Luke 24:18

24:18 the only person in Jerusalem who hasn’t heard about all the things: The Romans conducted crucifixions at major public crossroads to make an example of the victims and warn others against revolt. It was unthinkable to these disciples that a Passover pilgrim would not have heard of Jesus’ crucifixion.

Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Luk 24:18. Ὁ εἷς, the one) The name of the other of the two is not given; who notwithstanding was also dear to the Lord. So too Joh 1:35; Joh 1:40 [where “two disciples” are mentioned, of whom Andrew alone is named]. The godly are mentioned not for their own sake, but for the sake of others. [Long ago Orige[271] indeed considered Peter to be the companion of Cleopas who was meant (L. contra Celsum, p. 105); but in that case either Peter would have spoken, or at least Cleopas would have more distinctly appealed to Peter’s report of what he had seen at the sepulchre in ch. Luk 24:24. There is to be added the fact, that both of these disciples are expressly distinguished from “the Eleven” in Luk 24:33. Harduin suspects that Cephas, Gal 2:9; 1Co 1:2; 1Co 1:9; 1Co 1:15, was a disciple distinct from Peter; and from the passage, 1Co 15:5, that he was the companion of Cleopas, Op. sel., p. 928. But from 1Co 15:9, it is not obscurely evident that Paul speaks of Kephas as an apostle. One may more reasonably raise the question, whether the Simon to whom the Lord appeared was not a disciple distinct, as well from the companion of Cleopas, as also from Peter or, as he is otherwise named, Kephas, inasmuch as the appearance of our Lord was vouchsafed to the latter before that Peter returned to the rest from the walk mentioned in ch. Luk 24:12. Whichever of these views be correct, at least it is certain that the Saviour appeared to the women first; then to some of the disciples not distinguished with the dignity of apostles; in fine, to Simon Peter, who even most of all stood in need of this grace, and to the rest of the apostles, who as well as Peter ought to have conceived faith sooner than all the rest, and that too a faith of a more elevated character.—Harm., p. 603.]—παροικεῖς, art Thou only a new-comer [‘stranger’]) Jesus here seems to have retained the dialect of Galilee, inasmuch as Cleopas does not take Him to be a citizen of Jerusalem.

[271] rigen (born about 186 A.D., died 253 A.D., a Greek father: two-thirds of the N. Test. are quoted in his writings). Ed. Vinc. Delarue, Paris. 1733, 1740, 1759.

Bengel's Gnomon of the New Testament — English translation (T&T Clark, Edinburgh, 1860) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Luk 24:18 . ἀποκριθεὶς δὲ : at last after recovering from surprise one of them, Cleopas, finds his tongue, and explains fully the subject of their conversation. Σὺ μόνος , etc.: he begins by expressing his surprise that the stranger should need to be told. What could they be talking about but the one supreme topic of the hour? The verb παροικεῖς might mean: live near, and the point of the question be: dost thou live near Jerusalem (in the neighbourhood of Emmaus, a few miles distant), and not know, etc. So Grotius, Rosenmüller, Bleek, etc. The usual meaning of the verb in Sept [204] and N.T. (Heb 11:9 ) is to sojourn as a stranger, and most take it in that sense here = art thou a stranger sojourning in Jerusalem (at passover time), and therefore ignorant? The μόνος implies isolation over and above being a stranger. There were many strangers in Jerusalem at passover season; the two friends might be among them; but even visitors from Galilee and other places knew all about what had happened = do you live alone, having no communication with others a stranger in Jerusalem so as to be the only man who does not know? ( μόνος qualifies ἔγνως as well as παροικεῖς ).

[204] Septuagint.

The Expositor's Greek Testament, edited by W. Robertson Nicoll (1897–1910) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Art thou only a stranger in Jerusalem [συ μονος παροικεις ιερουσαλημ] . Paroikein, to dwell as a stranger, is used in later Greek of strangers who have no rights of citizenship, and no settled home. Compare Heb 11:9. See on strangers, 1Pe 1:1; and compare sojourning, 1Pe 1:17. The only of the A. V. is commonly understood adverbially : "Are you nothing but a stranger ?" But the emphasis of the question falls there, and the word is an adjective. Render "Dost thou alone dwell as a stranger in Jerusalem ?" Are you the only one who sojourns as a stranger in Jerusalem, and who does not know, etc. So, nearly, Wyc., Thou alone art a pilgrim in Jerusalem.

Luk 24:18What things [ποια] . Lit., "what kind of things."

Marvin R. Vincent, Word Studies in the New Testament (1887–1900) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Some of the old fathers think that the other disciple was this our Evangelist, but Epiphanius writing against the Saturnilians, saith it was Nathanael, but all these are uncertainties.

Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain. Text via Bolls.life.

knowest not, &c.--If he knew not the events of the last few days in Jerusalem, he must be a mere sojourner; if he did, how could he suppose they would be talking of anything else? How artless all this!

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Verse 18. Cleopas] The same as Alpheus, father of the Apostle James, Mr 3:18, and husband of the sister of the virgin. Joh 19:25.

Art thou only a stranger] As if he had said, What has been done it Jerusalem, within these few days, has been so public, so awful, and so universally known, that, if thou hadst been but a lodger in the city for a single night, I cannot conceive how thou couldst miss hearing of these things: indeed, thou appearest to be the only person unacquainted with them.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

(18) One of them, whose name was Cleopas.—The name is to be distinguished from the Clopas of Joh_19:25, which was probably a Græcised form of the Aramaic name of a Galilean disciple. Here the name is a Greek contraction of Cleopatros (so Antipas, from Antipatros), and so far, as connected with Cleopatra, indicates Hellenistic and probably Alexandrian antecedents. This may in part, perhaps, account for his imparting to St. Luke what had not found its way into the current oral teaching of the Hebrew Church at Jerusalem, as embodied in the narratives of St. Matthew and St. Mark.

Art thou only a stranger in Jerusalem?—The English is, at least, ambiguous. Better, Art thou alone a sojourner . . .?

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

18. whose name was Cleopas] See on Luk_24:13. The mention of so entirely obscure a name alone proves that the story is not an invention. Pii non sua sed aliorum causa memorantur. Bengel.

Art thou only a stranger in Jerusalem] Rather, Dost thou live alone as a stranger in Jerusalem; art thou some lonely sojourner in Jerusalem, come from a distance?

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

And how the chief priests and our rulers,.... Civil and ecclesiastic:

delivered him; to Pontius Pilate, the Roman governor:

to be condemned to death; the death of the cross, by the said governor, having first seized him and examined him before their sanhedrim, and pronounced him guilty of death:

and have crucified him; for though Pilate passed the sentence, and the Roman soldiers executed it, yet these men are said to do it, because it was at their request, and through their instigation, that it was done; hence Peter charges the Jewish sanhedrim with it, Act 4:10.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

18 And the one of them, whose name was Cleopas, answering said unto him, Art thou only a stranger in Jerusalem, and hast not known the things which are come to pass there in these days?

Ver. 18. And one of them, whose name was Cleophas] They that hold the other of these two to have been St Luke, are refuted by the preface he hath set before the Acts, saith Beza.

Art thou only a stranger, &c.] Tragedies have no prologues, as comedies have, because it is supposed that all men take knowledge of public calamities. (Natal. Comes.)

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Art thou only a stranger? ... - This is an expression of surprise that he should be unacquainted with an affair that had made so much noise, and that had been attended with so remarkable circumstances. The word “stranger” here denotes one who had come to reside at a place only for a “time,” not a permanent inhabitant. Many Jews came up from all parts of the world to Jerusalem, to keep the Passover there. They appear to have taken Jesus to be such a stranger or foreigner. The meaning of this verse may be thus expressed: “The affair concerning which we are sad has been well known, and has made a great talk and noise, so that all, even the strangers who have come up to remain there but a little time, are well acquainted with it. Art thou the “only one” of them who has not heard it? Is everybody so well acquainted with it, and thou hast not heard of it? It is a matter of surprise, and we cannot account for it.”

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Art thou alone a stranger in Jerusalem? or, art thou the only stranger in Jerusalem? which was to signify, that every one must needs have heard of what had passed in regard to Jesus. (Witham)

George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).

The things which had lately happened in Jerusalem were so many, and so unusual, that the disciples wonder that any one coming from Jerusalem should ask, What things? They therefore ask him if he were a mere stranger in Jerusalem, coming from some other country, or from some remoter parts of Judea or Galilee? Or, if he were the only man who had been unconcerned in what was the common discourse both of the town and country? Still our Saviour draws out the discourse from them, by asking them,

What things? They tell him, Concerning Jesus of Nazareth, a Prophet mighty in deed and word; in which phrase Stephen celebrated Moses, Act 7:22; that is, one who did not only in an extraordinary manner reveal the will of God unto men, but also did many great and mighty works, and lived a most holy and most exemplary life and conversation, so as that he was not only highly favoured of God, but in great repute and estimation also amongst the people.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

18. Whose name was Cleopas—This name is Greek, being an abbreviation of the name Cleopatros, the feminine of which is the celebrated name Cleopatra. It is not the same with Clopas (as it should be spelled) of Joh_19:25; which is a Hebrew name, the same with Alpheus.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

And the one of them, whose name was Cleopas. This name is a Greek contraction of Cleopatros, and points to Alexandrian antecedents. Dean Plumptre suggests that this may in part, perhaps, account for this Cleopas, not improbably a Jew of Alexandria, imparting to St. Luke what had not found its way into the current oral teaching of the Hebrew Church at Jerusalem, as embodied in the narratives of St. Matthew and Mark. Art thou only a stranger in Jerusalem? better translated, dost thou alone sojourn in Jerusalem, and not know, etc.? That is to say, "Art thou the only stranger in Jerusalem who does not know about the wonderful events which have just taken place in the holy city?"

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

18. One of them named Cleopas. This was one of the names of the husband of the mother of James and Joses (John 19:25). Dost thou alone sojourn in Jerusalem and not know? Cleopas is surprised that any one in Jerusalem should be ignorant of the marvellous events.

B. W. Johnson's The People's New Testament with Notes (1889–1891) — public domain. Electronic text from the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (CCEL) ThML edition.

18. Κλεόπας. See on Luk 24:13. The mention of so obscure a name proves that the story is not an invention. Pii non sua sed aliorum causa memorantur. Bengel.

σὺ μόνος παροικεῖς Ἱερουσαλήμ; ‘Dost thou live alone as a stranger in Jerusalem?’ art thou some lonely sojourner in Jerusalem, come from a distance? Vulg[416] tu solus peregrinus es? Art thou alone a stranger? This rendering is also possible. See Winer, p. 785. For the verb see Eph 2:19, and for παροικία 1Pe 1:17.

[416] Vulg. Vulgate.

Cambridge Greek Testament for Schools and Colleges (Cambridge University Press, 1896; 21 vols, various authors incl. Carr, Maclear, Plummer, Farrar, Lumby, Moule, M. R. James, Simcox) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

18. μόνος παρ.] They took Him (but we must not think of a peculiar dialect as giving that impression) for one who had been at Jerusalem at the feast:—and asked, Dost thou lodge alone at Jerusalem?

παροικ. (with or without ἐν, see reff.) in the LXX is to sojourn in—not to dwell in.

Henry Alford, The Greek Testament (1849–1861) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

18. ὀνόματι κλεόπας . See on 5:27. The name is not to be identified with Κλωπᾶς (Joh 19:25), which is Aramaic, whereas Κλεόπας ( = Κλεόπατρος is Greek. The incorrect spelling Cleophas (AV.) comes from some Latin MSS. The mention of the name is a mark of reality.

Σὺ μόνος παροικεῖς Ἰερουσαλήμ. The pronoun is emphatic. The μόνος cannot mean “only a stranger” (AV.), but either “the only stranger” or “a lonely stranger,” i.e. either “Dost thou alone sojourn at J.,” or “Dost thou sojourn alone at J.” The former is more probable: see Wetst. and Field for examples. The verb occurs only here and Heb 11:9 in N.T., but is common in LXX of being a stranger or sojourner (Gen 21:23, Gen 21:34; Gen 24:3, etc.). Comp. πάροικος (Act 7:6, Act 7:29) and παροικία (Act 13:17). The usual construction would be ἐν Ἰερουσαλήμ: but we have γῆν ἥν παροικεῖς (Gen 17:8; Exo 4:4).

International Critical Commentary — older volumes (1896–1929), various authors — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.