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Luke 22

Luke 22 is the twenty-second chapter of the Gospel of Luke in the New Testament of the Christian Bible. It commences in the days just before the Passover or Feast of Unleavened Bread, and records the plot to kill Jesus Christ; the institution of the Lord's Supper; and the Arrest of Jesus and his trial before the Sanhedrin.[1]

Luke 22
Luke 22:44-50 on fragments a and b (recto) of the codex 0171, written about AD 300.
BookGospel of Luke
CategoryGospel
Christian Bible partNew Testament
Order in the Christian part3

The book containing this chapter is anonymous, but early Christian tradition generally considers that Luke the Evangelist composed this Gospel as well as the Acts of the Apostles.[2] This chapter initiates this gospel's passion narrative, which continues into chapter 23:[3] if the apocalyptic discourse in Luke 21 "bases all its thought upon the reality of the Kingdom", it also "leads directly into the passion narrative [which] shows how it was established".[4]

Text

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Luke 22:43-44 in Codex Vaticanus 354 (AD 949)

The original text was written in Koine Greek. This chapter is divided into 71 verses. It is the second longest chapter in the gospel in terms of number of verses.[5]

Textual witnesses

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Some early manuscripts containing the text of this chapter are:

 
Luke 22: 41,45-48 on recto side of Papyrus 69 (3rd century).

Verses 1-6

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Main article: Bargain of Judas
 
Judas making a bargain with the priests, depicted by Duccio, early 14th century.

Luke 22:1–6 describes the chief priests and scribes' plot to kill Jesus in collaboration with Judas Iscariot. This scene is also depicted in Mark 14:1–2, 10–11 and Matthew 26:1-5, 14–16. Henry Alford notes that Matthew's account is the more complete and refers to Luke's account as "a mere compendium of what took place".[6] Luke's wording emphasises that Judas sought to betray Jesus "when no crowd was present",[7] reflecting the chief priests' and scribes' fear that they could not openly arrest Jesus because of his popular support.[8] John 11:45-57 also records the plot to kill Jesus.

Verse 1

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Now the Festival of Unleavened Bread, called the Passover, was approaching.[9]

This little explanation, "called the Passover", "shows most clearly that St Luke is writing mainly for Gentiles".[10]

Verse 2

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And the chief priests and the scribes sought how they might kill Him, for they feared the people.[11]

Scottish Free Church minister William Robertson Nicoll calls Jesus' popularity among the people to be "very embarrassing",[12] while the writer Frederic Farrar considers it "humiliating" for them.[10]

Verse 3

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Then Satan entered Judas, surnamed Iscariot, who was numbered among the twelve.[13]

Luke alone of the synoptic writers sets the earthly events of the passion in the context of an eschatological battle with Satan.[4]

Verses 7-13

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Luke 22:7–13 describes how Jesus sent Peter and John to prepare "a furnished upper room" (verse 12) for their taking of a Passover meal (which would be the Last Supper). This preparation is also depicted in Mark 14:12–16 and Matthew 26:17-25. Luke's is the only account which names the apostles (verse 8) and the only narrative in which Jesus takes the initiative in arranging the meal: in Matthew and Mark, the disciples raise the subject.[12]

The farewell address

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Luke 22:14–38 has been described as "Jesus' farewell address", modeled after other farewell addresses in the Greco-Roman and biblical traditions.[14]

Verse 14

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When the hour had come, He sat down, and the twelve apostles with Him.[15]

The word δώδεκα (dōdeka, meaning "twelve") does not appear in some ancient manuscripts, and some critical editors omit it. Protestant divine Heinrich Meyer suggests "it was written in the margin in agreement with the parallels", before being adopted into some texts.[16] Conversely in Luke 9:1 the word δώδεκα consistently appears, but some manuscripts also add μαθητὰς αὐτοῦ (mathētas autou, "his disciples").[17]

Verse 15

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Coat of Arms of Rt Rev Marcus Stock, Bishop of Leeds, quoting words from Luke 22:15
Then He said to them, "With fervent desire I have desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer.[18]
καὶ εἶπεν πρὸς αὐτούς· Ἐπιθυμίᾳ ἐπεθύμησα τοῦτο τὸ πάσχα φαγεῖν μεθ’ ὑμῶν πρὸ τοῦ με παθεῖν·[citation needed]

Jesus declares to his apostles that "with fervent desire" (Greek: επιθυμια επεθυμησα, epithumia epithumesa) he has longed to celebrate this Passover with them. Pope Gregory X used these words (Latin: Desiderio desideravi) as his text at the Second Council of Lyons in 1274, in his sermon on the unity of the churches.[19] These words would have been spoken in Aramaic. The construction reflects the Hebrew infinitive absolute which intensifies a verb.[citation needed] Why Jesus had such an earnest desire for this particular Passover is an open question: for Meyer, the expression suggests that his earnest wish was that "His passion should not begin before the Passover".[16]

Verse 16

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For I tell you, I will not eat it again until it finds fulfillment in the kingdom of God.[20]
λέγω γὰρ ὑμῖν ὅτι οὐ μὴ φάγω αὐτὸ ἕως ὅτου πληρωθῇ ἐν τῇ βασιλείᾳ τοῦ θεοῦ.[citation needed]

The word "again" is not in the Greek, but implied, and similarly in verse 18:

For I tell you I will not drink again from the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes.[21]

David Robert Palmer suggests that "some copyists apparently felt obliged to add the Greek word οὐκέτι, (ouketi) to both clarify the meaning, and also to harmonize Luke with Mark 14:25, and perhaps also with Matthew 26:29, which says, 'from now on'."[22] The Textus Receptus includes the word οὐκέτι in verse 16 but not verse 18.[23]

Verse 38

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Main article: Doctrine of the two swords

Verses 40-42

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Pray that you will not fall into temptation (New International Version, verse 40)
Not my will, but yours, be done (New King James Version, verse 42)

The words reflect Jesus' previous instructions to his disciples on how to pray (the Lord's Prayer, Luke 11:2–4), although the words "thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven" do not appear in the earliest-known versions of Luke's Lord's Prayer.[24] The Pulpit Commentary suggests that "the temptation in question was the grave sin of moral cowardice into which so soon the disciples fell".[25]

Verses 43-44

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Main article: Luke 22:43–44
Then an angel appeared to Him from heaven, strengthening Him. And being in agony, He prayed more earnestly. Then His sweat became like great drops of blood falling down to the ground.[26]

The authenticity of Luke 22:43-44 has been disputed by scholars since the second half of the 19th century. The verses are placed in double brackets in modern editions of the Greek text, and listed in a footnote in the Revised Standard Version.

Verse 45

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Non novi illum, "I do not know him" (Luke 22:57), Church of St. Peter in Gallicantu in Jerusalem.
When He rose up from prayer, and had come to His disciples, He found them sleeping from sorrow.[27]

Luke adds "from sorrow", words which do not appear in the accounts of Matthew or Mark.

Verses 50-51

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50 And one of them smote the servant of the high priest, and cut off his right ear. And Jesus answered and said, Suffer ye thus far. And he touched his ear, and healed him.[28]

Luke, like John, specifically notes that it was the servant's right ear which was removed.[12] The exact meaning of Jesus' words, Suffer ye thus far, or No more of this! in the New International Version, "has been much debated".[25] Alford treats them as directed to the multitude or specifically to Jesus' captors, meaning "allow me to touch the ear of the wounded person";[6] Nicoll suggests alternatively that they could have been directed to the disciples: "let them apprehend me", or "no more use of weapons".[12]

Verse 70

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εἶπαν δὲ πάντες Σὺ οὖν εἶ ὁ Υἱὸς τοῦ Θεοῦ; ὁ δὲ πρὸς αὐτοὺς ἔφη Ὑμεῖς λέγετε ὅτι ἐγώ εἰμι.
Eipan de pantes, "Su oun ei ho Huios tou Theou?"; ho de pros autous ephē, "Humeis legete hoti egō eimi."
All of them asked, "Are you, then, the Son of God?"
He said to them, "You say that I am". (New Revised Standard Version)

The New King James Version adds "rightly":

"You rightly say that I am".[29]

Similarly, J. B. Phillips translates as:

"You are right; I am", Jesus told them.[30]

The Pulpit Commentary describes the style here as rabbinic: "by such an answer, the one interrogated accepts as his own affirmation the question put to him in its entirety."[25]

Verse 71

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And they said, "What further testimony do we need? For we have heard it ourselves from His own mouth".[31]

We have heard it ourselves that he "gives Himself out to be the Messiah".[16] The chapter ends with the anticipated rejection[32] of Jesus' self-witness and his resulting condemnation.[33]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ Halley, Henry H. Halley's Bible Handbook: an Abbreviated Bible Commentary. 23rd edition. Zondervan Publishing House. 1962.
  2. ^ Holman Illustrated Bible Handbook. Holman Bible Publishers, Nashville, Tennessee. 2012.
  3. ^ Jerusalem Bible (1966), Sub-heading for Luke 22-23
  4. ^ a b Franklin, E., 59. Luke, in Barton, John and Muddiman, John (2001), The Oxford Bible Commentary, p. 954
  5. ^ Luke 1 has 80 verses
  6. ^ a b Alford, H., Greek Testament Critical Exegetical Commentary - Alford on Luke 22, accessed 28 October 2023
  7. ^ Luke 22:6: New Revised Standard Version
  8. ^ Luke 19:48, 20:19
  9. ^ Luke 22:1: New International Version (NIV)
  10. ^ a b Farrar, F. W., Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges on Luke 22, accessed 28 October 2023
  11. ^ Luke 22:2: New King James Version (NKJV)
  12. ^ a b c d Nicoll, W. R., Expositor's Greek Testament on Luke 22, accessed 9 February 2022
  13. ^ Luke 22:3
  14. ^ Kurz, W. S. (1985), Luke 22:14-38 and Greco-Roman and Biblical Farewell Addresses, Journal of Biblical Literature, Vol. 104, No. 2 (June 1985), pp. 251-268, accessed 19 July 2018
  15. ^ Luke 22:14: NKJV
  16. ^ a b c Meyer, W. A. H., Meyer's NT Commentary on Luke 22, translated from the German sixth edition, accessed 6 February 2022
  17. ^ Meyer, W. A. H., Meyer's NT Commentary on Luke 9, translated from the German sixth edition, accessed 31 October 2023
  18. ^ Luke 22:15
  19. ^ Goyau, Pierre-Louis-Théophile-Georges (1910). "Second Council of Lyons (1274)" . Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol. 9.
  20. ^ Luke 22:16: NIV
  21. ^ Luke 22:18: NIV
  22. ^ Palmer, D. R., The Gospel of Luke: a Translation from the Greek, August 2020 edition, accessed 7 February 2022, pg. 92
  23. ^ Luke 22:16–8: Textus Receptus
  24. ^ Pulpit Commentary on Luke 11, accessed 20 July 2018
  25. ^ a b c Pulpit Commentary on Luke 22, accessed 20 July 2018
  26. ^ Luke 22:43–44
  27. ^ Luke 22:45
  28. ^ Luke 22:50–51: King James Version
  29. ^ Luke 22:70: NKJV
  30. ^ Luke 22:70: J.B. Phillips' New Testament
  31. ^ Luke 22:71: NKJV
  32. ^ Luke 9:22: NKJV
  33. ^ Gaebelein, A. C., Gaebelein's Annotated Bible on Luke 22, accessed 6 February 2022
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Preceded by
Luke 21 		Chapters of the Bible
Gospel of Luke 		Succeeded by
Luke 23
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