Lukas 17:7-19

17:7 “Would any one of you say ¹  to your slave ²  who comes in from the field after plowing or shepherding sheep, ‘Come at once and sit down for a meal’? ³  17:8 Won’t ⁴  the master ⁵  instead say to him, ‘Get my dinner ready, and make yourself ready ⁶  to serve me while ⁷  I eat and drink. Then ⁸  you may eat and drink’? 17:9 He won’t thank the slave because he did what he was told, ⁹  will he? ¹⁰  17:10 So you too, when you have done everything you were commanded to do, should say, ‘We are slaves undeserving of special praise; ¹¹  we have only done what was our duty.’” ¹² 

The Grateful Leper

17:11 Now on ¹³  the way to Jerusalem, ¹⁴  Jesus ¹⁵  was passing along ¹⁶  between Samaria and Galilee. 17:12 As ¹⁷  he was entering ¹⁸  a village, ten men with leprosy ¹⁹  met him. They ²⁰  stood at a distance, 17:13 raised their voices and said, “Jesus, Master, have mercy ²¹  on us.” 17:14 When ²²  he saw them he said, “Go ²³  and show yourselves to the priests.” ²⁴  And ²⁵  as they went along, they were cleansed. 17:15 Then one of them, when he saw he was healed, turned back, praising ²⁶  God with a loud voice. 17:16 He ²⁷  fell with his face to the ground ²⁸  at Jesus’ feet and thanked him. ²⁹  (Now ³⁰  he was a Samaritan.) ³¹  17:17 Then ³²  Jesus said, ³³  “Were ³⁴  not ten cleansed? Where are the other ³⁵  nine? 17:18 Was no one found to turn back and give praise to God except this foreigner?” ³⁶  17:19 Then ³⁷  he said to the man, ³⁸  “Get up and go your way. Your faith has made you well.” ³⁹ 

[17:7]  ¹ tn Grk “Who among you, having a slave… would say to him.”

[17:7]  ² tn See the note on the word “slave” in 7:2.

[17:7]  ³ 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]  ⁴ 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]  ⁵ tn Grk “he”; the referent has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[17:8]  ⁶ tn Grk “and gird yourself” (with an apron or towel, in preparation for service).

[17:8]  ⁷ tn BDAG 423 s.v. ἕως 2.b, “to denote contemporaneousness as long as, while… w. subjunctive… Lk 17:8.”

[17:8]  ⁸ tn Grk “after these things.”

[17:9]  ⁹ tn Grk “did what was commanded.”

[17:9]  ¹⁰ 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.

[17:10]  ¹¹ tn Some translations describe the slaves as “worthless” (NRSV) or “unworthy” (NASB, NIV) but that is not Jesus’ point. These disciples have not done anything deserving special commendation or praise (L&N 33.361), but only what would normally be expected of a slave in such a situation (thus the translation “we have only done what was our duty”).

[17:10]  ¹² tn Or “we have only done what we were supposed to do.”

[17:11]  ¹³ tn Grk “Now it happened that on.” 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.

[17:11]  ¹⁴ sn This is another travel note about Jesus going to Jerusalem in Luke 9:51-19:48, the so-called “Jerusalem journey” section of Luke’s Gospel. It is not a straight line journey, because to travel along the Galilean and Samaritan border is to go east or west, not south to Jerusalem.

[17:11]  map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

[17:11]  ¹⁵ tn Grk “he”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[17:11]  ¹⁶ tn Or “was traveling about.”

[17:12]  ¹⁷ tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

[17:12]  ¹⁸ tn The participle εἰσερχομένου (eisercomenou) is taken temporally.

[17:12]  ¹⁹ sn The ten men with leprosy would have been unable to approach Jesus (Lev 13:45-46; Num 5:2-3). The ancient term for leprosy covered a wider array of conditions than what is called leprosy today. A leper was totally ostracized from society until he was declared cured (Lev 13:45-46).

[17:12]  ²⁰ tn Grk “leprosy, who.” Because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, the relative pronoun was replaced with a personal pronoun and a new sentence started at this point in the translation.

[17:13]  ²¹ sn “Have mercy on us” is a request to heal them (Luke 18:38-39; 16:24; Matt 9:27; 15:22; 17:15; 20:31-32; Mark 10:47-49).

[17:14]  ²² tn Καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

[17:14]  ²³ tn The participle πορευθέντες (poreuqente") is a good example of an adverbial participle of attendant circumstance. As such, it picks up the force of an imperative from the verb to which it is related (ExSyn 640-45).

[17:14]  ²⁴ sn These are the instructions of what to do with a healing (Lev 13:19; 14:1-11; Luke 5:14).

[17:14]  ²⁵ tn Grk “And it happened that as.” 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.

[17:15]  ²⁶ tn Grk “glorifying God.”

[17:16]  ²⁷ tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

[17:16]  ²⁸ tn Grk “he fell on his face” (an idiom for complete prostration).

[17:16]  ²⁹ sn And thanked him. This action recognized God’s healing work through Jesus.

[17:16]  ³⁰ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “now” to indicate the introduction of a parenthetical comment.

[17:16]  ³¹ sn This is a parenthetical note by the author. The comment that the man was a Samaritan means that to most Jews of Jesus’ day he would have been despised as a half-breed and a heretic. The note adds a touch of irony to the account (v. 18).

[17:17]  ³² tn Here δέ (de) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the narrative.

[17:17]  ³³ tn Grk “Jesus answering said”; this is redundant in contemporary English and has been simplified in the translation.

[17:17]  ³⁴ tn The Greek construction used here (οὐχί, ouci) expects a positive reply.

[17:17]  ³⁵ tn The word “other” is implied in the context.

[17:18]  ³⁶ sn Jesus’ point in calling the man a foreigner is that none of the other nine, who were presumably Israelites, responded with gratitude. Only the “outsiders” were listening and responding.

[17:19]  ³⁷ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the narrative.

[17:19]  ³⁸ tn Grk “to him”; the referent has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[17:19]  ³⁹ tn Or “has delivered you”; Grk “has saved you.” The remark about faith suggests the benefit of trusting in Jesus’ ability to deliver. Apparently the Samaritan benefited from the healing in a way the other nine did not.