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"TO-DAY" (Luke
23.43).
APPENDIX 173
The interpretation of this
verse depends entirely on punctuation, which rests wholly on human
authority, the Greek manuscripts having no punctuation of any kind till
the ninth century, and then it is only a dot (in the middle of the line)
separating each word. (See Ap 94.V i.3)
The Verb "to say",
when followed by hoti, introduces the ipsissima verba of
what is said; and answers to our quotation marks. So here (in Luke
23.43), in the absence of hoti = "that", there may be a
doubt as to the actual words included in the dependent clause. But the
doubt is resolved (1) by the common Hebrew idiom, "I say unto thee
this day", which is constantly used for very solemn emphasis (See
note on Deut 4.26); as well as (2) by the usage observable in other
passages where the verb is connected with the Gr. semeron +
to-day.
1. With hoti : -
Mark 14.30 : "Verily I say
unto thee, that (hoti) 'this day ... thou shalt deny me
thrice."
Luke 4.21 : "And He began
to say unto them, that (hoti) 'This day is this scripture
fulfilled in your ears."
Luke 5.26 : "Saying (hoti
=that), 'We have seen strange things to-day."
Luke 19.9 : "Jesus said
unto him that (hoti), this day is salvation come into this
house."
For other examples of the verb
"to say", followed by hoti, but not connected with semeron
(to-day), see Matt 14.26; 16.18; 21.3; 26.34; 27.47; Mark 1.40;
6.14,15,18,35; 9.26; 14.25. Luke 4.24,41; 15.27; 17.10; 19.7.
2. Without hoti : -
On the other hand, in the
absence of hoti (=that), the relation of the word
"to-day" must be determined by the context.
Luke 22.34 : "And He said,
'I tell thee, Peter, in no wise shall a croc crow to-day before thou
shalt thrice deny that thou knowest Me." Here the word
"to-day" is connected with the verb "crow", because
the context requires it. Compare Heb 4.7.
It is the same in Luke 23.43 :
"And Jesus said to him, "Verily I say unto thee to-day [or
this day (*1), when, though they were about to die, this man had
expressed so great faith in Messiah's coming Kingdom, and therefore in
the Lord's resurrection to be its King - now, under such solemn
circumstances] thou shalt be, with Me, in Paradise." For when
Messiah shall reign His Kingdom will convert the promised land into a
Paradise. Read Isa 35, and see Note on Ecc 2.5.
We must notice also the Article
before "Paradise". It is "THE Paradise", viz. the
paradise of which the prophets tell in such glowing language, when the
Lord shall come in His Kingdom. See Ps 67.4,6; 72.6,7,16,17. Isa 4.2;
30.23,24; 35.1,2,5,6; 41.18,20. Jer 31.5,12. Ezek 34.25-27; 36.29,30;
47.8,9,12. Hos 2.18,21,22. Joel 3.18. Amos 9.13-15. Zech 8.12.
It has no connexion with
Babylonian, Jewish and Romish [Catholic] tradition, but is a direct answer
to the malefactor's prayer. His prayer referred to the Lord's coming and
His Kingdom; and, if the Lord's answer was direct, the promise must have
referred to that coming and to that kingdom, and not to anything that
was to happen on that day on which the words were being spoken.
[WBSG
NOTE: We respectfully disagree with Dr. Bullinger. he
apparently didn't understand "where the dead are." They
are with the Lord until Judgment day. See Luke chpt. 16.]
It was alleged that the Lord's
promise was a reply to the man's thought; but this is an assumption for
which no justification can be found. Moreover, how can we know what his
thought was, except by the words he uttered!
The Lewis Codex of the Syrian
N.T. reads in v39 : "save Thyself and us to-day". So the
Lord's word "to-day" may have reference to the reviling of
the one, as well as to the request of the other.
NOTE
(*1) It is rendered
"to-day" eighteen times in the Gospels, Hebrews and James; but
"this day" twenty-three times (five times in Matthew; once in
Mark; four times in Luke; nine times in Acts; once in Romans; twice in 2
Corinthians; and once in Hebrews.
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