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Luke 17:6-8
New English Translation
Luke 17:6-8
New English Translation
6 So[a] the Lord replied,[b] “If[c] you had faith the size of[d] a mustard seed, you could say to this black mulberry[e] tree, ‘Be pulled out by the roots and planted in the sea,’[f] and it would obey[g] you.
7 “Would any one of you say[h] to your slave[i] who comes in from the field after plowing or shepherding sheep, ‘Come at once and sit down for a meal’?[j] 8 Won’t[k] the master[l] instead say to him, ‘Get my dinner ready, and make yourself ready[m] to serve me while[n] I eat and drink. Then[o] you may eat and drink’?
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- Luke 17:6 tn Here δέ (de) has been translated as “so” to indicate the implied result of previous action(s) in the narrative.
- Luke 17:6 tn Grk “said.”
- Luke 17:6 tn This is a mixed condition, with ἄν (an) in the apodosis.
- Luke 17:6 tn Grk “faith as,” “faith like.”
- Luke 17:6 sn A black mulberry tree is a deciduous fruit tree that grows about 20 ft (6 m) tall and has black juicy berries. This tree has an extensive root system, so to pull it up would be a major operation.
- Luke 17:6 tn The passives here (ἐκριζώθητι and φυτεύθητι, ekrizōthēti and phuteuthēti) are probably a circumlocution for God performing the action (the so-called divine passive, see ExSyn 437-38). The issue is not the amount of faith (which in the example is only very tiny), but its presence, which can accomplish impossible things. To cause a tree to be uprooted and planted in the sea is impossible. The expression is a rhetorical idiom. It is like saying a camel can go through the eye of a needle (Luke 18:25).
- Luke 17:6 tn The verb is aorist, though it looks at a future event, another rhetorical touch to communicate certainty of the effect of faith.
- Luke 17:7 tn Grk “Who among you, having a slave…would say to him.”
- Luke 17:7 tn See the note on the word “slave” in 7:2.
- Luke 17:7 tn Grk “and recline at table,” as 1st century middle eastern meals were not eaten while sitting at a table, but while reclining on one’s side on the floor with the head closest to the low table and the feet farthest away. See BDAG 70 s.v. ἀναπίπτω 1.
- Luke 17:8 tn The question includes a Greek particle, οὐχί (ouchi), that expects a positive reply. The slave is expected to prepare a meal before eating himself.
- Luke 17:8 tn Grk “he”; the referent has been specified in the translation for clarity.
- Luke 17:8 tn Grk “and gird yourself” (with an apron or towel, in preparation for service).
- Luke 17:8 tn BDAG 423 s.v. ἕως 2.b, “to denote contemporaneousness as long as, while…w. subjunctive…Lk 17:8.”
- Luke 17:8 tn Grk “after these things.”
New English Translation (NET)
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