Lukas 10:42

10:42 but one thing ¹  is needed. Mary has chosen the best ²  part; it will not be taken away from her.”

Lukas 12:19-21

12:19 And I will say to myself, ³  “You have plenty of goods stored up for many years; relax, eat, drink, celebrate!”’ 12:20 But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your life ⁴  will be demanded back from ⁵  you, but who will get what you have prepared for yourself?’ ⁶  12:21 So it is with the one who stores up riches for himself, ⁷  but is not rich toward God.”

Lukas 16:1-3

The Parable of the Clever Steward

16:1 Jesus ⁸  also said to the disciples, “There was a rich man who was informed of accusations ⁹  that his manager ¹⁰  was wasting ¹¹  his assets. 16:2 So ¹²  he called the manager ¹³  in and said to him, ‘What is this I hear about you? ¹⁴  Turn in the account of your administration, ¹⁵  because you can no longer be my manager.’ 16:3 Then ¹⁶  the manager said to himself, ‘What should I do, since my master is taking my position ¹⁷  away from me? I’m not strong enough to dig, ¹⁸  and I’m too ashamed ¹⁹  to beg.

Lukas 16:20-25

16:20 But at his gate lay ²⁰  a poor man named Lazarus ²¹  whose body was covered with sores, ²²  16:21 who longed to eat ²³  what fell from the rich man’s table. In addition, the dogs ²⁴  came and licked ²⁵  his sores.

16:22 “Now ²⁶  the poor man died and was carried by the angels to Abraham’s side. ²⁷  The ²⁸  rich man also died and was buried. ²⁹  16:23 And in hell, ³⁰  as he was in torment, ³¹  he looked up ³²  and saw Abraham far off with Lazarus at his side. ³³  16:24 So ³⁴  he called out, ³⁵  ‘Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus ³⁶  to dip the tip of his finger ³⁷  in water and cool my tongue, because I am in anguish ³⁸  in this fire.’ ³⁹  16:25 But Abraham said, ‘Child, ⁴⁰  remember that in your lifetime you received your good things and Lazarus likewise bad things, but now he is comforted here and you are in anguish. ⁴¹ 

[10:42]  ¹ tc Or, with some mss (̳ [א] B C² L 070^vid ˹ 33 [579] pc), “few things are needed – or only one” (as well as other variants). The textual problem here is a difficult one to decide. The shorter reading is normally preferred, but it is not altogether clear how the variants would arise from it. However, the reading followed in the translation has good support (with some internal variations) from a number of witnesses (Ì^45,75 A C* W Θ Ψ Ë¹³ Ï lat sa).

[10:42]  ² tn Or “better”; Grk “good.” This is an instance of the positive adjective used in place of the superlative adjective. According to ExSyn 298, this could also be treated as a positive for comparative (“better”).

[12:19]  ³ tn Grk “to my soul,” which is repeated as a vocative in the following statement, but is left untranslated as redundant.

[12:20]  ⁴ tn Grk “your soul,” but ψυχή (yuch) is frequently used of one’s physical life. It clearly has that meaning in this context.

[12:20]  ⁵ tn Or “required back.” This term, ἀπαιτέω (apaitew), has an economic feel to it and is often used of a debt being called in for repayment (BDAG 96 s.v. 1).

[12:20]  ⁶ tn Grk “the things you have prepared, whose will they be?” The words “for yourself” are not in the Greek text, but are implied.

[12:21]  ⁷ sn It is selfishness that is rebuked here, in the accumulation of riches for himself. Recall the emphasis on the first person pronouns throughout the parable.

[16:1]  ⁸ tn Grk “He”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[16:1]  ⁹ tn These are not formal legal charges, but reports from friends, acquaintances, etc.; Grk “A certain man was rich who had a manager, and this one was reported to him as wasting his property.”

[16:1]  ¹⁰ sn His manager was the steward in charge of managing the house. He could have been a slave trained for the role.

[16:1]  ¹¹ tn Or “squandering.” This verb is graphic; it means to scatter (L&N 57.151).

[16:2]  ¹² tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “so” to indicate the result of the reports the man received about his manager.

[16:2]  ¹³ tn Grk “him”; the referent (the manager) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[16:2]  ¹⁴ sn Although phrased as a question, the charges were believed by the owner, as his dismissal of the manager implies.

[16:2]  ¹⁵ tn Or “stewardship”; the Greek word οἰκονομία (oikonomia) is cognate with the noun for the manager (οἰκονόμος, oikonomo").

[16:3]  ¹⁶ tn Here δέ (de) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events in the parable.

[16:3]  ¹⁷ tn Grk “the stewardship,” “the management.”

[16:3]  ¹⁸ tn Here “dig” could refer (1) to excavation (“dig ditches,” L&N 19.55) or (2) to agricultural labor (“work the soil,” L&N 43.3). In either case this was labor performed by the uneducated, so it would be an insult as a job for a manager.

[16:3]  ¹⁹ tn Grk “I do not have strength to dig; I am ashamed to beg.”

[16:3]  sn To beg would represent a real lowering of status for the manager, because many of those whom he had formerly collected debts from, he would now be forced to beg from.

[16:20]  ²⁰ tn The passive verb ἐβέβλητο (ebeblhto) does not indicate how Lazarus got there. Cf. BDAG 163 s.v. βάλλω 1.b, “he lay before the door”; Josephus, Ant. 9.10.2 (9.209).

[16:20]  ²¹ sn This is the one time in all the gospels that a figure in a parable is mentioned by name. It will become important later in the account.

[16:20]  ²² tn Or “was covered with ulcers.” The words “whose body” are implied in the context (L&N 23.180).

[16:21]  ²³ tn Grk “to eat his fill,” but this phrase has been simplified as “to eat” for stylistic reasons.

[16:21]  ²⁴ tn The term κύνες (kunes) refers to “wild” dogs (either “street” dogs or watchdogs), not house pets (L&N 4.34).

[16:21]  ²⁵ sn When the dogs came and licked his sores it meant that he was unclean. See the negative image of Rev 22:15 that draws on this picture.

[16:22]  ²⁶ tn Grk “Now it happened that the.” The introductory phrase ἐγένετο (egeneto, “it happened that”), common in Luke (69 times) and Acts (54 times), is redundant in contemporary English and has not been translated.

[16:22]  ²⁷ tn Grk “to Abraham’s bosom.” The phrase “carried by the angels to Abraham’s bosom” describes being gathered to the fathers and is a way to refer to heaven (Gen 15:15; 47:30; Deut 31:16).

[16:22]  ²⁸ tn Grk “And the.” Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

[16:22]  ²⁹ sn The shorter description suggests a different fate, which is confirmed in the following verses.

[16:23]  ³⁰ sn The Greek term Hades stands for the Hebrew concept of Sheol. It is what is called hell today. This is where the dead were gathered (Ps 16:10; 86:13). In the NT Hades has an additional negative force of awaiting judgment (Rev 20:13).

[16:23]  ³¹ sn Hades is a place of torment, especially as one knows that he is separated from God.

[16:23]  ³² tn Grk “he lifted up his eyes” (an idiom).

[16:23]  ³³ tn Grk “in his bosom,” the same phrase used in 16:22. This idiom refers to heaven and/or participation in the eschatological banquet. An appropriate modern equivalent is “at Abraham’s side.”

[16:24]  ³⁴ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “so” to indicate the implied result of previous actions in the narrative.

[16:24]  ³⁵ tn Grk “calling out he said”; this is redundant in contemporary English style and has been simplified to “he called out.”

[16:24]  ³⁶ sn The rich man had not helped Lazarus before, when he lay outside his gate (v. 2), but he knew him well enough to know his name. This is why the use of the name Lazarus in the parable is significant. (The rich man’s name, on the other hand, is not mentioned, because it is not significant for the point of the story.)

[16:24]  ³⁷ sn The dipping of the tip of his finger in water is evocative of thirst. The thirsty are in need of God’s presence (Ps 42:1-2; Isa 5:13). The imagery suggests the rich man is now separated from the presence of God.

[16:24]  ³⁸ tn Or “in terrible pain” (L&N 24.92).

[16:24]  ³⁹ sn Fire in this context is OT imagery; see Isa 66:24.

[16:25]  ⁴⁰ tn The Greek term here is τέκνον (teknon), which could be understood as a term of endearment.

[16:25]  ⁴¹ tn Or “in terrible pain” (L&N 24.92). Here is the reversal Jesus mentioned in Luke 6:20-26.