Luke 3:20

Added (proseqhken). First aorist active indicative (kappa aorist). Common verb (prostiqhmi) in all Greek. In N.T. chiefly in Luke and Acts. Hippocrates used it of applying wet sponges to the head and Galen of applying a decoction of acorns. There is no evidence that Luke has a medical turn to the word here. The absence of the conjunction oti (that) before the next verb katekleisen (shut up) is asyndeton. This verb literally means shut down, possibly with a reference to closing down the door of the dungeon, though it makes sense as a perfective use of the preposition, like our "shut up" without a strict regard to the idea of "down." It is an old and common verb, though here and Acts 26:10 only in the N.T. See Matthew 14:3 for further statement about the prison.