Luke 17
He speaks of stumbling-blocks and forgiveness. Of ten lepers only one comes back, and he answers the question of where the kingdom is.
Inadmissible renders ἀνένδεκτος (anendektos), used once in the four Gospels — the Greek says it cannot be allowed that they not come. Stumbling blocks renders σκάνδαλα (skandala), the trap-stick as a noun.
Mill-stone here is the ordinary word; Mark 9:42 says a donkey's millstone, and this edition keeps the two apart.
Why this rendering
Luke.17.2 Observation
Syntactic observation
The saying stands in all three books and the millstone is named differently. Matthew 18:6 and Mark 9:42 have μύλος ὀνικός, a donkey's millstone; Luke 17:2 λίθος μυλικός, a mill-stone — Luke has no donkey. ὀνικός stands twice in the four Gospels, at Matt 18:6 and Mark 9:42, and μυλικός is a hapax in the four Gospels. The build follows Mark: both have περίκειται περὶ τὸν τράχηλον, lies about his neck, where Matthew has κρεμασθῇ εἰς τὸν τράχηλον, be hung on his neck, and one layer more for the sea, πελάγει τῆς θαλάσσης, the deep of the sea. The verb of casting differs three ways — Matthew καταποντισθῇ, be sunk; Mark βέβληται, be thrown; Luke ἔρριπται, be flung. And Luke has no who believe in me. Matthew and Mark both have τῶν μικρῶν τούτων τῶν πιστευόντων εἰς ἐμέ; Luke ends at τῶν μικρῶν τούτων ἕνα, one of these little ones. The opening differs too — Matthew συμφέρει, it is better; Mark καλόν ἐστιν, it is good; Luke λυσιτελεῖ, it is more profitable. The ἀνένδεκτος of v.1, impossible, is a hapax in the four Gospels.
Rendering options · 2
Basis That the words part at the three places is the datum. The donkey's millstone is fixed at Matthew 18, and that Luke does not use it can only be seen if the renderings are kept apart. Who believe in me is not in Luke's base text and is not supplied (DECISIONS C1). Among the versions, not one of thirteen supplies who believe in me, and only 개역한글 unifies the millstone with Matthew and Mark (연자맷돌, a donkey-millstone).
Basis It is one saying, so unifying lets the reader see the parallel.
Rejected Unifying erases that Luke dropped the donkey. And supplying who believe in me makes the translation decide who Luke's little ones are — Matthew and Mark say, and Luke does not.
Release (ἀφίημι, aphiēmi) is the forgiveness-word — this edition does not soften it.
Seven times in the day — this book counts the day; Matthew 18:22 counts seventy-seven.
Add faith to us — the Greek says “add faith”, not “increase our faith”.
Mulberry tree (συκάμινος, sykaminos) — this book's own tree; Matthew 17:20 has a mountain moved instead.
Why this rendering
Luke.17.6 Observation
Syntactic observation
What faith the size of a mustard seed moves differs from book to book. Matthew 17:20 has τῷ ὄρει τούτῳ, to this mountain, move from here to there; Matthew 21:21 and Mark 11:23 have τῷ ὄρει τούτῳ, be taken up and thrown into the sea. Luke 17:6 has τῇ συκαμίνῳ ταύτῃ, to this mulberry tree, be uprooted and planted in the sea. So all three have a mountain and Luke alone a tree; all three have it thrown and Luke alone has it planted. συκάμινος is a hapax in the four Gospels. The verbs part too: Matt 21:21 and Mark 11:23 have Ἄρθητι καὶ βλήθητι, be lifted and thrown; Luke Ἐκριζώθητι καὶ φυτεύθητι, be uprooted and planted. ἐκριζόω stands three times — Matt 13:29 (uprooting weeds), 15:13 (what was not planted is uprooted), and here — and Matthew's two both stand beside planting. And planting a tree in the sea does not add up in Greek either: uprooting pairs with planting, and the place to plant is the sea. The conditional differs in form as well: Matt 17:20 has ἐὰν ἔχητε, if you have, looking forward, while Luke has Εἰ ἔχετε … ἐλέγετε ἄν, if you had… you would have said, a form leaning toward not having it now. Matt 17:20 has ἀμήν; Luke does not. Those who ask at v.5 are οἱ ἀπόστολοι, the apostles, a word Luke uses six times.
Rendering options · 2
Basis These two words are where the three places part. Matching the tree to a mountain erases that Luke said something else, and smoothing be planted into be thrown pulls it toward Matthew and Mark. And that it does not add up is true of the Greek too — not a place for the translation to mend. Here the versions nearly all take the same road — twelve of thirteen keep the tree a tree and the planting a planting.
Basis Planting a tree in the sea does not read, and since the three are one saying, matching makes the parallel plain.
Rejected That it does not read is the text. And that the three are one saying is a judgement, not the text — by the words they part, mountain against tree, thrown against planted. Matching hides the parting, and showing the parting is what this edition is for.
Lost in translation
The Greek Εἰ ἔχετε … ἐλέγετε ἄν leans contrary to present fact, sounding like if you had it (which you do not). Matthew 17:20's ἐὰν ἔχητε has no such lean. English if you had carries some of it, but never as sharply — it shows only when the two verses are set side by side.
This parable stands only in this book.
Gird yourself and serve me — at 12:37 it is the master who girds himself; here it is the slave. The two stand side by side in this book.
Does he thank the slave — the question expects the answer “no”.
Useless (ἀχρεῖος, achreios) is used in the four Gospels only here and at Matthew 25:30.
Why this rendering
Luke.17.10 Observation
Syntactic observation
ἀχρεῖος, useless, stands twice in the four Gospels, and the two places run in opposite directions. Matthew 25:30 has τὸν ἀχρεῖον δοῦλον ἐκβάλετε εἰς τὸ σκότος τὸ ἐξώτερον, throw the useless slave into the outer dark — the word is a master's verdict on a slave. Luke 17:10 has Δοῦλοι ἀχρεῖοί ἐσμεν, we are useless slaves — the word is what the slaves say of themselves, and it is presented as the right thing to say. The same two words are grounds for being thrown out in one place and what to say when everything is done in the other. This parable is Luke's alone. So are its words: ἀροτριάω, to plough, is a hapax in the four Gospels, and περιζώννυμι, to gird, is Luke's alone three times, of which 17:8 is the third. As recorded at Luke 12, at 12:37 the master girds himself and serves the slaves, while here at 17:8 the slave girds himself and serves the master — one word running directly against itself inside one book. διακονέω, to serve, stands at 12:37 and here as well. διατάσσω, to order, occurs once in Matthew and four times in Luke, two of the four in this passage (17:9, 17:10).
Rendering options · 2
Basis The word stands at two places and that the two run against each other is the datum. Softening it to unworthy or merely doing our duty loses the overlap with Matt 25:30, and with the overlap the opposition goes too. The versions divide — five keep the harshness (개역한글 무익한; KJV, ASV, YLT, LSV unprofitable) and eight soften it (unworthy; undeserving of special praise). This edition already renders Matt 25:30 as 쓸모없는 종 / useless slave and follows that.
Basis Useless sounds too harsh in Korean and English, and the following clause already explains the sense.
Rejected The harshness is the text. And seeing where the word stands at Matt 25:30 shows the harshness is not accidental — this verse takes that word deliberately and turns it over. Softening hides the turn.
Between Samaria and Galilee — the route is odd, and the text is left as it stands.
Stood at a distance — the law required it.
Master is the overseer-word of 5:5 — this book alone uses it in the four Gospels.
As they went they were cleansed — the healing happens on the road, in obedience.
Healed (ἰάομαι, iaomai) — the writer changes the verb from “cleansed”.
And he was a Samaritan — the writer puts it last, as the sting.
Why this rendering
Luke.17.16 Observation
Syntactic observation
καὶ αὐτὸς ἦν Σαμαρίτης, and he was a Samaritan, hangs at the end of the sentence — told only after the story is told. And at v.18 Jesus calls him ὁ ἀλλογενὴς οὗτος, this foreigner, where ἀλλογενής is a hapax in the four Gospels: the only place in the four Gospels where a word for being of another people is set on a person. Σαμαρίτης stands eight times — once in Matthew (10:5, do not enter a city of Samaritans), three times in Luke (9:52, 10:33, 17:16), four in John, and never in Mark. Two of Luke's three (10:33, 17:16) are places where a Samaritan does right. The address at v.13 is this book's own: ἐπιστάτης stands seven times and all seven are Luke's, of which 17:13 is the last, and here it is the lepers who use it. εὐχαριστέω, to give thanks, stands eleven times: Matthew's two and Mark's two are all over bread and cup (Matt 15:36, 26:27; Mark 8:6, 14:23), and of Luke's four this one alone is a person thanking Jesus. πόρρωθεν, at a distance, is a hapax in the four Gospels. And Jesus himself does the arithmetic of ten cleansed and one returning (v.17, were not ten cleansed? where are the nine?) — a rare place where the text counts for the reader.
Rendering options · 2
Basis That the telling comes last is the build of the verse; moving it forward makes the reader know from the start and turns it into a different story. And v.18 does not repeat Σαμαρίτης but uses another word, so the rendering must differ too — Jesus names him by his people, not as a Samaritan.
Basis Appending it reads awkwardly in Korean word order, and since v.18 refers to that Samaritan, one word reads more easily.
Rejected The awkwardness is the build. And the change of word at v.18 is not accidental — ἀλλογενής occurs once in the four Gospels and that once falls here. Matching erases it.
Where are the nine — the question is not answered.
Foreigner (ἀλλογενής, allogenēs) is used once in the four Gospels.
Your faith has saved you — the same words as 7:50, 8:48 and 18:42.
With observing renders παρατήρησις (paratērēsis), used once in the four Gospels — from the verb for watching closely at 14:1.
Within you renders ἐντὸς ὑμῶν (entos hymōn), which holds both “inside you” and “among you”. English must choose one, and this edition chooses “within” and says so. Recorded as a loss.
Why this rendering
Luke.17.21 Observation
Syntactic observation
Whether ἐντὸς ὑμῶν is within you or among you the Greek does not settle, and the counts pull both ways. ἐντός stands twice in the four Gospels, the other being Matthew 23:26, τὸ ἐντὸς τοῦ ποτηρίου, the inside of the cup, which is plainly within — that pulls toward within you. But ὑμῶν is plural and those addressed are the Pharisees (v.20), so reading it as inside each of your hearts makes the addressee sit oddly — that pulls toward among you. The text chooses neither. παρατήρησις, observable coming, is a hapax in the four Gospels. What follows, vv.22-37, overlaps Matthew 24 and parts at several places. The lightning runs differently: Matt 24:27 has ἀπὸ ἀνατολῶν … ἕως δυσμῶν, from east to west; Luke 17:24 ἐκ τῆς ὑπὸ τὸν οὐρανὸν εἰς τὴν ὑπ’ οὐρανόν, from one end under heaven to the other. And Matthew likens it to ἡ παρουσία, his coming, while Luke likens it to ὁ υἱὸς τοῦ ἀνθρώπου ἐν τῇ ἡμέρᾳ αὐτοῦ, the Son of Man in his day — παρουσία being Matthew's alone. The word for the corpse differs too: Matt 24:28 has τὸ πτῶμα, a fallen body; Luke 17:37 τὸ σῶμα, a body. Two things are Luke's alone: v.25, that first he must suffer many things and be rejected by this generation, set in the middle of the discourse, and vv.28-32, Lot, entire. Λώτ stands three times in the four Gospels and all three are here; θεῖον, brimstone, is a hapax in the four Gospels. Matthew names only Noah. And vv.34-35 differ from Matt 24:40-41: Matthew has two in a field and two grinding, while Luke has two on one bed and two grinding. The bed is not in Matthew.
Rendering options · 2
Basis The counts pull both ways and the text does not choose. Deciding hides from the reader what this verse has long been argued over. This edition leaves hard places hard and records the grounds outside the text. The versions divide almost exactly in half — within you in six (개역한글, KJV, ASV, YLT, LSV, WEB), in your midst in seven (BSB, NASB, ESV, NET, NIV2011, NLT, MSG). Not one leaves the openness in the text, and KJV alone notes or, among you in the margin. This edition declines to decide in the text and records the grounds here.
Basis Left open the sentence does not carry, and the reader reads one of them anyway.
Rejected Deciding erases one of the two grounds — both the within of Matt 23:26 and that the addressees are Pharisees are in the text, and that they pull against each other is the datum.
Lost in translation
The Greek ἐντός carries both inside and among on one word. English has none: within is inside, among is amid, in your midst is amid. A side must be picked, and picking it closes what the Greek left open. Of the nine locales only two carry this verse's openness, and English is not among them. Languages with case and with prefixes lose here as well — what a language loses does not follow how rich it is, which is why the place is recorded.
One of the days of the Son of Man — the Greek says one of the days, which is odd, and it is left odd.
Do not go off and do not pursue — two commands, where Matthew 24:26 has one.
From one end under heaven … to the other — the Greek says only “out of the one under heaven into the other under heaven”.
But first he must suffer — only this book puts the suffering inside this speech.
The days of Noah — Matthew 24:37 has the comparison too; the days of Lot in verse 28 are this book's own.
They were eating, they were drinking — four imperfects in a row, holding the ordinary life in progress.
The days of Lot — only this book adds the second comparison, and it lists six ordinary occupations.
Fire and brimstone — the Greek says it rained them.
According to the same — the Greek phrase is bare, and this edition keeps it bare.
Let him not turn back — and verse 32 names the one who did.
Remember Lot's wife — three words, and only this book has them.
Preserve (περιποιέομαι, peripoieomai) is to make something one's own. Keep it alive renders ζωογονέω (zōogoneō), a birth-word — this book alone uses it here.
Two on one couch — this book puts the pair at night; Matthew 24:40 puts them in a field.
Two grinding together — verse 36 is not in the base text this edition follows; many manuscripts add “two will be in the field”.
Eagles (ἀετοί, aetoi) is the Greek word for eagle, which also covers the vulture. This book says “the body”; Matthew 24:28 says “the corpse”, and this edition keeps the difference.