Lukas 13:2

13:2 He ¹  answered them, “Do you think these Galileans were worse sinners ²  than all the other Galileans, because they suffered these things?

Lukas 17:2

17:2 It would be better for him to have a millstone ³  tied around his neck and be thrown into the sea ⁴  than for him to cause one of these little ones to sin. ⁵ 

[13:2]  ¹ tn Grk “And he.” Here καί (kai) has been translated as “now” to indicate the transition to a new topic.

[13:2]  ² sn Jesus did not want his hearers to think that tragedy was necessarily a judgment on these people because they were worse sinners.

[17:2]  ³ tn This term refers to the heavy upper stone of a grinding mill (L&N 7.70; BDAG 660 s.v. μυλικός).

[17:2]  sn The punishment of drowning with a heavy weight attached is extremely gruesome and reflects Jesus’ views concerning those who cause others who believe in him to sin.

[17:2]  ⁴ tn Grk “if a millstone were tied…and he were thrown.” The conditional construction in Greek has been translated by English infinitives: “to have… and be thrown.”

[17:2]  ⁵ tn Or “to stumble.” This verb, σκανδαλίσῃ (skandalish), has the same root as the noun σκάνδαλον (skandalon) in 17:1, translated “stumbling blocks”; this wordplay is difficult to reproduce in English. It is possible that the primary cause of offense here would be leading disciples (“little ones”) astray in a similar fashion.