Luke 19
Zacchaeus climbs a tree. The parable of the minas follows, and he rides into Jerusalem and weeps over the city.
Passing through Jericho — the scene that follows stands only in this book.
Chief tax collector (ἀρχιτελώνης, architelōnēs) is used once in all four Gospels.
He was small in stature — the Greek does not say which of the two men was short, and it is usually read of Zacchaeus.
Sycamore-fig (συκομορέα, sykomorea) is used once in the four Gospels — not the mulberry of 17:6.
I must remain in your house — must (δεῖ, dei) is the word used of the suffering at 9:22.
Welcomed him rejoicing — the welcome-word of 8:40.
Lodge (καταλύω, katalyō) shares its root with the lodging-word of 2:7 and 22:11.
Fourfold — the law asked for restitution plus a fifth; this is far more. The Greek verbs are present, so he may be describing what he already does rather than promising.
Why this rendering
Luke.19.8 Observation
Syntactic observation
Both verbs are present — δίδωμι, I give, and ἀποδίδωμι, I pay back. Not future. So the Greek alone does not settle whether Zacchaeus is declaring what he will now do or what he has been doing all along; the Greek present carries both. The text does not say, and Jesus's answer at v.9 — today salvation has come to this house — does not say which it answers. The words tie the scene to this book. συκοφαντέω, to extort, stands twice in the four Gospels, the other being 3:14, where John tells the soldiers not to extort — so the word John used comes back in Zacchaeus's mouth. ἀρχιτελώνης, a chief tax collector; συκομορέα, a sycamore-fig; and τετραπλοῦς, fourfold, are each a hapax in the four Gospels. ὑποδέχομαι, to welcome, stands twice, the other being 10:38, where Martha welcomed him. διαγογγύζω, to grumble among themselves, stands twice, the other being 15:2 — this man welcomes sinners and eats with them — so the same complaint comes twice. And the υἱὸς Ἀβραάμ, son of Abraham, of v.9 pairs with the θυγατέρα Ἀβραάμ, daughter of Abraham, of 13:16: the two so named in this book are a bent woman and a chief tax collector. The ἡλικία of v.3 means both age and stature, and this edition has already split it (2:52 stature, 12:25 lifespan).
Rendering options · 2
Basis The base text is present. Rendering it future nails it to a resolve; rendering it habitual nails it to a practice. The Greek is both, so neither is nailed down. Korean 드립니다 and 갚습니다 and the English present carry some of that openness. The versions divide — eight keep the present (KJV, ASV, YLT, LSV, BSB, ESV, WEB, MSG), three make it future (개역한글, NASB, NLT), and NET and NIV2011 keep the present but add now or here and now, nailing it to the moment: the form kept and the openness closed.
Basis The story reads as repentance, and today salvation has come at v.9 sits naturally as an answer to that resolve.
Rejected That reading may be right, but the base text uses the present. Rendering it future makes the other reading invisible — that Zacchaeus has been doing this already and the crowd calls him a sinner anyway. Which it is the text does not settle, so neither does the translation.
Lost in translation
The Greek present holds what is being done, what is habitually done, and what is about to be done in one form. English I give carries some of all three. But the reader still settles between I will give and I have been giving, and the suspension the Greek keeps does not survive. That suspension is where this verse has long been argued.
A son of Abraham — the man the crowd called a sinner is given the descent.
To seek and to save what was lost — the lost of chapter 15, in one line.
They thought the kingdom was about to appear at once — the writer gives the parable's reason before telling it.
To receive a kingdom for himself — this book's parable is not Matthew 25:14: there a man goes abroad, here he goes to be made king.
Minas — a Greek coin kept as sound, worth about a hundred days' wages. Ten slaves, one mina each; Matthew 25:15 has three slaves with unequal talents.
Why this rendering
Luke.19.13 Observation
Syntactic observation
It reads against Matthew 25:14-30, and the currency itself differs. μνᾶ, a mina, stands nine times in the four Gospels and all nine are in this chapter; τάλαντον, a talent, stands fourteen times and all fourteen are Matthew's — neither book ever uses the other's coin. The number of slaves differs too: Matthew gives to three according to ability (five, two, one); Luke gives one each to ten. And Luke alone has a second thread: at v.12 the man goes to a far country to receive a kingdom; at v.14 his citizens send an embassy saying we do not want this man to reign over us; and at v.27 the returned king has those enemies brought and slaughtered before him. κατασφάζω, to slaughter, is a hapax in the four Gospels, and πρεσβεία, an embassy, stands twice, the other being 14:32, an embassy sent to ask for peace. The commendation differs: Matt 25:21 has Εὖ, δοῦλε ἀγαθὲ καὶ πιστέ, well done, good and faithful slave; Luke 19:17 Εὖγε, ἀγαθὲ δοῦλε, well done, good slave — a different exclamation, and no faithful in the address. εὖγε is a hapax in the four Gospels. What the last slave wrapped it in differs as well: Matt 25:25 buried it in the ground, Luke 19:20 kept it in a σουδάριον, a cloth. σουδάριον stands three times: here, John 11:44 (the cloth about Lazarus's face) and John 20:7 (the cloth folded up in the tomb). The endings differ: Matthew throws the slave into the outer dark, while Luke stops at moving the mina and ends instead with the slaughter of the enemies. εὐγενής, πραγματεύομαι, διαπραγματεύομαι, προσεργάζομαι and ἀναφαίνω are each a hapax in the four Gospels.
Rendering options · 2
Basis Coins are fixed as transliterations (denarius, assarion, lepton, kodrantes, drachma), and that the two parables use different coins is the datum here. The same at v.27: κατασφάζω is the word for cutting a throat as of an animal, and it stands once in the four Gospels. Softening it makes Luke's parable end like Matthew's.
Basis A reader does not know what a mina is, and since the two parables are one story, matching helps. And v.27 is exceedingly harsh.
Rejected That they are one story is a judgement — the coin, the number of slaves, the manner of dividing, the second thread and the ending all differ, and matching erases all five. The harshness is the text as well, and it is of a piece with the kingship thread of vv.12 and 14: softened, there is no seeing why Luke put that thread in.
We do not want this man to reign over us — only this book has the embassy, and verse 27 comes back to it.
What they had gained by trading — the Greek is one verb, from the business word of verse 13.
Your mina has made ten minas — the slave credits the money, not himself; Matthew 25:20 has “I have gained”.
Authority over ten cities — the reward is rule, not more money.
Has made five minas — the second report is shorter.
Be over five cities — the reward matches the gain.
In a cloth renders σουδάριον (soudarion), a Latin word kept as sound — the same word as the face-cloth at John 20:7.
Austere (αὐστηρός, austēros) is used once in the four Gospels — hard, sharp to the taste.
Out of your own mouth — the master answers with the slave's own words, and may be read as a question, not a confession.
Banker (τράπεζα, trapeza) is literally a table — the money-changer's table. This edition keeps it apart from the table-word, though Greek has one root for both.
Take the mina from him — the one kept safe is given to the one who used most.
He has ten minas — only this book has the bystanders object, and the objection is not answered.
To everyone who has — the saying of 8:18, put here as the master's word.
Slaughter them before me — only this book has the last line, and this edition does not soften it.
Going up to Jerusalem — the journey begun at 9:51 ends here.
Two of the disciples — they are not named, as at 22:8 they are.
No one of men has ever sat — the Greek doubles the negative.
Why this rendering
Luke.19.30 Observation
Syntactic observation
Luke has no donkey. Matthew 21:2 sends for two — ὄνον δεδεμένην καὶ πῶλον μετ’ αὐτῆς, a tied donkey and a colt with her — and at 21:7 the garments are laid on them and he sits on them. Mark 11:2 and Luke 19:30 have one πῶλος only, and both add on which no one has ever sat. ὄνος, donkey, stands five times in the four Gospels: Matthew's three are all in this passage; Luke's one is 13:15, the ox or donkey untied from the manger on the Sabbath, nothing to do with the entry; and John 12:15 has one. So Matthew alone brings two animals. The verb of mounting is this book's own: ἐπιβιβάζω stands twice in the four Gospels and both are Luke's, the other being 10:34, where the Samaritan set the wounded man on his own animal. So the only two mountings in this book call each other. v.33 is Luke's alone as well: Mark 11:5 has some of those standing there ask, while Luke has οἱ κύριοι αὐτοῦ, the colt's owners — so within one verse ὁ κύριος, the Lord, stands against οἱ κύριοι, the owners.
Rendering options · 2
Basis That Luke has no donkey is the datum. And the κύριοι of v.33 is the same word as the κύριος of vv.31 and 34, so splitting the renderings loses the standing-against — Korean must split 주 from 주인 and English the Lord from the owners, but they are kept audibly of one root.
Basis The apparent conflict confuses a reader, and its owners comes abruptly in Korean.
Rejected The apparent conflict is the datum — Matthew alone has two and the other three have one. And the abruptness at v.33 is Luke's build: the owners ask why are you untying it, and the answer is the Lord has need of it. Smoothing it loses the standing-against. Of thirteen versions examined not one imports Matthew's donkey — here the versions too follow their base text.
The Lord has need of it — this book gives no “and he will send it back”, as Mark 11:3 does.
Just as he had said to them — the errand is told twice, as in Mark.
Its owners — only this book says the colt had owners, plural, who speak.
The Lord has need of it — the whole answer is the sentence they were given.
They set Jesus on it — this book has the disciples set him on.
Spreading their garments — this book has no branches, where Mark 11:8 and Matthew 21:8 do.
The whole multitude of the disciples — this book puts the shout in the disciples' mouths, not the crowd's.
Peace in heaven and glory in the highest — this book has no “Hosanna”, and the line turns 2:14 over: there peace was on earth, here it is in heaven.
Why this rendering
Luke.19.38 Observation
Syntactic observation
Luke never uses ὡσαννά, not once. The word stands six times in the four Gospels — three in Matthew (21:9 twice, 21:15), two in Mark (11:9, 11:10), one in John (12:13) — and Luke alone of the four raises no Hosanna at the entry. Instead Luke inserts one word inside the quoted line: Εὐλογημένος ὁ ἐρχόμενος βασιλεὺς ἐν ὀνόματι κυρίου, blessed is the coming King in the name of the Lord. Matthew 21:9, Mark 11:9 and John 12:13 have no βασιλεύς there. And the second half answers this book's own opening. At Luke 2:14 the angels say Δόξα ἐν ὑψίστοις θεῷ καὶ ἐπὶ γῆς εἰρήνη, glory to God in the highest and on earth peace; at 19:38 the disciples say ἐν οὐρανῷ εἰρήνη καὶ δόξα ἐν ὑψίστοις, in heaven peace and glory in the highest. The two members are reversed, and the place of the peace moves from earth to heaven. ὕψιστος stands ten times in the four Gospels and seven are Luke's. vv.39-40 are Luke's alone as well: when the Pharisees tell him to rebuke his disciples, he answers that if these are silent the stones will cry out. σιωπάω stands nine times, twice in Luke (1:20, Zechariah struck dumb; 19:40). And the κατάβασις of v.37, the descent, is a hapax in the four Gospels.
Rendering options · 2
Basis There is no Hosanna in the base text (DECISIONS C1). And the link between this verse and 2:14 shows only if the words match, so the two renderings are held identical. Of thirteen versions examined not one supplies a Hosanna, and all thirteen keep the King — here the divergence shows in the versions as well.
Basis The four books record one scene, so a Hosanna helps the reader see the parallel.
Rejected The absence is the datum — and the counts show it is not accidental: Luke does not use the word anywhere in the book. Supplying it erases that, and hides the βασιλεύς that fills the place instead.
Rebuke your disciples — only this book has the Pharisees ask it.
The stones will cry out — only this book has the answer.
He wept over it — the verb is κλαίω (klaiō), a wailing, not the quiet tears of John 11:35. Only this book records it.
Why this rendering
Luke.19.41 Observation
Syntactic observation
This passage (vv.41-44) is Luke's alone, and nearly all its words stand nowhere else: χάραξ, a siege-wall; περικυκλόω, to encircle; ἐδαφίζω, to dash to the ground; and ἐπισκοπή, visitation, are each a hapax in the four Gospels. The phrase at v.44, they will not leave stone upon stone, matches what is said of the temple at Matt 24:2, Mark 13:2 and Luke 21:6 — but here it falls on the city and her children, not the temple. v.42 breaks off: Εἰ ἔγνως … τὰ πρὸς εἰρήνην— if you had known the things that make for peace — and no second limb comes; it turns instead to but now they are hidden from your eyes. The Greek does not finish the sentence. κλαίω, to weep, stands twenty-five times in the four Gospels, eleven of them Luke's, the most of any book, and this is the only place in this book where Jesus weeps. The temple passage that follows (vv.45-46) is the shortest of the three: Matt 21:12 and Mark 11:15 drive out both sellers and buyers and overturn the money-changers' tables and the dove-sellers' seats, while Luke 19:45 has only the sellers — no tables, no seats, no doves. κολλυβιστής, money-changer, stands three times — Matt 21:12, Mark 11:15, John 2:15 — and never in Luke. The quotation differs too: Mark 11:17 has a house of prayer for all the nations, a phrase absent from both Matthew and Luke.
Rendering options · 2
Basis The Greek does not finish it. Finishing it squares the weeping speech, and squaring it is losing it. The same at v.45: supplying what is absent lengthens Luke's temple passage into Mark's and erases that it is short. Ten versions leave the break standing with an exclamation or a dash (NIV2011 uses a dash) and three fill it in — 개역한글, NLT and MSG.
Basis A broken sentence does not read in Korean or English, and the temple passage looks incomplete beside the other two.
Rejected That it does not read is the text — and the break falls where the weeping is. That v.45 looks incomplete is a judgement made from Mark, not a defect in Luke; and the count supports it — κολλυβιστής never occurs in Luke at all.
Lost in translation
The Greek leaves the protasis standing with no second limb — speech catching in the throat. English can keep the break with a dash. But it must lean on a mark of punctuation, where the Greek breaks by grammar alone; remove the mark and it reads as finished. So the break crosses over only by way of the edition.
The sentence breaks off unfinished in Greek — “If you had known … —”. This edition leaves the break.
Siege-wall renders χάραξ (charax), a palisade — used once in the four Gospels.
Visitation (ἐπισκοπή, episkopē) is a looking-upon — the noun of the verb at 1:68 and 7:16.
Only those selling — this book names no buyers, no tables, no seats, where Mark 11:15 names all three.
A den of robbers — this book stops the quotation before “for all the nations”, as Matthew 21:13 does.
Daily — this book has him teach in the temple day after day.
Hanging on him renders ἐκκρεμάννυμαι (ekkremannymai), used once in the four Gospels — hanging from him as from a hook.