Luke 3:7-18
One more powerful is coming
3:7John said to the crowds coming out to be baptized by him, “You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath?
3:8Therefore, bear fruits worthy of repentance, and do not begin to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our ancestor,’ for I tell you, God is able from these stones to raise up children to Abraham.
3:9Even now the ax is lying at the root of the trees; therefore every tree that does not bear good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire.”
3:10And the crowds asked him, “What, then, should we do?”
3:11In reply he said to them, “Whoever has two coats must share with anyone who has none, and whoever has food must do likewise.”
3:12Even tax collectors came to be baptized, and they asked him, “Teacher, what should we do?”
3:13He said to them, “Collect no more than the amount prescribed for you.”
3:14Soldiers also asked him, “And we, what should we do?” He said to them, “Do not extort money from anyone by threats or false accusation, and be satisfied with your wages.”
3:15As the people were filled with expectation and all were questioning in their hearts concerning John, whether he might be the Messiah,
3:16John answered all of them by saying, “I baptize you with water, but one who is more powerful than I is coming; I am not worthy to untie the strap of his sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.
3:17His winnowing fork is in his hand to clear his threshing floor and to gather the wheat into his granary, but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire.”
3:18So with many other exhortations he proclaimed the good news to the people.
[7]῎Ελεγεν οὖν τοῖς ἐκπορευομένοις ὄχλοις βαπτισθῆναι ὑπ᾿ αὐτοῦ· γεννήματα ἐχιδνῶν, τίς ὑπέδειξεν ὑμῖν φυγεῖν ἀπὸ τῆς μελλούσης ὀργῆς;
[8]ποιήσατε οὖν καρποὺς ἀξίους τῆς μετανοίας, καὶ μὴ ἄρξησθε λέγειν ἐν ἑαυτοῖς, πατέρα ἔχομεν τὸν ᾿Αβραάμ· λέγω γὰρ ὑμῖν ὅτι δύναται ὁ Θεὸς ἐκ τῶν λίθων τούτων ἐγεῖραι τέκνα τῷ ᾿Αβραάμ.
[9]ἤδη δὲ καὶ ἡ ἀξίνη πρὸς τὴν ῥίζαν τῶν δένδρων κεῖται· πᾶν οὖν δένδρον μὴ ποιοῦν καρπὸν καλὸν ἐκκόπτεται καὶ εἰς πῦρ βάλλεται.
[10]Καὶ ἐπηρώτων αὐτὸν οἱ ὄχλοι λέγοντες· τί οὖν ποιήσομεν;
[11]ἀποκριθεὶς δὲ λέγει αὐτοῖς· ὁ ἔχων δύο χιτῶνας μεταδότω τῷ μὴ ἔχοντι, καὶ ὁ ἔχων βρώματα ὁμοίως ποιείτω.
[12]ἦλθον δὲ καὶ τελῶναι βαπτισθῆναι, καὶ εἶπον πρὸς αὐτόν· διδάσκαλε, τί ποιήσομεν;
[13]ὁ δὲ εἶπε πρὸς αὐτούς· μηδὲν πλέον παρὰ τὸ διατεταγμένον ὑμῖν πράσσετε.
[14]ἐπηρώτων δὲ αὐτὸν καὶ στρατευόμενοι λέγοντες· καὶ ἡμεῖς τί ποιήσομεν; καὶ εἶπε πρὸς αὐτούς· μηδένα συκοφαντήσητε μηδὲ διασείσητε, καὶ ἀρκεῖσθε τοῖς ὀψωνίοις ὑμῶν.
[15]Προσδοκῶντος δὲ τοῦ λαοῦ καὶ διαλογιζομένων πάντων ἐν ταῖς καρδίαις αὐτῶν περὶ τοῦ ᾿Ιωάννου, μήποτε αὐτὸς εἴη ὁ Χριστός,
[16]ἀπεκρίνατο ὁ ᾿Ιωάννης ἅπασι λέγων· ἐγὼ μὲν ὕδατι βαπτίζω ὑμᾶς· ἔρχεται δὲ ὁ ἰσχυρότερός μου, οὗ οὐκ εἰμὶ ἱκανὸς λῦσαι τὸν ἱμάντα τῶν ὑποδημάτων αὐτοῦ· αὐτὸς ὑμᾶς βαπτίσει ἐν Πνεύματι ῾Αγίῳ καὶ πυρί.
[17]οὗ τὸ πτύον ἐν τῇ χειρὶ αὐτοῦ καὶ διακαθαριεῖ τὴν ἅλωνα αὐτοῦ, καὶ συνάξει τὸν σῖτον εἰς τὴν ἀποθήκην αὐτοῦ, τὸ δὲ ἄχυρον κατακαύσει πυρὶ ἀσβέστῳ.
[18]πολλὰ μὲν οὖν καὶ ἕτερα παρακαλῶν εὐηγγελίζετο τὸν λαόν.
Comments
St John the Baptist mentions items that are quite at home in the desert: vipers and stones. The question τί οὖν ποιήσομεν, repeated three times, really means ‘What can we do?’
[7] ῎Ελεγεν: ‘he would (repeatedly) say’. John kept speaking these harsh words. Cf. vv. 10 and 18.
γεννήματα ἐχιδνῶν: γέννημα, ‘that which is born’ (cl. Gk poetry & prose: LSJ s.v.); also in LXX where it can mean ‘fruit’, e.g. of a tree or crop (Muraoka s.v. γένημα). ἔχιδνα, ‘viper’ (Hdt. 3. 108, etc.); fig., of a treacherous wife or friend (Aesch. Libation bearers 249), etc., cf. LSJ s.v.). The word does not occur in LXX.
ὑπέδειξεν: ὑποδείκνυμι, υποδεικνύω, ‘I show, indicate’ (cl. Gk: LSJ s.v., & LXX: Muraoka). τίς ὑπέδειξεν ὑμῖν φυγεῖν…; = ‘Who showed you (the way) to escape…?’. The vb + inf. are not exampled in cl. Gk or LXX. If baptism is an initiation, a classicist might note that initiands are standardly vituperated as in Hesiod’s initiation by the Muses in the Theogony, on which see West’s commentary, p. 160, section 4 (citing, e.g., Isaiah vi.9 and many ancient Greek parallels).
[8] καρποὺς: ‘fruits’, fig. here, cf. γεννήματα immed. above and καρπὸν, v. 8.
[9] ἐκκόπτεται καὶ εἰς πῦρ βάλλεται: ‘is cut off (ἐκ + κόπτω) and thrown into the fire’; the vbs are examples of the prophetic present, which expresses absolute certainty about a future event. Cf. v. 16, ἔρχεται (‘is coming’).
[10] ἐπηρώτων αὐτὸν: ‘they kept asking him’. ἐπερωτάω, ‘inquire of’, c. acc. pers. (cl. Gk prose: LSJ s.v. I); also in LXX (Muraoka s.v. 1). Cf. v. 14.
τί οὖν ποιήσομεν: the future ποιήσομεν (‘we shall do’) is deliberative, and here expresses potentiality: ‘What can we do?’ The question recurs in vv. 12 and 14.
ἀποκριθεὶς: pass. aor. part. <ἀποκρίνομαι, ‘I answer’; LXX almost always uses the pass. aor. ἀπεκρίθην, and NT freq. uses the pass. aor. (LSJ s.v. IV. 1 &3; EDNT s.v. 1); but see on v. 16 below. ‘The preposition ἀπό in the sense of “suitable, based upon (an evaluation)” underscores the element of circumspect selection and judgment’ (EDNT ibid.). So the formulaic, hebraising ἀποκριθεὶς δὲ λέγει (v.11) implies that John gave a reply after thinking. Imagine him stroking his beard or chin as he distills his thoughts into an answer in a dialogue.
[16]ἀπεκρίνατο ὁ ᾿Ιωάννης: ‘John answered’, a middle aor. (cl. Gk. uses only the mid. aor.) In LXX (3 Ki 2.1) the mid. aor. signals solemn language (LSJ s.v. IV.3); the tone of the Baptist’s reply is also solemn.
Insights into Biblical Greek Grammar and Syntax 