The Meaning of Luke 4:17 Explained

Luke 4:17

KJV: And there was delivered unto him the book of the prophet Esaias. And when he had opened the book, he found the place where it was written,

YLT: and there was given over to him a roll of Isaiah the prophet, and having unfolded the roll, he found the place where it hath been written:

Darby: And the book of the prophet Esaias was given to him; and having unrolled the book he found the place where it was written,

ASV: And there was delivered unto him the book of the prophet Isaiah. And he opened the book, and found the place where it was written,

KJV Reverse Interlinear

And  there was delivered  unto him  the book  of the prophet  Esaias.  And  when he had opened  the book,  he found  the place  where  it was  written, 

What does Luke 4:17 Mean?

Context Summary

Luke 4:14-30 - "his Own Received Him Not"
A wide gap occurs here, embracing the important transactions of John 1:29-51; John 2:1-25; John 3:1-36; John 4:1-54.
What a flutter in Mary's heart when she saw her son sitting in the teacher's place of His native synagogue! How gratified at the reception given to the opening sentences! What a sword pierced her heart at the sudden revulsion of feeling! They were jealous that He performed only a few private miracles; but He could not do more because of their unbelief. See Mark 6:5.
Note that our Lord here sounded forth the silver trumpet of jubilee. Seizing on the imagery of the gladdest festival of Hebrew life, He likened Himself to a priest proclaiming the acceptable year of the Lord. Not yet the day of vengeance! Compare Luke 4:19 with Isaiah 61:1-2. This is Christ's program for the present age. [source]

Chapter Summary: Luke 4

1  The fasting and temptation of Jesus
14  He begins to preach
16  The people of Nazareth marvel at words, but seek to kill him
33  He cures one possessed of a demon,
38  Peter's mother-in-law,
40  and various other sick persons
41  The demons acknowledge Jesus, and are reproved for it
42  He preaches through the cities of Galilee

Greek Commentary for Luke 4:17

Was delivered [επεδοτη]
First aorist passive indicative of επιδιδωμι — epididōmi to give over to, a common verb. At the proper stage of the service “the attendant” or “minister” (υπηρετης — hupēretēs under rower) or “beadle” took out a roll of the law from the ark, unwrapped it, and gave it to some one to read. On sabbath days some seven persons were asked to read small portions of the law. This was the first lesson or Parashah. This was followed by a reading from the prophets and a discourse, the second lesson or Haphtarah. This last is what Jesus did. [source]
The book of the prophet Isaiah [βιβλιον του προπητου Εσαιου]
Literally, “a roll of the prophet Isaiah.” Apparently Isaiah was handed to Jesus without his asking for it. But certainly Jesus cared more for the prophets than for the ceremonial law. It was a congenial service that he was asked to perform. Jesus used Deuteronomy in his temptations and now Isaiah for this sermon. The Syriac Sinaitic manuscript has it that Jesus stood up after the attendant handed him the roll.Opened (ανοιχας — anoixas). Really it was unrolled (αναπτυχας — anaptuxas) as Aleph D have it. But the more general term ανοιχας — anoixas (from ανοιγω — anoigō common verb) is probably genuine. Αναπτυσσω — Anaptussō does not occur in the N.T. outside of this passage if genuine.Found the place Second aorist active indicative. He continued to unroll (rolling up the other side) till he found the passage desired. It may have been a fixed lesson for the day or it may have been his own choosing. At any rate it was a marvellously appropriate passage (Isaiah 61:1, Isaiah 61:2 with one clause omitted and some words from Isaiah 58:6). It is a free quotation from the Septuagint.Where it was written (ου ην γεγραμμενον — hou ēn gegrammenon). Periphrastic pluperfect passive again as in Luke 4:16. [source]
Opened [ανοιχας]
Really it was unrolled (αναπτυχας — anaptuxas) as Aleph D have it. But the more general term ανοιχας — anoixas (from ανοιγω — anoigō common verb) is probably genuine. Αναπτυσσω — Anaptussō does not occur in the N.T. outside of this passage if genuine. [source]
Found the place [ευρεν τον τοπον]
Second aorist active indicative. He continued to unroll (rolling up the other side) till he found the passage desired. It may have been a fixed lesson for the day or it may have been his own choosing. At any rate it was a marvellously appropriate passage (Isaiah 61:1, Isaiah 61:2 with one clause omitted and some words from Isaiah 58:6). It is a free quotation from the Septuagint.Where it was written (ου ην γεγραμμενον — hou ēn gegrammenon). Periphrastic pluperfect passive again as in Luke 4:16. [source]
Where it was written [ου ην γεγραμμενον]
Periphrastic pluperfect passive again as in Luke 4:16. [source]
The book [βιβλίον]
A diminutive of βίβλος ,the inner bark of the papyrus, used for writing. Hence a roll. The word is also used to denote a division of a work, and is therefore appropriate here to mark the writings of a single prophet as related to the whole body of the prophetic writings. [source]
Opened [ἀναπτύξας]
Lit., unrolled. Both this and the simple verb πτύσσω , to close (Luke 4:20), occur only once in the New Testament. The former word was used in medical language of the opening out of various parts of the body, and the latter of the rolling up of bandages. The use of these terms by Luke the physician is the more significant from the fact that elsewhere in the New Testament ἀνοίγω is used for the opening of a book (Revelation 5:2-5; Revelation 10:2, Revelation 10:8; Revelation 20:12); and εἰλίσσω , for rolling it up (Revelation 6:14). [source]
Found []
As if by chance: reading at the place where the roll opened of itself, and trusting to divine guidance. [source]
Was written [ἦν γεγραμμένον]
Lit., was having been written; i.e., stood written. [source]

Reverse Greek Commentary Search for Luke 4:17

Matthew 1:1 The Book [βιβλος]
There is no article in the Greek, but the following genitives make it definite. It is our word Bible that is here used, the Book as Sir Walter Scott called it as he lay dying. The usual word for book is a diminutive form (βιβλιον — biblion), a little book or roll such as we have in Luke 4:17, “The roll of the prophet Isaiah.” The pieces of papyrus (παπυρος — papuros), our paper, were pasted together to make a roll of varying lengths according to one‘s needs. Matthew, of course, is not applying the word book to the Old Testament, probably not to his own book, but to “the genealogical table of Jesus Christ” (βιβλος γενεσεως Ιησου Χριστου — biblos geneseōs Iēsou Christou), “the birth roll of Jesus Christ” Moffatt translates it. We have no means of knowing where the writer obtained the data for this genealogy. It differs radically from that in Luke 3:23-38. One can only give his own theory of the difference. Apparently in Matthew we have the actual genealogy of Joseph which would be the legal pedigree of Jesus according to Jewish custom. In Luke we apparently have the actual genealogy of Mary which would be the real line of Jesus which Luke naturally gives as he is writing for the Gentiles. [source]
Luke 4:20 He closed [πτύξας]
See on Luke 4:17. [source]
John 5:47 Writings [γράμμασιν]
It is important to understand the precise sense of this word, because it goes to determine whether Jesus intended an antithesis between Moses' writings and His own words, or simply between Moses ( ἐκείνου ) and Himself ( ἐμοῖς ). Γράμμα primarily means what is written. Hence it may describe either a single character or a document. From this general notion several forms develop themselves in the New Testament. The word occurs in its narrower sense of characters, at Luke 23:38; 2 Corinthians 3:7; Galatians 6:11. In Acts 28:21, it means official communications. Paul, with a single exception (2 Corinthians 3:7), uses it of the letter of scripture as contrasted with its spirit (Romans 2:27, Romans 2:29; Romans 7:6; 2 Corinthians 3:6). In Luke 16:6, Luke 16:7, it denotes a debtor's bond (A.V., bill ). In John 7:15, Acts 26:24) it is used in the plural as a general term for scriptural and Rabbinical learning. Compare Sept., Isaiah 29:11, Isaiah 29:12) where a learned man is described as ἐπιτάμενος γράμματα , acquainted with letters. Once it is used collectively of the sacred writings - the scriptures (2 Timothy 3:15), though some give it a wider reference to Rabbinical exegesis, as well as to scripture itself. Among the Alexandrian Greeks the term is not confined to elementary instruction, but includes exposition, based, however, on critical study of the text. The tendency of such exegesis was often toward mystical and allegorical interpretation, degenerating into a petty ingenuity in fixing new and recondite meanings upon the old and familiar forms. This was illustrated by the Neo-Platonists' expositions of Homer, and by the Rabbinical exegesis. Men unacquainted with such studies, especially if they appeared as public teachers, would be regarded as ignorant by the Jews of the times of Christ and the Apostles. Hence the question respecting our Lord Himself: How knoweth this man letters ( γράμματα John 7:15)? Also the comment upon Peter and John (Acts 4:13) that they were unlearned ( ἀγράμματοι ). Thus, too, those who discovered in the Old Testament scriptures references to Christ, would be stigmatized by Pagans, as following the ingenious and fanciful method of the Jewish interpreters, which they held in contempt. Some such feeling may have provoked the words of Festus to Paul: Much learning ( πολλά γράμματα ) doth make thee mad (Acts 26:24). It is well known with what minute care the literal transcription of the sacred writings was guarded. The Scribes ( γραμματεῖς ) were charged with producing copies according to the letter ( κατὰ τὸ γράμμα ). -DIVIDER-
-DIVIDER-
The one passage in second Timothy cannot be urged in favor of the general use of the term for the scriptures, especially since the best texts reject the article before ἱερὰ γράμμα , so that the meaning is apparently more general: “thou hast known sacred writings.” The familiar formula for the scriptures was αἱ γραφαὶ ἁγίαι . A single book of the collection of writings was known as βιβλίον (Luke 4:17), or βίβλος (Luke 20:42); never γραφή , which was the term for a particular passage. See on Mark 12:10. -DIVIDER-
-DIVIDER-
It seems to me, therefore, that the antithesis between the writings of Moses, superstitiously reverenced in the letter, and minutely and critically searched and expounded by the Jews, and the living words ( ῥήμασιν , see on Luke 1:37), is to be recognized. This, however, need not exclude the other antithesis between Moses and Jesus personally. -DIVIDER-
-DIVIDER-
[source]

John 5:47 His writings [τοις εκεινου γραμμασιν]
Dative case with πιστυετε — pistuete See Luke 16:31 for a like argument. The authority of Moses was the greatest of all for Jews. There is a contrast also between writings Γραμμα — Gramma may mean the mere letter as opposed to spirit (2 Corinthians 3:6; Romans 2:27, Romans 2:29; Romans 7:6), a debtor‘s bond (Luke 16:6.), letters or learning (John 7:15; Acts 26:24) like αγραμματοι — agrammatoi for unlearned (Acts 4:13), merely written characters (Luke 23:38; 2 Corinthians 3:7; Galatians 6:11), official communications (Acts 28:21), once ιερα γραμματα — hiera grammata for the sacred writings (2 Timothy 3:15) instead of the more usual αι αγιαι γραπαι — hai hagiai graphai Γραπη — Graphē is used also for a single passage (Mark 12:10), but βιβλιον — biblion for a book or roll (Luke 4:17) or βιβλος — biblos (Luke 20:42). Jesus clearly states the fact that Moses wrote portions of the Old Testament, what portions he does not say. See also Luke 24:27, Luke 24:44 for the same idea. There was no answer from the rabbis to this conclusion of Christ. The scribes (οι γραμματεις — hoi grammateis) made copies according to the letter (κατα το γραμμα — kata to gramma). [source]
Revelation 6:14 Scroll [βιβλίον]
See on Luke 4:17. Compare Isaiah 34:4. [source]
Revelation 5:1 A Book [βιβλίον]
See on Matthew 19:7; see on Mark 10:4; see on Luke 4:17. Compare Ezekiel 2:9; Jeremiah 36:2; Zechariah 5:1, Zechariah 5:2. [source]
Revelation 22:7 Book [βιβλίου]
Diminutive, properly a little book or scroll. See on writing, Matthew 19:7; see on bill, Mark 10:2; see on book, Luke 4:17. [source]
Revelation 1:11 In a book [εἰς βιβλίον]
Lit., into. Commit in writing to a book. For book see on Matthew 19:7; see on Mark 10:4; see on Luke 4:17. The command to write is given twelve times in Revelation. [source]
Revelation 5:1 Written [γεγραμμενον]
Perfect passive predicate participle of γραπω — graphō and on the back “Within and behind.” Description of a roll like that in Luke 4:17, not a codex as some scholars think. Usually these papyrus rolls were written only on the inside, but this one was so full of matter that it was written also on the back side (οπιστεν — opisthen), and so was an οπιστογραπον — opisthographon like that in Ezekiel 2:10. There are many allegorical interpretations of this fact which are all beside the point. [source]
Revelation 6:14 As a scroll when it is rolled up [ως βιβλιον ελισσομενον]
Present passive participle of ελισσω — helissō old verb, to roll up, in N.T. only here (from Isaiah 34:4) and Hebrews 1:12 (from Psalm 102:27). Vivid picture of the expanse of the sky rolled up and away as a papyrus roll (Luke 4:17).Were moved (εκινητησαν — ekinēthēsan). First aorist passive indicative of κινεω — kineō to move.Out of their places See also Revelation 16:20 for these violent displacements in the earth‘s crust. Cf. Nahum 1:5; Jeremiah 4:24. Jesus spoke of faith removing mountains (of difficulty) as in Mark 11:23 (cf. 1 Corinthians 13:2). [source]
Revelation 5:1 A book [βιβλιον]
Diminutive of βιβλος — biblos but no longer so used, βιβλαριδιον — biblaridion occurring instead (Revelation 10:2).Written (γεγραμμενον — gegrammenon). Perfect passive predicate participle of γραπω — graphō and on the back (εσωτεν και οπιστεν — esōthen kai opisthen). “Within and behind.” Description of a roll like that in Luke 4:17, not a codex as some scholars think. Usually these papyrus rolls were written only on the inside, but this one was so full of matter that it was written also on the back side (οπιστεν — opisthen), and so was an οπιστογραπον — opisthographon like that in Ezekiel 2:10. There are many allegorical interpretations of this fact which are all beside the point.Sealed Perfect passive predicate participle of κατασπραγιζω — katasphragizō old compound (perfective use of κατα — kata), to seal up (down), here only in N.T.With seven seals (σπραγισιν επτα — sphragisin hepta). Instrumental case of σπραγις — sphragis old word used in various senses, proof or authentication (1 Corinthians 9:2; Romans 4:11), signet-ring (Revelation 7:2), impression made by the seal (Revelation 9:4; 2 Timothy 2:19), the seal on books closing the book (Revelation 5:1, Revelation 5:2, Revelation 5:5, Revelation 5:9; Revelation 6:1, Revelation 6:3, Revelation 6:5, Revelation 6:7, Revelation 6:9, Revelation 6:12; Revelation 8:1). “A will in Roman law bore the seven seals of the seven witnesses” (Charles). But this sealed book of doom calls for no witnesses beyond God‘s own will. Alford sees in the number seven merely the completeness of God‘s purposes. [source]

What do the individual words in Luke 4:17 mean?

And there was given to Him [the] scroll of the prophet Isaiah having unrolled the scroll He found the place where it was written
καὶ ἐπεδόθη αὐτῷ βιβλίον τοῦ προφήτου Ἠσαΐου ἀναπτύξας τὸ βιβλίον εὗρεν τὸν τόπον οὗ ἦν γεγραμμένον

ἐπεδόθη  there  was  given 
Parse: Verb, Aorist Indicative Passive, 3rd Person Singular
Root: ἐπιδίδωμι 
Sense: to hand, give by hand.
αὐτῷ  to  Him 
Parse: Personal / Possessive Pronoun, Dative Masculine 3rd Person Singular
Root: αὐτός  
Sense: himself, herself, themselves, itself.
βιβλίον  [the]  scroll  of 
Parse: Noun, Nominative Neuter Singular
Root: βιβλίον  
Sense: a small book, a scroll, a written document.
προφήτου  prophet 
Parse: Noun, Genitive Masculine Singular
Root: προφήτης  
Sense: in Greek writings, an interpreter of oracles or of other hidden things.
Ἠσαΐου  Isaiah 
Parse: Noun, Genitive Masculine Singular
Root: Ἠσαί̈ας  
Sense: a famous Hebrew prophet who prophesied in the reigns of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah.
ἀναπτύξας  having  unrolled 
Parse: Verb, Aorist Participle Active, Nominative Masculine Singular
Root: ἀναπτύσσω  
Sense: to unroll.
βιβλίον  scroll 
Parse: Noun, Accusative Neuter Singular
Root: βιβλίον  
Sense: a small book, a scroll, a written document.
εὗρεν  He  found 
Parse: Verb, Aorist Indicative Active, 3rd Person Singular
Root: εὑρίσκω  
Sense: to come upon, hit upon, to meet with.
τόπον  place 
Parse: Noun, Accusative Masculine Singular
Root: τόπος 
Sense: place, any portion or space marked off, as it were from surrounding space.
οὗ  where 
Parse: Adverb
Root: ὅς 
Sense: who, which, what, that.
ἦν  it  was 
Parse: Verb, Imperfect Indicative Active, 3rd Person Singular
Root: εἰμί  
Sense: to be, to exist, to happen, to be present.
γεγραμμένον  written 
Parse: Verb, Perfect Participle Middle or Passive, Nominative Neuter Singular
Root: γράφω 
Sense: to write, with reference to the form of the letters.

What are the major concepts related to Luke 4:17?

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