‏ Luke 8:1-3

Jesus’ Ministry and the Help of Women

1 Sometime
tn Grk “And it happened that sometime.” The introductory phrase ἐγένετο (egeneto, “it happened that”), common in Luke (69 times) and Acts (54 times), is redundant in contemporary English and has not been translated.
afterward
tn Καθεξῆς (Kathexēs) is a general temporal term and need not mean “soon afterward”; see Luke 1:3; Acts 3:24; 11:4; 18:23 and L&N 61.1.
he went on through towns
tn Or “cities.”
and villages, preaching and proclaiming the good news
sn The combination of preaching and proclaiming the good news is a bit emphatic, stressing Jesus’ teaching ministry on the rule of God.
of the kingdom of God.
sn The kingdom of God is a major theme of Jesus’ teaching. The nature of the kingdom of God in the NT and in Jesus’ teaching has long been debated by interpreters and scholars, with discussion primarily centering around the nature of the kingdom (earthly, heavenly, or both) and the kingdom’s arrival (present, future, or both). An additional major issue concerns the relationship between the kingdom of God and the person and work of Jesus himself. See Luke 6:20; 11:20; 17:20-21.
The
tn Grk “And the.” Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.
twelve were with him,
2and also some women
sn There is an important respect shown to women in this text, as their contributions were often ignored in ancient society.
who had been healed of evil spirits and disabilities:
tn Or “illnesses.” The term ἀσθένεια (astheneia) refers to the state of being ill and thus incapacitated in some way—“illness, disability, weakness.” (L&N 23.143).
Mary
sn This Mary is not the woman mentioned in the previous passage (as some church fathers claimed) because she is introduced as a new figure here. In addition, she is further specified by Luke with the notation called Magdalene, which seems to distinguish her from the woman at Simon the Pharisee’s house.
(called Magdalene), from whom seven demons had gone out,
3and Joanna the wife of Cuza
sn Cuza is also spelled “Chuza” in many English translations.
(Herod’s
sn Herods refers here to Herod Antipas. See the note on Herod Antipas in 3:1.
household manager),
tn Here ἐπίτροπος (epitropos) is understood as referring to the majordomo or manager of Herod’s household (BDAG 385 s.v. ἐπίτροπος 1). However, as BDAG notes, the office may be political in nature and would then be translated something like “governor” or “procurator.” Note that in either case the gospel was reaching into the highest levels of society.
Susanna, and many others who provided for them
tc Many mss (א A L Ψ ƒ1 33 565 579 1241 2542 pm it co) read “for him,” but “for them” also has good ms support (B D K W Γ Δ Θ ƒ13 700 892 1424 pm lat). From an internal standpoint the singular pronoun looks like an assimilation to texts like Matt 27:55 and Mark 15:41.
out of their own resources.
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