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.

Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible

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.

Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible

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.

Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole

18. knowest not, c.If he knewnot the events of the last few days in Jerusalem, he must be a meresojourner if he did, how could he suppose they would be talking ofanything else? How artless all this!

Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible

And one of them, whose name was Cleophas,…. Or Alphaeus, for it is the same name; he was one of the seventy disciples, and father of the Apostles James and Jude, and brother to Joseph, the husband of Mary, the mother of Christ, as before observed:

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? The Persic version reads, “in these two days”: the sense that whereas he appeared to come from Jerusalem, that if he was only a stranger and a sojourner, and not a stated inhabitant there, he could not be ignorant of what had been done there a few days past; or if he was, that he must be the only stranger, and the only man, that was so; for the facts referred to were so notorious, that every one must know them, inhabitant or stranger.

Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible

Dost thou alone sojourn? ( ;). is predicate adjective. “Hast thou been dwelling alone (all by thyself)?”

And not know? ( ;). Second aorist active indicative and difficult to put into English as the aorist often is. The verb means to dwell beside one, then as a stranger like (Eph 2:19). In Jerusalem everybody was talking about Jesus.

Fuente: Robertson’s Word Pictures in the New Testament

Art thou only a stranger in Jerusalem [ ] . 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 [] . Lit., “what kind of things.”

Fuente: Vincent’s Word Studies in the New Testament

1)“And the one of them, whose name was Cleopas,” (eis onomati Cleopas) “One (of them) whose name was Cleopas,” different from the Cleophas, husband of the Mary mentioned Joh 19:25.

2) “Answering said unto him,” (apokritheis de eipen pros auton) “Then replying said, inquired, directly to him,” or of him.

3) “Art thou only a stranger in Jerusalem,” (su monos paroikeis lerousalem) “And you only a stranger in Jerusalem,” or are you sojourning alone in the Jerusalem area? or just arrived in this area?

4) “And hast not known the things which are come to pass,” (kai ouk egnos ta genomena) “And do not know the things happening,” or occurring there; Cleopas assumes that this person joining them had come up to Jerusalem for the Passover and is in wonder that he hasn’t heard about the matter of the betrayal, crucifixion, and resurrection. For it was the “talk of the town.”

5) “There in these days?”” (en aute en tais hemerais tautais) “In it in these (recent) days?” the past four or five days, since the triumphal entry especially, Luk 19:28-40.

Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary

(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 Grcised 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 . . .?

Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)

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.

Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments

‘And one of them, named Cleopas, answering said to him, “Do you alone stay for a time in Jerusalem and not know the things which are come about there in these days?”

Then one of them spoke. His name was Cleopas. This suggests that by the time the account was written Cleopas was well known in the early church, and that he may well have been Luke’s source. The other may have been his wife (see Joh 19:25, although the spelling of the name is slightly different), especially as they lived together, but it could equally well have been a servant and master, or two brothers, or a father and son, or close relatives who shared a home.

He expressed amazement that the stranger was not aware of the tumultuous things that had been going on. (We always feel that people should be aware of what we think is important). Was he the only one who had been staying in Jerusalem who was not aware of what had happened? This was an exaggeration. There were probably many people in Jerusalem who were as yet unaware of what had happened. The Stranger’s questions would, however, further confirm to the two that any sense that they had had that this man was like Jesus was pure coincidence.

Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett

Luk 24:18. Art thou only a stranger, &c. Are you the only person that sojourns in Jerusalem, and is unacquainted with the things which, &c.? Heylin, and Doddridge.

Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke

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.)

Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)

18. . ] 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?

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

Fuente: Henry Alford’s Greek Testament

Luk 24:18 . : at last after recovering from surprise one of them, Cleopas, finds his tongue, and explains fully the subject of their conversation. , 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 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, Rosenmller, 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 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? ( qualifies as well as ).

[204] Septuagint.

Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson

Cleopas. Aramaic. See App-94. An abbreviation of Cleopatros. Not the same as Clopas of Joh 19:25.

only a . . . and hast = the only . . . who has.

known = got to know. App-132.

there = in (Greek. en) it.

Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics

18. .] 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?

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

Fuente: The Greek Testament

Luk 24:18. , 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 Peters 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.]-, 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.

Fuente: Gnomon of the New Testament

Cleopas: Joh 19:25

Reciprocal: Luk 24:13 – two Act 2:5 – were Act 2:22 – a man

Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge

8

A stranger is one from the outside, or one lately arrived at any place. Cleopas thought a regular resident would have known about these things.

Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary

Luk 24:18. One of them. The best authorities omit the.

Cleopas. See Luk 24:13.

Art thou the only one sojourning in Jerusalem and not knowing, etc. A literal translation would be: Dost thou alone sojourn at Jerusalem and not know, etc. It might mean: Dost thou sojourn alone, and (hence) not know. The other is, however, more grammatical. Sojourning implies that they took Him for one who had been at Jerusalem to attend the Passover. This they probably inferred from His walking away from the city, or from the thought that no inhabitant could be ignorant of this matter; hardly from any peculiarity of dialect. It is implied not only that even a stranger might be expected to know of these things, out that only one who was ignorant of the whole matter could inquire why they thus talked. So absorbing did the events appear to them.

Fuente: A Popular Commentary on the New Testament

Verse 18

Cleopas. His wife, the sister of Mary, the mother of Jesus, is mentioned John 19:25.

Fuente: Abbott’s Illustrated New Testament

24:18 And {d} 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?

(d) Some of the old fathers think that the other disciple was the same evangelist who wrote this book, but Epiphanius, writing against the Saturnilians, says it was Nathanael; but none of these are certainties.

Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes