Amsal 3:34

3:34 Although ¹  he is scornful to arrogant scoffers, ² 

yet ³  he shows favor to the humble. ⁴ 

Matius 10:16

Persecution of Disciples

10:16 “I ⁵  am sending you out like sheep surrounded by wolves, ⁶  so be wise as serpents and innocent as doves.

Lukas 16:8

16:8 The ⁷  master commended the dishonest ⁸  manager because he acted shrewdly. ⁹  For the people ¹⁰  of this world are more shrewd in dealing with their contemporaries ¹¹  than the people ¹²  of light.

[3:34]  ¹ tn The particle אִם (’im, “though”) introduces a concessive clause: “though….”

[3:34]  ² tn Heb “he mocks those who mock.” The repetition of the root לִיץ (lits, “to scorn; to mock”) connotes poetic justice; the punishment fits the crime. Scoffers are characterized by arrogant pride (e.g., Prov 21:24), as the antithetical parallelism with “the humble” here emphasizes.

[3:34]  ³ tn The prefixed vav (ו) introduces the apodosis to the concessive clause: “Though … yet …”

[3:34]  ⁴ tn The Hebrew is structured chiastically (AB:BA): “he scorns / arrogant scoffers // but to the humble / he gives grace.” The word order in the translation is reversed for the sake of smoothness and readability.

[10:16]  ⁵ tn Grk “Behold I.” The Greek word ἰδού (idou) has not been translated because it has no exact English equivalent here, but adds interest and emphasis (BDAG 468 s.v. 1).

[10:16]  ⁶ sn This imagery of wolves is found in intertestamental Judaism; see Pss. Sol. 8:23, 30.

[16:8]  ⁷ tn Grk “And the.” Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

[16:8]  ⁸ sn Is the manager dishonest because of what he just did? Or is it a reference to what he had done earlier, described in v. 1? This is a difficult question, but it seems unlikely that the master, having fired the man for prior dishonesty, would now commend those same actions. It would also be unusual for Jesus to make that point of the story the example. Thus it is more likely the reference to dishonesty goes back to the earliest events, while the commendation is for the cleverness of the former manager reflected in vv. 5-7.

[16:8]  ⁹ sn Where this parable ends is debated: Does it conclude with v. 7, after v. 8a, after v. 8b, or after v. 9? Verse 8a looks as if it is still part of the story, with its clear reference to the manager, while 8b looks like Jesus’ application, since its remarks are more general. So it is most likely the parable stops after v. 8a.

[16:8]  ¹⁰ tn Grk “sons” (an idiom).

[16:8]  ¹¹ tn Grk “with their own generation.”

[16:8]  ¹² tn Grk “sons.” Here the phrase “sons of light” is a reference to the righteous. The point is that those of the world often think ahead about consequences better than the righteous do.