Luke 9:28

About eight days (wsei hmerai oktw). A nominativus pendens without connexion or construction. Mark 9:2 ( Matthew 17:1 ) has "after six days" which agrees with the general statement. Into the mountain (ei to oro). Probably Mount Hermon because we know that Jesus was near Caesarea Philippi when Peter made the confession ( Mark 8:27 ; Matthew 16:13 ). Hermon is still the glory of Palestine from whose heights one can view the whole of the land. It was a fit place for the Transfiguration. To pray (proseuxasqai). Peculiar to Luke who so often mentions Christ's habit of prayer (cf. Matthew 3:21 ). See also verse Matthew 29 "as he was praying" (en twi proseucesqai, one of Luke's favourite idioms). His countenance was altered (egeneto to eido tou proswpou autou eteron). Literally, "the appearance of his face became different." Matthew 17:2 says that "his face did shine as the sun." Luke does not use the word "transfigured" (metemorpwqh) in Mark 9:2 ; Matthew 17:2 . He may have avoided this word because of the pagan associations with this word as Ovid's Metamorpose. And his raiment became white and dazzling (kai o imatismo autou leuko exastraptwn). Literally, And his raiment white radiant. There is no and between "white" and "dazzling." The participle exastraptwn is from the compound verb meaning to flash (astraptw) out or forth (ex). The simple verb is common for lightning flashes and bolts, but the compound in the LXX and here alone in the N.T. See Mark 9:3 "exceeding white" and Matthew 17:2 "white as the light."