Luk 9:28-29 | NETfull | STEP | Now about eight days after these sayings, Jesus took with him Peter, John, and James, and went up the mountain to pray.

Luke 9:28-29

The Transfiguration

28 Now ^{▼▼ Grk “Now it happened that about.” 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.} about eight days ^{▼▼ Matt 17:1 and Mark 9:2 specify the interval more exactly, saying it was the sixth day. Luke uses ὡσεί (hōsei, “about”) to give an approximate reference.} after these sayings, Jesus ^{▼▼ Grk “he”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.} took with him Peter, John, and James, and went up the mountain to pray. 29 As ^{▼▼ Grk “And as.” Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.} he was praying, ^{▼▼ Here the preposition ἐν (en) plus the dative articular aorist infinitive has been translated as a temporal clause (ExSyn 595).} the appearance of his face was transformed, ^{▼▼ Or “the appearance of his face became different.”} ^{▼▼ In 1st century Judaism and in the NT, there was the belief that the righteous get new, glorified bodies in order to enter heaven (1 Cor 15:42–49; 2 Cor 5:1–10). This transformation means the righteous will share the glory of God. One recalls the way Moses shared the Lord’s glory after his visit to the mountain in Exod 34. So the disciples saw the appearance of his face transformed, and they were getting a sneak preview of the great glory that Jesus would have (only his glory is more inherent to him as one who shares in the rule of the kingdom).} and his clothes became very bright, a brilliant white. ^{▼▼ Or “became bright as a flash of lightning” (cf. BDAG 346 s.v. ἐξαστράπτω); or “became brilliant as light” (cf. BDAG 593 s.v. λευκός 1).}