Luke 9:49–50

On the Right Side

9:49 John answered,165 “Master, we saw someone casting out demons in your name, and we tried to stop166 him because he is not a disciple167 along with us.” 9:50 But Jesus said to him, “Do not stop him, for whoever is not against you is for you.”

165	tn Grk “And answering, John said.” This is redundant in contemporary English and has been simplified to “John answered.” Here δέ (de) has not been translated.
166	tc The translation follows the reading that has Luke’s normal imperfect here (ἐκωλύομεν, ekōluomen; found in 𝔓75vid א B L Ξ 579 892 1241). Most mss, however, have an aorist (ἐκωλύσαμεν, ekōlusamen; found in A C D W Θ Ψ f1, 13 33 𝔐 co), which would be translated “we forbade him.” The imperfect enjoys the best external and internal support.
167	tn Grk “does not follow with us.” BDAG 36 s.v. ἀκολουθέω 2 indicates that the pronoun σοι (soi, “you”) is to be supplied after the verb in this particular instance; the translation in the text best represents this nuance.