and in fact it is found almost everywhere in the Gospels and Acts: Mt = 80; Mk = 18; Lk = 104; Jn = 52; Acts = 106; 1Jn = 0; 2Jn = 0; 3Jn = 0, and in a particular way under the pen of Luke (210 times). On the meaning of the word, we will refer to the Glossary. Let's summarize what it says by saying that originally the word simply means "master." It was the Jews who, in their Greek translation of the Bible, used kyrios to render the Hebrew ădōnāy, master, this word which was used to avoid saying: Yahweh, that name forbidden to be uttered. After the death-resurrection of Jesus, Christian communities will understand the exaltation of Jesus in the light of Psalm 110, which speaks of the kyrios God who invites the king-messiah kyrios to sit at his right hand. Thus, God the Father is called kyrios, Jesus exalted is called kyrios, and even the Holy Spirit will be called kyrios (see 1 Cor 12:4-6).
When we examine Luke's gospel carefully, we note that kyrios is given a multitude of meanings: from the adjective (6:5: The Son of Man is lord (kyrios) of the Sabbath) to the term for God himself (37 times; e.g. 1:16: and he will bring many sons of Israel back to the Lord (kyrios), their God), to titles attributed to Jesus himself (40 times; e.g., 5:8: "Depart from me, Lord (kyrios), for I am a sinful man! " ), or titles to indicate a social role, such as owner or teacher, and which our Bibles translate as "master" and "teacher" (24 times; e.g., 19:33: And as they were untying the colt, his masters (kyrios) said to them, "Why are you untying this colt?" ), not to mention instances where the word seems to refer more to the messiah (2 times, when referring to Psalm 110; 20:44: David therefore calls him Lord (kyrios); how then is he his son?" ). Thus, it is not a technical, univocal, or specific term. Further insight into kyrios in Luke is gained when we ask the question: on whose lips does the term appear? Thus, we can establish a grid where five categories can group the source of the word kyrios: the disciples of Jesus, Scripture, Jesus himself, Luke as narrator, a character in the gospel (such as Elizabeth or Mary or Zechariah). All five of these sources use kyrios to refer to Jesus, or God, or master, or teacher or some other reality (as messiah or as an adjective). Here are the statistics.
What does this grid tell us? Luke, as narrator, uses the title kyrios almost equally to designate sometimes God, sometimes Jesus. We must recognize here a certain anachronism in speaking of Jesus as Lord during his ministry, when he will receive that title after his exaltation. But let us not forget that we are around the year 80, therefore 50 years after the death of Jesus, and that Luke is addressing a community of believers who have integrated the title of Lord in their reference to Jesus. In the same vein, there is anachronism in having in the mouth of some characters (12 times), such as Elizabeth, the title of Lord to speak of Jesus, when he was not yet born, addressing Mary: "And how is it given to me that the mother of my Lord (kyrios) comes to me? » (1: 43). We have the perception of things in the year 80, not in the time when it happened. The same can be said of the title Lord in the mouth of the disciples (11 times). But the title Lord appears in Jesus' own mouth in reference to himself (4 times): "And if any man shall ask you, Why do you untie him? You will say this: It is because the Lord needs it." » (19:31; see also 6:46; 13:25). Again, this is the year 80, and it is a community of believers who are listening to this gospel. Otherwise, the title kyrios appears in Jesus' mouth to refer primarily to the householder (23 times), especially in his parables (e.g., 12:36), except once as he begins to pray to God (10:21: I bless you, Father, Lord (kyrios) of heaven and earth). Of course, for the Scriptures the title Lord is reserved for God alone. Here, in v. 13, when Luke writes: "the Lord", he addresses us as believers, we who believe in Jesus exalted to his Father. |
Noun kyrios in the Gospels-Acts | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
esplanchnisthē (he was moved with compassion) |
The term splanchnizomai (to have bowels, to have pity on, to be moved with compassion for) is infrequent throughout the New Testament: Mt = 5; Mk = 4; Lk = 3; Jn = 0; Acts = 0; it appears only in the gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke. In the Old Testament, it appears only in the 2nd book of Maccabees (2 Mac 6, 8), but in the active form with the meaning of eating entrails or meat. The three passages in which the verb appears in Luke are his own and follow the same structure: 1) the person sees; 2) he is moved in his heart; 3) he intervenes.
Of course, Luke did not invent this term, which he takes from Mark, who uses it above all to speak of Jesus who has pity on the crowd. But the way he integrates it into three particularly strong scenes allows him to emphasize it and to make it a typical behavior of Jesus and of the Christian: Jesus in front of a widow who is socially destitute with the loss of her son, a Samaritan in front of a stranger who has been the target of evil-doers, a father in front of his son who had cut the ties. For Luke, it is clear that we have here three pictures of God and Jesus, and a model for the Christian. |
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klaie (weep) |
It is said of the Gospel of Luke that it is a gospel of joy. It should be added that it is also the gospel of tears with the frequency of the verb klaiō (weep): Mt = 2; Mk = 4; Lk = 11; Jn = 8; Acts = 2. For there is a dichotomy in him between laughing and weeping as seen in the discourse of the Beatitudes: "Happy, you who weep (klaiō) now, for you shall laugh" (6:21); "Woe, you who laugh now! for you shall know mourning and weep (klaiō) " (6:25). In no other gospel do we find so many scenes around tears; one could have the impression that John comes close (8 mentions), but in fact in him two scenes monopolize almost all the tears, the story of the raising of Lazarus (Jn 11:31-33) and the story of the empty tomb (Jn 20:11-15). In Luke, of the 11 passages where klaiō appears, 7 are his own. We must therefore assume that he wants them to play an important role, that of the reflection of a dimension of life.
Thus, Luke's "don't weep" fits in with his theological plan where all is not lost, where we must take the time to accept weeping, and where Jesus' role is precisely to come and dry our tears. |
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v. 14 And when he came near, he touched the litter. The bearers stopped then. He said, "Young man, I tell you, wake up!"
Literally: And having approached (proselthōn), he touched (hēpsato) the coffin (sorou). Then those bearing (it) stood (still) (estēsan), and he said to the young man (neaniske), to you I say (soi legō), wake up (egerthēti). |
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proselthōn (having approached) |
There is little to be said about proserchomai (to approach, to come, to arrive) which appears here under Luke's pen, but which plays a much smaller role than in Matthew: Mt = 51; Mk = 5; Lk = 10; Jn = 1; Acts = 10. In the latter, the word expresses openness, especially in the case of the disciples who approach Jesus to begin a dialogue. Nevertheless, it is part of his vocabulary, as evidenced by its presence in four passages of his own: 7:14; 10:34; 13:31; 23:36. Most importantly, there is an interesting connection between our scene where Jesus approaches and touches the coffin and the scene where the Good Samaritan approaches (proserchomai) the victim and binds his wounds (10:34): the action of approaching is intended to express compassion.
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hēpsato (he touched) |
The word haptō (attach, turn on, touch, reach) occurs a number of times in the synoptics: Mt = 9; Mk = 11; Lk = 13; Jn = 1; Acts = 1). It appears most often in a healing context: Jesus touches to heal, or people seek to touch Jesus in the hope of being healed. This is typical in the context of the Greco-Roman world and the ancient Near East. Luke is no exception. In the 13 passages where we note the verb haptō, 6 are simply a reworking of Mark's text. But in three passages of his own, he extends the same approach about Jesus touching to heal, or being touched:
Note finally that he is the only one to play on the other meaning of haptō, to light, in the expression "to light a lamp" (haptō lychnon): 8:16; 11:33; 15:8; see also Acts 22:51. What does this mean for our verse that we are analyzing. Jesus' gesture of touching the coffin is typical of his usual intervention to heal, as when dealing with a leper. |
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sorou (coffin) |
As for the word soros (funeral urn, bier, coffin), there is very little to say except that it is a very rare word that occurs only here in the entire New Testament (Mt = 0; Mk = 0; Lk = 1; Jn = 0; Acts = 0) and in only two passages in the Old Testament (LXX: Gen 50:26; Job 21:32).
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estēsan (they stood) |
The verb histēmi (to stand up, place, present, establish, support, stand, stop, institute, stand firm on) is an all-purpose word found frequently in the Gospels and Acts: Mt = 21; Mk = 10; Lk = 25; Jn = 19; Acts = 32 (and thus 57 times in the work of Luke). Literally, the word means: to rise, to appear. When we go through the gospels and Acts, we can group the various meanings of the word into five categories:
If we make a grid of these various meanings in the Gospels and Acts, we get this:
In this context, our verse 14 with histēmi taking on the meaning of stopping reflects a typical Lucan usage. |
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neaniske (young man) |
Neaniskos (teenager, young man, servant) appears only here in all of Luke's gospel and is very infrequent in the entire New Testament: Mt = 2; Mk = 2; Lk = 1; Jn = 0; Acts = 2; 1Jn = 2. In Matthew the word refers to the rich young man who declined the offer to follow Jesus (19:20.22); in Mark it refers to the young man who followed Jesus to Gethsemane and fled naked (14:51) as well as to the heavenly being at the empty tomb whom the women saw when they came to complete the embalming (16:5); in Acts it refers to the son of Paul's sister (23:18.22) as well as to the men who were in charge of carrying away the dead (5:10); finally, in the first epistle of John it refers to a category of people who are distinguished from fathers and children (2:13-14). What the word suggests in our story, then, is that this widow's son was no longer a child, and so was old enough to begin working (and as Matthew suggests, some could be rich), and according to tradition, to take over his father's work and be the breadwinner for the extended family. It is therefore a tragedy that he died.
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soi legō (to you I say) |
It is worth noting the Greek expression soi legō (to you I say), or written in reverse order: legō soi (I say to you), as well as legō hymin (I say to you (pl.)), or more emphatically: egō legō hymin (I, I say to you). For it is found throughout the four gospels and gives us an echo of the authority of Jesus' actions and words. As we note in the gospel of Mark 1:22: And they were struck by his teaching, for he taught them as having authority, and not as the scribes. Here is a little chart of this expression:
Usually, this expression of authority refers to the words of Jesus (e.g., Lk 12:51: Do you think that I have appeared to establish peace on earth? No, I tell you, but division). But there are some instances where this expression of authority constitutes a healing action. Mark gives us two examples:
Luke also gives us two examples. The first is a reprise of Mark's account of the paralytic: Well, that you may know that the Son of Man has power on earth to remit sins, I tell you (soi legō), he said to the paralyzed man, stand up and, taking your bed, go to your house." (Lk 5:24). Surprisingly, one would have expected him to keep the expression "soi legō" when he copies the text of Mark 5:41 on the resurrection of the girl. No, the expression disappeared in his version of the story, but it reappears in this account of the widow's dead son, which he alone reports. In any case, Luke recognizes the transforming power of Jesus' word. |
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egerthēti (wake up) |
The verb egeirō means literally: to wake up, to get up and applies to a person who is asleep or lying down and appears quite often in the gospels and Acts: Mt = 35; Mk = 19; Lk = 18; Jn = 13; Acts = 13. But its meaning has been extended to cover realities that arise or appear, and finally to waking up from death, i.e. resurrection: remember, there is no term in the Greek language that would explicitly mean "to rise from the dead". Looking at the use of the word egeirō in the gospels and Acts, we get the following table:
What does this picture say? Apart from Acts where we cover the period of the Church, egeirō primarily describes getting up: someone was lying down, he gets up. And in Luke, of the 11 times the word takes on this meaning, six times it is Jesus who lifts the person or asks him to get up or himself gets up.
In short, the focus is on getting up and getting active again. |
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v. 15 And the dead man sat up and began to speak. Jesus then gave him to his mother.
Literally: And sat up (anekathisen) the dead (man) (nekros) and he began (ērxato) to speak (lalein), and he gave (edōken) him to the mother of him. |
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anekathisen (he sat up) |
Anakathizō (to straighten up and sit down) is a very rare word found only in Luke's pen in the entire Greek Bible, first here and then in Acts 9:40: Peter put everyone outside, then, kneeling down, prayed. Then turning to the body, he said, "Tabitha, get up." She opened her eyes and, seeing Peter, sat up (anakathizō). Luke is keen to draw a parallel between Peter and Jesus: what Jesus did, Peter will do in the time of the Church. The word is made up of two parts, ana, which expresses an upward movement from the bottom to the top, and thus conveys the idea of standing up, and kathizō, to sit down: all of this refers to the image of standing up and then sitting down.
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nekros (dead) |
The word nekros refers us to an everyday event, that of dying, and of course the gospels and Acts echo this: Mt = 12; Mk = 7; Lk = 14; Jn = 8; Acts = 17. But most of the time, it is the dead in general that are spoken of, especially when the expression "resurrection of the dead" is used. It is therefore extremely rare to have the word in the singular as here. Here are the only cases.
What can we conclude? We should not expect the same definition of death in Jesus' time as in our time when we speak of a flat brain. When Luke speaks of Eutychus who is dead, and who can finally walk up the stairs, we are in the world of perceptions. In any case, the important thing is that he wants us to perceive the widow's son as dead, with all that this implies for his widowed mother. Moreover, we are in a Greek world where there are resurrections performed by humans, as the legend around Apollonius of Tyana (16-97) attests. It is not surprising that Luke grants this ability to a human like Peter in the Acts of the Apostles. |
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ērxato (he began) |
The verb archō (to command, to begin, to set about) is quite frequent in the gospels and Acts: Mt = 13; Mk = 26; Lk = 31; Jn = 2; Acts = 6. It describes the beginning of an action or situation, very often translated as: he set about. When we look at Luke's gospel, we see that this is a verb that he is particularly fond of. Of his 31 uses, 27 are his own. It is all the more astonishing that in four verses that he borrows from Mark, he modifies the latter's text to add archō: 3:8; 5:21; 9:12; 11:29. Here, in v. 15, we are looking at Luke's style.
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lalein (to speak) |
The verb laleō (to speak, to converse) belongs to everyday life, and it is no surprise that we note its frequency in the gospels and Acts: Mt = 26; Mk = 21; Lk = 31; Jn = 59; Acts = 58. It is very much a part of Luke's style, for of the 31 occurrences in his gospel, 25 are his own, including two passages copied from Mark to which he adds laleō: 9:11; 22:60. Here, in v. 15, the very fact that the young man begins to speak indicates that he is alive and well.
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Verb laleō in the Gospels-Acts | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
edōken (he gave) |
The verb didōmi (to give, entrust, hand over, return, produce) is very common in the gospels and Acts: Mt = 52; Mk = 39; Lk = 59; Jn = 72; Acts = 35. The only remark about Luke that we can make is that he is very comfortable with this verb: of the 59 passages where he uses it in his gospel, 29 are his own, including 4 passages that he borrows from the Q Document and to which he adds didōmi. But the point here, in v. 15, is that by succinctly writing that Jesus hands the young man over to his mother he happens to be stating this: the focus is on the mother finding her son, not the resurrection of the son. In other words, the son himself is not important, it is what he means to the mother that is important. Knowing that a widow no longer has a source of income if she no longer has a son, one understands the meaning of handing over a son to his mother: one hands over a source of income. This seems very prosaic, but it is the social situation of the time.
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v. 16 And everyone was upset, and one was recognizing the extraordinary quality of God's being with these words, "A great prophet has risen up among us, and God has visited his people".
Literally: Then fear (phobos) seized (elaben) all (pantas) and they were glorifying (edoxazon) the God (theon) saying that a great (megas) prophet (prophētēs) woke up among us (en hēmin) and that the God has visited (epeskepsato) the people (laon) of him. |
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elaben (it seized) |
The verb lambanō (to take, to receive, to welcome) is quite commonplace and frequent in the gospels and Acts: Mt = 53; Mk = 20; Lk = 21; Jn = 46; Acts = 29. Luke does not give it a special role. But it does belong to his vocabulary: of the 21 uses in his gospel, 12 are his own, in particular three times to describe the fact that after Easter Jesus takes bread at a meal (24:30.42), and at the last supper in a verse unique to him where Jesus invites his disciples to "take" the bread he hands them (22:17). And as far as our verse is concerned, we see that the expression "a fear seized them all" has already been used by Luke earlier: "Amazement seized (lambanō) all" (5: 26). In short, we do have Luke's signature.
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phobos (fear) |
We are familiar with the word phobos (fear, dread, hesitation, awe, respect) which is scattered throughout the gospels and Acts: Mt = 3; Mk = 1; Lk = 7; Jn = 3; Acts = 5. However, the word is given different meanings and it is important to take them into account. These meanings can be grouped into four categories.
In v. 16, phobos obviously designates this upheaval experienced in the face of a positive intervention by God, a marvelous action, a son returned to his widowed mother, and will subsequently lead to a song of praise from the whole assembly. It will have been noted that Luke is the one who uses the word phobos the most, and in his gospel, out of the 7 occurrences, 5 refer to this upheaval following a happy intervention of God. |
Noun phobos in the New Testament | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
pantas (all) |
We do not want to dwell on this word which is so frequent: Mt = 129; Mk = 67; Lk = 159; Jn = 65; Acts = 172, except to say that Luke is particularly fond of it (331 times, including Acts). For him, it is a way of emphasizing a form of unanimity that is so important to him.
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edoxazon (they were glorifying) |
We have already discussed doxa and doxazō (glorify, give glory, honor, boast, praise, celebrate) when we analyzed Jn 2:1-11. For it is John who mostly uses this verb: Mt = 4; Mk = 1; Lk = 9; Jn = 16; Acts = 5. Let us summarize the four meanings that this word can take in the Gospels and Acts.
In Luke, doxazō means almost solely to praise God with a sense of gratitude, and that is what we have here in v. 16. |
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theon (God) |
The word theos is so frequent (Mt = 51; Mk = 49; Lk = 129; Jn = 83; Acts = 169) that its analysis would be beyond the scope of this commentary. Nevertheless, let us note that Luke is the champion with a total of 292 occurrences. Why is this so? In Luke there is a desire for great harmony between the Old and New Testaments, between Jewish and Christian history. This is the meaning of the parallel he draws between John the Baptist and Jesus, one representing the Old Testament, the other the New Testament, whose births he recounts. And what unifies all this is the one God.
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Noun theos in the Gospels-Acts | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
prophētēs (prophet) |
We are familiar with the word prophētēs (one who speaks in God's name and interprets his will), for it refers to all those people whose words helped make up much of the Jewish Bible, so that the latter would be divided into three parts: the Law, the Prophets and the Writings. And since the Christian community read the events surrounding Jesus in the light of the Old Testament, references to the prophets are scattered throughout the gospels and Acts: Mt = 37; Mk = 6; Lk = 30; Jn = 14; Acts = 30. Not surprisingly, we observe that Matthew, whose gospel is addressed primarily to a Jewish Christian audience, makes the most frequent reference to the prophets. But Luke with his gospel and Acts is not to be outdone: as we have pointed out, the integration of the Old and New Testaments is important. But when we look more closely, prophētēs refers to four categories of people: 1) Old Testament men of God or their writings (Mt = 29; Mk = 3; Lk = 21; Jn = 9; Acts = 23); 2) Jesus (Mt = 4; Mk = 2; Lk = 5; Jn = 5; Acts = 3); 3) John the Baptist, whom people considered a prophet, beginning with Jesus himself (Mt = 2; Mk = 1; Lk = 3; Jn = 0; Acts = 0), and finally, other people like the prophetess Anna or the Christian prophets (Mt = 2; Mk = 0; Lk = 1; Jn = 0; Acts = 4). Thus, Jesus was associated with the prophets.
In Luke, Jesus would have seen himself as a prophet (But today, tomorrow, and the next day I must go on my way, for it is not fitting that a prophet should perish outside Jerusalem, 13:33), his disciples would have perceived him as a prophet ("What is it?" He said to them. They said to him, "That which concerns Jesus the Nazarene, who showed himself to be a prophet mighty in works and words before God and all the people, 24: 19). So it is no surprise that we see the reaction of the people in v. 16 who consider Jesus a prophet. But Luke's intention seems to go further. For in Jewish tradition there were prophets who stood out from the rest, and one of them was the prophet Elijah. Now, this story was well known where Elijah went to a widow in Zarephath and, after her son died, raised him up and gave him back to his mother (edōken auton tē mētri autou, 1 Kings 17: 23; LXX: 3 Kings 17:23), the same expression as in verse 15: edōken auton tē mētri autou. The connection is very clear. So we are looking at a new Elijah. |
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megas (great) |
There is no point in analyzing this generic words found everywhere (Mt = 20; Mk = 15; Lk = 26; Jn = 5; Acts = 31), which is used to describe a wide variety of things: voice, joy or fear, disaster or sickness, a feast or a play, or personal stature, except to say that the crowd's reaction here in v. 16 seems to echo what Luke said earlier through the voice of the angel Gabriel: He will be great (megas), and will be called Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of David his father (1:32).
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en hēmin (among us) |
Why bother to note an expression as banal as in hēmin (in us, among us)? It's because we find Luke's signature here.
One would look in vain for such an expression in the other evangelists, except for two passages in John (1:14; 17:21), which recall certain common sources between John and Luke. |
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epeskepsato (he has visited) |
With episkeptomai (examine, search, visit) we are with the Lucan vocabulary: Mt = 2; Mk = 0; Lk = 3; Jn = 0; Acts = 4. Our verse 16 somehow fulfills what Luke had announced at the beginning of his gospel: Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel, that he has visited (episkeptomai) and delivered his people (laos), 1:68; by the bowels (splanchnon) of mercy of our God, in which the Star from on high has visited (episkeptomai) us, 1:78. This is a very clear theme in Luke: all of Jesus' healings reflect the compassionate bowels of God who, in Jesus, visits his people
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laon (people) |
The word laos (people, crowd, nation) is a term favored by Luke: Mt = 14; Mk = 2; Lk = 36; Jn = 3; Acts = 48. For all the evangelists, laos refers primarily to the Jewish people. In Matthew, people appears in references to the Old Testament, or in expressions such as "scribes of the people" or "elders of the people," or in the fear of the authorities to arrest Jesus. This is also the case in Mark and John. But in Luke, the term takes on an exceptional extension (84 occurrences when his gospel and Acts are put together). There is no doubt that the term refers above all to the people of Israel: both in the gospels and in Acts the immediate context refers to Israel or to Jewish social structures, when it is not a citation from the Old Testament. Let us give some examples:
It is easy to understand then that, since the word laos refers primarily to the people of Israel, it is always in the singular. However, there are three exceptions: twice the word refers to the nations of the earth (Lk 2:31; Acts 4:25), and once to the peoples of Israel (Acts 4:27), a surprising expression. Finally, in Acts, there are two references where laos refers to the Christian community, a people that God is raising up through the apostles: Acts 15:14; 18:10. One might ask why this emphasis in Luke on laos? We have already mentioned the importance in him of a form of harmony and unity between the Old and New Testaments. Now, in Jewish history, the notion of peoplehood is fundamental, since it is not to individuals that God intervenes above all according to the sacred authors, but to an entire people. It is to this people that Jesus in turn intervenes ("Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those who are sent to you, how often I have wanted to gather your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings... and you have not wanted to! , Lk 13:34). So for Luke, it is the same holy story that continues. Moreover, Luke likes community structure and consensus: it is not individuals who react, but a well-defined people. Usually this people is favorable to Jesus: they listen to him eagerly (Lk 19:48; 21:38), glorify God when they see what he does (Lk 7:16; 18:43), and lament him when he is taken to his place of execution (23:27). The same attitude is found in the Acts of the Apostles when the people welcome the words and actions of the disciples (Acts 2:47; 4:21; 5:13). This is why the religious authorities are suspicious of the people. Also, this v.16 reflects Luke's theology where the God of the Old Testament who called a people to become his people, continues his work through Jesus and, through this action of compassion towards a widow, reveals again his presence. |
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v. 17 This news about him spread throughout Judea and all around.
Literally: And came out (exēlthen) this word (logos) in whole (holē) of Judea concerning him (peri autou) and all (pasē) the surrounding region (perichōrō). |
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exēlthen (it came out) |
The verb exerchomai (to go out, to leave, to come from) is very common: Mt = 43; Mk = 37; Lk = 39; Jn = 30; Acts = 29. It is used to describe various situations: the demon comes out of people, a power comes out of the person of Jesus, or Jesus goes out to meet others or to pray, etc. On the other hand, the idea that a news or rumor or reputation "goes out", translated into English by "to spread out", is rare. It is found only once in Mark (1:28), which is taken up by Luke (4:37) and echoed in Matthew (4:24). John (21:23) also has an occurrence. Otherwise, it is absent, except here, in v. 17, a passage unique to Luke.
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logos (word) |
We are familiar with the word logos through the expression "word of God", or again, in John, through his prologue where logos is often translated as "verb". In fact, the expression "Word of God" appears a number of times in the gospels and especially in Acts: Mt = 1; Mk = 1; Lk = 4; Jn = 1; Acts = 11. And Acts testifies that another expression develops in the Christian communities: word of the Lord (9 times). However, logos has a much broader meaning to designate various realities: word, saying, thing, matter, order, account. Also it is a frequent term: Mt =33; Mk = 24; Lk = 32; Jn = 40; Acts = 65. And one of the meanings of logos refers to what is said about someone, which can be translated as news, rumor, reputation, noise. Besides this v. 17, we have other examples:
What to conclude? First of all, we have a very Greek expression, and above all a very Lucan one. One may have noticed that John presents the pair logos exerchomai (literally: the word went out), exactly as here in verse 17. This favors the idea that Luke and John were in similar circles. This is especially true since this chapter 21 of John presents an account of miraculous fishing similar to that of Luke in chapter 5. |
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holē (whole) |
holos (whole, entire) is as common in Greek as in its English equivalent: Mt = 22; Mk = 18; Lk = 17; Jn = 6; Acts = 19. Its frequent presence in Acts confirms that it is part of Luke's vocabulary. As for his gospel, of the 17 occurrences of the word, 7 are his own (6 are borrowings from Mark, 4 from the Q Document). It is worth mentioning that he is the only one to speak of "all Judea" (Lk 1:65; 7:17; 23:5; Acts 9:31; 10:37). In Luke, as in all the evangelists, there is an effort to emphasize that the Jesus event was widely known.
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Adjective holos in Luke-Acts | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
peri autou (concerning him) |
This is a rather banal expression. Why stop there? Because it confirms what we have just stated: the phrase is very Lucan, but at the same time seems to reflect a linguistic milieu similar to that of John. Let us look at the statistics about peri autou: Mt = 2; Mk = 3; Lk = 8; Jn = 11; Acts = 4.
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perichōrō (surrounding region) |
The word perichōros is a combination of two words, the preposition peri (around), and the word chōra (region, country, territory). It therefore refers to the region around, the surroundings or the surrounding area, the neighboring region. It is a rare word that is not found elsewhere in the entire New Testament, except in the Gospels and Acts: Mt = 2; Mk = 1; Lk = 5; Jn = 0; Acts = 1. In Luke, it is a way of broadening the reach of Jesus, without providing too much precision. And since we are not sure that Luke knew Palestine well, we can guess that this vague word made life easier for him.
What is the result of this verse-by-verse analysis? It is possible that Luke is using a particular source for this story, but the overall vocabulary reveals a text that bears his signature. |
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-André Gilbert, Gatineau, May 2016 |