Luke 11:25-27 New English Translation

²⁵When it returns,^[a] it finds the house^[b] swept clean and put in order.^[c] ²⁶Then it goes and brings seven other spirits more evil than itself, and they go in and live there, so^[d] the last state of that person^[e] is worse than the first.”^[f]

²⁷As^[g] he said these things, a woman in the crowd spoke out^[h] to him, “Blessed is the womb^[i] that bore you and the breasts at which you nursed!”^[j]

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Footnotes

Luke 11:25 tn Grk “comes.”
Luke 11:25 tn The words “the house” are not in Greek but are implied.
Luke 11:25 sn The image of the house swept clean and put in order refers to the life of the person from whom the demon departed. The key to the example appears to be that no one else has been invited in to dwell. If an exorcism occurs and there is no response to God, then the way is free for the demon to return. Some see the reference to exorcism as more symbolic; thus the story’s only point is about responding to Jesus. This is possible and certainly is an application of the passage.
Luke 11:26 tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “so” to indicate the concluding point of the story.
Luke 11:26 tn Grk “man.” This is a generic use of ἄνθρωπος (anthrōpos), referring to both males and females.
Luke 11:26 sn The point of the story is that to fail to respond is to risk a worse fate than when one started.
Luke 11:27 tn Grk “And it happened that as.” The introductory phrase ἐγένετο (egeneto, “it happened that”), common in Luke (69 times) and Acts (54 times), is redundant in contemporary English and has not been translated. Here δέ (de) has not been translated.
Luke 11:27 tn Grk “lifted up her voice and said.” This idiom is somewhat redundant in contemporary English and has been simplified to “spoke out.”
Luke 11:27 tn For this term see L&N 8.69.
Luke 11:27 sn Both the reference to the womb and the breasts form a figure of speech called metonymy. In this case the parts are mentioned instead of the whole; the meaning is “Blessed is your mother!” The warnings seem to have sparked a little nervousness that brought forth this response. In the culture a mother was valued for the accomplishments of her son. So this amounts to a compliment to Jesus.

New English Translation (NET)