Luke 24:50–53

Footnotes

1. 126 Here δέ (de) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the narrative.
2. 127 Grk “he”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
3. 128 Bethany was village on the Mount of Olives about 2 mi (3 km) from Jerusalem; see John 11:1, 18.
4. 129 Grk “And it happened that while.” 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.
5. 130 Grk “while he blessed them.”
6. 131 Grk “he departed from them.”
7. 132 The reference to the ascension (“and was taken up into heaven”) is lacking in א* D it sys, but it is found in 𝔓75 and the rest of the tradition. The authenticity of the statement here seems to be presupposed in Acts 1:2, for otherwise it is difficult to account for Luke’s reference to the ascension there. For a helpful discussion, see . For the translation of ἀνεφέρετο (anephereto) as “was taken up” see ἀναφέρω 1. There is great debate whether this event equals Acts 1:9–11 so that Luke has telescoped something here that he describes in more detail later. The text can be read in this way because the temporal marker in v. 50 is vague.
8. 133 Here καί (kai) has been translated as “so” to indicate the result of Jesus’ ascension and the concluding summary of Luke’s Gospel.
9. 134 The reference to worship is lacking in the Western D, its last major omission in this Gospel.
10. 135 Joy is another key theme for Luke: 1:14; 2:10; 8:13; 10:17; 15:7, 10; 24:41.
11. 136 Grk “in the temple.” Luke’s gospel story proper ends where it began, in the temple courts (Luke 1:4–22). The conclusion is open-ended, because the story continues in Acts with what happened from Jerusalem onwards, once the promise of the Father (v. 49) came.
12. 137 The Western text (D it) has αἰνοῦντες (ainountes, “praising”) here, while the Alexandrian (𝔓75 א B C* L) have εὐλογοῦντες (eulogountes, “blessing”). Most , especially the later Byzantine , evidently combine these two readings with αἰνοῦντες καὶ εὐλογοῦντες (A C2 W Θ Ψ f1, 13 33 𝔐 lat). It is more difficult to decide between the two earlier readings. Internal arguments can go either way, but what seems decisive in this instance are the superior witnesses for εὐλογοῦντες.
13. 138 The majority of Greek , some of which are important witnesses (A B C2 Θ Ψ f13 𝔐 lat), add “Amen” to note the Gospel’s end. Such a conclusion is routinely added by scribes to NT books because a few of these books originally had such an ending (cf. Rom 16:27; Gal 6:18; Jude 25). A majority of Greek witnesses have the concluding ἀμήν in every NT book except Acts, James, and 3 John (and even in these books, ἀμήν is found in some witnesses). It is thus a predictable variant. Further, since significant witnesses lack the word (𝔓75 א C* D L W 1 33 it co), it is evidently not original.