The evangelist sets an emperor, a governor, two high priests, and three tetrarchs in a few lines, as of very subordinate interest, compared with the one man, the child of the desert, whose coming dated a new era and to whom he devotes the remainder of the chapter. After all, it is religious men who really make the history of mankind.
"The word of God came unto John the Baptist"¦ and he came." That is the true order. Get your message and then come. It is often in the wilderness of life that God's words find us. The man who is going to master men must first master the appetites of his own body. If you seek popularity, you will lose it; if you seek to do God's will, men will almost certainly come to find you. Souls require a clear pane of glass, when they look out on the infinite expanse of the sky! Be real! Live at first-hand with eternal truth! Fear not the face of man! [source]
Chapter Summary: Luke 3
1The preaching and baptism of John; 15his testimony of Jesus; 19Herod imprisons John; 21Jesus, baptized, receives testimony from heaven 23The age and genealogy of Jesus from Joseph upwards
What then must we do? [τι ουν ποιησωμεν] Deliberative aorist subjunctive. More exactly, What then are we to do, What then shall we do? Same construction in verses Luke 3:12. The ουν oun refers to the severe things already said by John (Luke 3:7-9). [source]
What then are we to do, What then shall we do? [] Same construction in verses Luke 3:12. The ουν oun refers to the severe things already said by John (Luke 3:7-9). [source]
Asked [ἐπηρώτων] Imperfect tense, indicating the frequent repetition of these questions. [source]
Reverse Greek Commentary Search for Luke 3:10
Matthew 3:6Confessing their sins [ἐξομολογούμενοι τὰς ἁμαρτίας αὐτῶν] The words imply: 1. That confession was connected with baptism. They were baptized while in the act of confessing. 2. An open confession, not a private one to John ( ἐξ , compare Acts 19:18; James 5:16). 3. An individual confession; possibly a specific one. (See Luke 3:10-15.) [source]
Luke 3:7To the multitude that went out [τοις εχπορευομενοις οχλοις] Plural, Multitudes. The present participle also notes the repetition of the crowds as does ελεγεν elegen (imperfect), he used to say. Matthew 3:7-10 singles out the message of John to the Pharisees and Sadducees, which see notes for discussion of details. Luke gives a summary of his preaching to the crowds with special replies to these inquiries: the multitudes, Luke 3:10, the publicans Luke 3:12, the soldiers Luke 3:14. [source]
Acts 16:28Do thyself no harm [μηδεν πραχηις σεαυτωι κακον] The usual construction (μη mē and the aorist subjunctive) for a prohibition not to begin to do a thing. The older Greek would probably have used ποιησηις poiēsēis here. The later Greek does not always preserve the old distinction between ποιεω poieō to do a thing, and πρασσω prassō to practice, though πρασσετε prassete keeps it in Philemon 4:9 and ποιεω poieō is rightly used in Luke 3:10-14. As a matter of fact πρασσω prassō does not occur in Matthew or in Mark, only twice in John, six times in Luke‘s Gospel, thirteen in Acts, and elsewhere by Paul. [source]
What do the individual words in Luke 3:10 mean?
Andwere askinghimthecrowdssayingWhatthenshall we do
Parse: Verb, Imperfect Indicative Active, 3rd Person Plural
Root: ἐπερωτάω
Sense: to accost one with an enquiry, put a question to, enquiry of, ask, interrogate.
Greek Commentary for Luke 3:10
Imperfect tense, repeatedly asked. [source]
Deliberative aorist subjunctive. More exactly, What then are we to do, What then shall we do? Same construction in verses Luke 3:12. The ουν oun refers to the severe things already said by John (Luke 3:7-9). [source]
Same construction in verses Luke 3:12. The ουν oun refers to the severe things already said by John (Luke 3:7-9). [source]
Imperfect tense, indicating the frequent repetition of these questions. [source]
Reverse Greek Commentary Search for Luke 3:10
The words imply: 1. That confession was connected with baptism. They were baptized while in the act of confessing. 2. An open confession, not a private one to John ( ἐξ , compare Acts 19:18; James 5:16). 3. An individual confession; possibly a specific one. (See Luke 3:10-15.) [source]
Plural, Multitudes. The present participle also notes the repetition of the crowds as does ελεγεν elegen (imperfect), he used to say. Matthew 3:7-10 singles out the message of John to the Pharisees and Sadducees, which see notes for discussion of details. Luke gives a summary of his preaching to the crowds with special replies to these inquiries: the multitudes, Luke 3:10, the publicans Luke 3:12, the soldiers Luke 3:14. [source]
The usual construction (μη mē and the aorist subjunctive) for a prohibition not to begin to do a thing. The older Greek would probably have used ποιησηις poiēsēis here. The later Greek does not always preserve the old distinction between ποιεω poieō to do a thing, and πρασσω prassō to practice, though πρασσετε prassete keeps it in Philemon 4:9 and ποιεω poieō is rightly used in Luke 3:10-14. As a matter of fact πρασσω prassō does not occur in Matthew or in Mark, only twice in John, six times in Luke‘s Gospel, thirteen in Acts, and elsewhere by Paul. [source]