Luke 8:3

αὐτοῖς BD and most edd. αὐτῷ אAL, La[169]

[169] La. Lachmann.

3. Ἰωάννα. She is mentioned only in Luke 24:10, but had apparently been healed of some infirmity.

γυνὴ Χουζᾶ ἐπιτρόπου Ἡρώδου. She was probably a widow of Chuzas. See Luke 24:10. On ἐπιτρόπου without the article see note on Luke 2:36. The courtiers of Antipas were well aware of the ministry and claims of Jesus. Not only had John the Baptist been a familiar figure among them, but Manaen, Herod’s foster-brother, early became a Christian (Acts 13:1), and whether Chuzas be the courtier (βασιλικος, E. V. “nobleman”) of John 4:46 or not, that courtier could only have been in the retinue of Antipas, and must have made known the healing of his son by Jesus. The word ἐπίτροπος, ‘administrator,’ conveys the impression of a higher rank than “steward” (οἰκονομος). The Rabbis adopted the word in Hebrew letters, and said that Obadiah was Ahab’s ἐπίτροπος. Manaen at Antioch was perhaps the source of St Luke’s special knowledge about the Herodian family.

Σουσάννα. The name means ‘Lily.’

ἕτεραι πολλαί. See Matthew 27:55.

αἵτινες διηκόνουν αὐτοῖς ἐκ τῶν ὑπαρχόντων αὐταῖς. The verb διακονεῖν in the sense of pecuniary help is found also in Romans 15:25. This notice is deeply interesting as throwing light on the otherwise unsolved problem of the means of livelihood possessed by Jesus and His Apostles. They had a common purse which sufficed not only for their own needs but for those of the poor (John 13:29). The Apostles had absolutely forsaken their daily callings, but we may suppose that some of them (like Matthew and the sons of the wealthier fisherman Zebedee) had some small resources of their own, and here we see that these women, some of whom (as tradition says of Mary of Magdala) were rich, helped to maintain them. It must also be borne in mind (1) that the needs of an Oriental are very small. A few dates, a little parched corn, a draught of water, a few figs or grapes plucked from the roadside trees, suffice him; and in that climate he can sleep during most of the year in the open air wrapped up in the same outer garment which serves him for the day. Hence the standard of maintenance for a poor man in Palestine is wholly different from that required in such countries as ours with their many artificial needs. And yet (2) in spite of this our Lord was so poor as to be homeless (Luke 9:58), and without the means of even paying the small Temple-tribute of a didrachm (about 1 Samuel 6 d.), which was demanded from every adult Jew. Matthew 17:24; 2 Corinthians 8:9.