Lukas 17:6-9
Konteks17:6 So 1 the Lord replied, 2 “If 3 you had faith the size of 4 a mustard seed, you could say to this black mulberry 5 tree, ‘Be pulled out by the roots and planted in the sea,’ 6 and it would obey 7 you.
17:7 “Would any one of you say 8 to your slave 9 who comes in from the field after plowing or shepherding sheep, ‘Come at once and sit down for a meal’? 10 17:8 Won’t 11 the master 12 instead say to him, ‘Get my dinner ready, and make yourself ready 13 to serve me while 14 I eat and drink. Then 15 you may eat and drink’? 17:9 He won’t thank the slave because he did what he was told, 16 will he? 17
[17:6] 1 tn Here δέ (de) has been translated as “so” to indicate the implied result of previous action(s) in the narrative.
[17:6] 3 tn This is a mixed condition, with ἄν (an) in the apodosis.
[17:6] 4 tn Grk “faith as,” “faith like.”
[17:6] 5 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.
[17:6] 6 tn The passives here (ἐκριζώθητι and φυτεύθητι, ekrizwqhti and futeuqhti) 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).
[17:6] 7 tn The verb is aorist, though it looks at a future event, another rhetorical touch to communicate certainty of the effect of faith.
[17:7] 8 tn Grk “Who among you, having a slave… would say to him.”
[17:7] 9 tn See the note on the word “slave” in 7:2.
[17:7] 10 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.
[17:8] 11 tn The question includes a Greek particle, οὐχί (ouci), that expects a positive reply. The slave is expected to prepare a meal before eating himself.
[17:8] 12 tn Grk “he”; the referent has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[17:8] 13 tn Grk “and gird yourself” (with an apron or towel, in preparation for service).
[17:8] 14 tn BDAG 423 s.v. ἕως 2.b, “to denote contemporaneousness as long as, while… w. subjunctive… Lk 17:8.”
[17:8] 15 tn Grk “after these things.”
[17:9] 16 tn Grk “did what was commanded.”
[17:9] 17 tn The Greek construction anticipates a negative reply which is indicated in the translation by the ‘tag’ at the end, “will he?” Thanks are not required.