1
Ἐγένετο δὲ ἐν ⸀σαββάτῳ διαπορεύεσθαι αὐτὸν ⸀διὰ σπορίμων, καὶ ἔτιλλον οἱ μαθηταὶ αὐτοῦ ⸂καὶ ἤσθιον τοὺς στάχυας⸃ ψώχοντες ταῖς χερσίν.
And it came to pass on a sabbath that he was going through grainfields, and his disciples were plucking and eating the heads of grain, rubbing them with their hands.
2
τινὲς δὲ τῶν Φαρισαίων ⸀εἶπαν· Τί ποιεῖτε ὃ οὐκ ⸀ἔξεστιν τοῖς σάββασιν;
And some of the Pharisees said, “Why are you doing what is not lawful on the sabbath?”
3
καὶ ἀποκριθεὶς πρὸς αὐτοὺς εἶπεν ὁ Ἰησοῦς· Οὐδὲ τοῦτο ἀνέγνωτε ὃ ἐποίησεν Δαυὶδ ⸀ὁπότε ἐπείνασεν αὐτὸς καὶ οἱ μετ’ αὐτοῦ ⸀ὄντες;
And answering them Jesus said, “Have you not read what David did when he was hungry, he and those with him —
4
⸀ὡς εἰσῆλθεν εἰς τὸν οἶκον τοῦ θεοῦ καὶ τοὺς ἄρτους τῆς προθέσεως ⸀λαβὼν ἔφαγεν καὶ ⸀ἔδωκεν τοῖς μετ’ αὐτοῦ, οὓς οὐκ ἔξεστιν φαγεῖν εἰ μὴ μόνους τοὺς ἱερεῖς;
how he entered the house of God and took and ate the bread of the Presence, which is not lawful for any but the priests to eat, and gave it also to those with him?”
5
καὶ ἔλεγεν ⸀αὐτοῖς· Κύριός ἐστιν ⸂τοῦ σαββάτου ὁ υἱὸς τοῦ ἀνθρώπου⸃.
And he said to them, “The Son of Man is lord of the sabbath.”
6
Ἐγένετο ⸀δὲ ἐν ἑτέρῳ σαββάτῳ εἰσελθεῖν αὐτὸν εἰς τὴν συναγωγὴν καὶ διδάσκειν· καὶ ἦν ⸂ἄνθρωπος ἐκεῖ⸃ καὶ ἡ χεὶρ αὐτοῦ ἡ δεξιὰ ἦν ξηρά·
And it came to pass on another sabbath that he entered the synagogue and was teaching; and a man was there whose right hand was withered.
7
⸀παρετηροῦντο ⸀δὲ οἱ γραμματεῖς καὶ οἱ Φαρισαῖοι εἰ ἐν τῷ σαββάτῳ ⸀θεραπεύει, ἵνα εὕρωσιν ⸀κατηγορεῖν αὐτοῦ.
And the scribes and the Pharisees were watching him closely, to see whether he would heal on the sabbath, so that they might find a charge against him.
8
αὐτὸς δὲ ᾔδει τοὺς διαλογισμοὺς αὐτῶν, ⸂εἶπεν δὲ⸃ τῷ ⸀ἀνδρὶ τῷ ξηρὰν ἔχοντι τὴν χεῖρα· ⸀Ἔγειρε καὶ στῆθι εἰς τὸ μέσον· ⸀καὶ ἀναστὰς ἔστη.
But he knew their reasonings, and he said to the man with the withered hand, “Rise and stand in the midst.” And rising he stood.
9
εἶπεν ⸀δὲ ὁ Ἰησοῦς πρὸς αὐτούς· ⸀Ἐπερωτῶ ὑμᾶς, ⸀εἰ ἔξεστιν ⸂τῷ σαββάτῳ⸃ ἀγαθοποιῆσαι ἢ κακοποιῆσαι, ψυχὴν σῶσαι ἢ ⸀ἀπολέσαι;
And Jesus said to them, “I ask you: is it lawful on the sabbath to do good or to do harm, to save a life or to destroy it?”
10
καὶ περιβλεψάμενος πάντας αὐτοὺς εἶπεν αὐτῷ· Ἔκτεινον τὴν χεῖρά σου· ὁ δὲ ἐποίησεν, καὶ ἀπεκατεστάθη ἡ χεὶρ ⸀αὐτοῦ.
And looking round at them all he said to him, “Stretch out your hand.” And he did so, and his hand was restored.
11
αὐτοὶ δὲ ἐπλήσθησαν ἀνοίας, καὶ διελάλουν πρὸς ἀλλήλους τί ἂν ποιήσαιεν τῷ Ἰησοῦ.
But they were filled with senseless rage, and discussed with one another what they might do to Jesus.
12
Ἐγένετο δὲ ἐν ταῖς ἡμέραις ταύταις ⸂ἐξελθεῖν αὐτὸν⸃ εἰς τὸ ὄρος προσεύξασθαι, καὶ ἦν διανυκτερεύων ἐν τῇ προσευχῇ τοῦ θεοῦ.
And it came to pass in those days that he went out to the mountain to pray, and he spent the night in prayer to God.
13
καὶ ὅτε ἐγένετο ἡμέρα, προσεφώνησεν τοὺς μαθητὰς αὐτοῦ, καὶ ἐκλεξάμενος ἀπ’ αὐτῶν δώδεκα, οὓς καὶ ἀποστόλους ὠνόμασεν,
And when day came he called his disciples, and choosing twelve from them he named them apostles:
14
Σίμωνα ὃν καὶ ὠνόμασεν Πέτρον καὶ Ἀνδρέαν τὸν ἀδελφὸν αὐτοῦ ⸀καὶ Ἰάκωβον καὶ Ἰωάννην ⸁καὶ Φίλιππον καὶ Βαρθολομαῖον
Simon, whom he named Peter, and Andrew his brother; James and John; Philip and Bartholomew;
15
⸀καὶ Μαθθαῖον καὶ Θωμᾶν ⸁καὶ ⸀Ἰάκωβον Ἁλφαίου καὶ Σίμωνα τὸν καλούμενον Ζηλωτὴν
Matthew and Thomas; James son of Alphaeus, and Simon called the Zealot;
16
⸀καὶ Ἰούδαν Ἰακώβου καὶ Ἰούδαν ⸀Ἰσκαριὼθ ⸀ὃς ἐγένετο προδότης.
Judas son of James, and Judas Iscariot, who became a betrayer.
17
Καὶ καταβὰς μετ’ αὐτῶν ἔστη ἐπὶ τόπου πεδινοῦ, καὶ ὄχλος ⸀πολὺς μαθητῶν αὐτοῦ, καὶ πλῆθος πολὺ τοῦ λαοῦ ἀπὸ πάσης τῆς Ἰουδαίας καὶ Ἰερουσαλὴμ καὶ τῆς παραλίου Τύρου καὶ Σιδῶνος,
And coming down with them he stood on a level place, with a great crowd of his disciples and a great multitude of the people from all Judea and Jerusalem and the coast of Tyre and Sidon,
Why this rendering
Luke.6.17 Observation
Syntactic observation
The place of teaching and the posture are the reverse of Matthew's. Matthew 5:1: ἀνέβη εἰς τὸ ὄρος καὶ καθίσαντος αὐτοῦ, he **went up** the mountain and **sat down**. Luke 6:17: καταβὰς … ἔστη ἐπὶ τόπου πεδινοῦ, he **came down** and **stood** on a level place. Up against down, sitting against standing. πεδινός, level, is unique in the corpus. Verse 12 is Luke's alone as well: he went up the mountain to pray and spent the night, διανυκτερεύων ἐν τῇ προσευχῇ τοῦ θεοῦ — and διανυκτερεύω is unique in the corpus. So in Luke the mountain is where he prays and the level place is where he teaches. At v.13 he chooses twelve and ἀποστόλους ὠνόμασεν, named them apostles; ἀπόστολος occurs six times in Luke against one each in Matthew (10:2), Mark (6:30) and John (13:16). And among the places the crowd comes from Luke names Tyre and Sidon — outside Israel.
Rendering options · 2
Adopted “coming down he stood on a level place” — kept apart from Matthew
Basis Both the verbs and the place differ from Matthew; rendering it as on the mountain would erase that the two books wrote the reverse of each other.
Keep the mountain — “he came down from the mountain and stopped”
Basis Links it to the mountain of v.12.
Rejected There is no ὄρος at v.17; and the division between mountain and level place is the datum here, which importing the mountain blurs.
18
οἳ ἦλθον ἀκοῦσαι αὐτοῦ καὶ ἰαθῆναι ἀπὸ τῶν νόσων αὐτῶν· καὶ οἱ ⸂ἐνοχλούμενοι ἀπὸ⸃ πνευμάτων ⸀ἀκαθάρτων ἐθεραπεύοντο·
who came to hear him and to be healed of their diseases; and those troubled by unclean spirits were cured.
19
καὶ πᾶς ὁ ὄχλος ⸀ἐζήτουν ἅπτεσθαι αὐτοῦ, ὅτι δύναμις παρ’ αὐτοῦ ἐξήρχετο καὶ ἰᾶτο πάντας.
And the whole crowd was seeking to touch him, because power was going out from him and healing them all.
20
Καὶ αὐτὸς ἐπάρας τοὺς ὀφθαλμοὺς αὐτοῦ εἰς τοὺς μαθητὰς αὐτοῦ ἔλεγεν· Μακάριοι οἱ πτωχοί, ὅτι ὑμετέρα ἐστὶν ἡ βασιλεία τοῦ θεοῦ.
And lifting up his eyes to his disciples he was saying: “Blessed are the poor, for yours is the kingdom of God.
Why this rendering
Luke.6.20 Observation
Syntactic observation
The first beatitude differs from Matthew 5:3 at four points. First, **there is no qualifier** — Matthew has οἱ πτωχοὶ τῷ πνεύματι, the poor **in spirit**; Luke has οἱ πτωχοί, the poor. Second, **the person differs** — Matthew αὐτῶν ἐστιν, **theirs** is, third person; Luke ὑμετέρα ἐστίν, **yours** is, second. Third, **the kingdom is named differently** — Matthew βασιλεία τῶν οὐρανῶν, of the heavens; Luke βασιλεία τοῦ θεοῦ, of God. Fourth, in the beatitudes that follow Luke attaches νῦν, now — οἱ πεινῶντες **νῦν**, those hungering now; οἱ κλαίοντες **νῦν**, those weeping now. Matthew 5:6 has those hungering and thirsting for τὴν δικαιοσύνην, righteousness. So Luke's beatitudes come without a qualifier, in the second person, and hang on now. πτωχός occurs ten times in Luke against five in Matthew, five in Mark, four in John.
Rendering options · 2
Adopted “Blessed are the poor, for yours is the kingdom of God” — no qualifier supplied
Basis The base text has no in spirit; the person and the name of the kingdom are kept as they stand, so the four divergences show when the books are set side by side.
Supply in spirit from Matthew
Basis One beatitude, so the reading is evened out.
Rejected It is not in the base text; and supplying it erases both that Luke wrote without a qualifier and the line running through the nows to the four woes.
21
μακάριοι οἱ πεινῶντες νῦν, ὅτι χορτασθήσεσθε. μακάριοι οἱ κλαίοντες νῦν, ὅτι γελάσετε.
Blessed are those hungering now, for you will be filled. Blessed are those weeping now, for you will laugh.
22
Μακάριοί ἐστε ὅταν μισήσωσιν ὑμᾶς οἱ ἄνθρωποι, καὶ ὅταν ἀφορίσωσιν ὑμᾶς καὶ ὀνειδίσωσιν καὶ ἐκβάλωσιν τὸ ὄνομα ὑμῶν ὡς πονηρὸν ἕνεκα τοῦ υἱοῦ τοῦ ἀνθρώπου·
Blessed are you when people hate you, and when they separate you off and reproach you and cast out your name as evil, because of the Son of Man.
23
χάρητε ἐν ἐκείνῃ τῇ ἡμέρᾳ καὶ σκιρτήσατε, ἰδοὺ γὰρ ὁ μισθὸς ὑμῶν πολὺς ἐν τῷ οὐρανῷ· κατὰ ⸂τὰ αὐτὰ⸃ γὰρ ἐποίουν τοῖς προφήταις οἱ πατέρες αὐτῶν.
Rejoice in that day and leap, for behold, your reward is great in heaven; for so their fathers did to the prophets.
24
πλὴν οὐαὶ ὑμῖν τοῖς πλουσίοις, ὅτι ἀπέχετε τὴν παράκλησιν ὑμῶν.
But woe to you who are rich, for you have received your consolation in full.
Why this rendering
Luke.6.24 Observation
Syntactic observation
Four woes follow the four beatitudes (vv.24, 25 twice, 26). Matthew 5 has no woes — nine beatitudes run on, and the woes stand apart in ch. 23. And Luke's four answer the four one by one: the poor against the rich; those hungering now against those filled now; those weeping now against those laughing now; the hated against those all speak well of. γελάω, to laugh, occurs twice in the corpus and both are here (6:21, you will laugh; 6:25, those laughing now). It is striking too that vv.23 and 26 close with the same phrase — κατὰ τὰ αὐτὰ γὰρ ἐποίουν, for so their fathers did — once to the prophets and once to the false prophets. The ἀπέχετε, you have received in full, of v.24 is the word used at Matthew 6:2, 5, 16 of hypocrites having received their reward in full; and παράκλησις, consolation, occurs twice in Luke, the other at 2:25 — the consolation of Israel that Simeon was waiting for.
Rendering options · 2
Adopted “But woe to you who are rich” — one word with the woes of Matthew 23
Basis οὐαί occurs thirty times in the corpus — thirteen in Matthew, two in Mark, fifteen in Luke; one rendering lets Luke's placing of woes beside beatitudes be compared with Matthew's.
Soften — “how terrible for you who are rich”
Basis Woe reads heavily.
Rejected The weight is in the Greek, and the word is a formula repeated thirty times in the corpus; softening it here alone makes it uncountable.
25
οὐαὶ ὑμῖν, οἱ ἐμπεπλησμένοι ⸀νῦν, ὅτι πεινάσετε. ⸀οὐαί, οἱ γελῶντες νῦν, ὅτι πενθήσετε καὶ κλαύσετε.
Woe to you who are filled now, for you will hunger. Woe to those laughing now, for you will mourn and weep.
26
Οὐαὶ ὅταν ⸂καλῶς ὑμᾶς⸃ εἴπωσιν ⸀πάντες οἱ ἄνθρωποι, κατὰ ⸂τὰ αὐτὰ⸃ γὰρ ἐποίουν τοῖς ψευδοπροφήταις οἱ πατέρες αὐτῶν.
Woe when all people speak well of you, for so their fathers did to the false prophets.
27
Ἀλλὰ ὑμῖν λέγω τοῖς ἀκούουσιν, ἀγαπᾶτε τοὺς ἐχθροὺς ὑμῶν, καλῶς ποιεῖτε τοῖς μισοῦσιν ὑμᾶς,
But I say to you who are listening: love your enemies, do good to those who hate you,
28
εὐλογεῖτε τοὺς καταρωμένους ⸀ὑμᾶς, προσεύχεσθε ⸀περὶ τῶν ἐπηρεαζόντων ὑμᾶς.
bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you.
29
τῷ τύπτοντί σε ἐπὶ τὴν σιαγόνα πάρεχε καὶ τὴν ἄλλην, καὶ ἀπὸ τοῦ αἴροντός σου τὸ ἱμάτιον καὶ τὸν χιτῶνα μὴ κωλύσῃς.
To the one who strikes you on the cheek, offer the other also; and from the one who takes your garment, do not withhold your tunic either.
30
⸀παντὶ αἰτοῦντί σε δίδου, καὶ ἀπὸ τοῦ αἴροντος τὰ σὰ μὴ ἀπαίτει.
Give to everyone who asks you, and from the one who takes what is yours do not demand it back.
31
καὶ καθὼς θέλετε ἵνα ποιῶσιν ὑμῖν οἱ ⸀ἄνθρωποι, ποιεῖτε αὐτοῖς ὁμοίως.
And as you want people to do for you, do the same for them.
32
Καὶ εἰ ἀγαπᾶτε τοὺς ἀγαπῶντας ὑμᾶς, ποία ὑμῖν χάρις ἐστίν; καὶ γὰρ οἱ ἁμαρτωλοὶ τοὺς ἀγαπῶντας αὐτοὺς ἀγαπῶσιν.
And if you love those who love you, what grace is that to you? For even sinners love those who love them.
33
⸀καὶ ἐὰν ἀγαθοποιῆτε τοὺς ἀγαθοποιοῦντας ὑμᾶς, ποία ὑμῖν χάρις ἐστίν; ⸁καὶ οἱ ἁμαρτωλοὶ τὸ αὐτὸ ποιοῦσιν.
And if you do good to those who do good to you, what grace is that to you? Even sinners do the same.
34
καὶ ἐὰν ⸀δανίσητε παρ’ ὧν ἐλπίζετε ⸀λαβεῖν, ποία ὑμῖν χάρις ἐστίν; ⸀καὶ ἁμαρτωλοὶ ἁμαρτωλοῖς δανίζουσιν ἵνα ἀπολάβωσιν τὰ ἴσα.
And if you lend to those from whom you hope to receive, what grace is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners, to receive back as much.
35
πλὴν ἀγαπᾶτε τοὺς ἐχθροὺς ὑμῶν καὶ ἀγαθοποιεῖτε καὶ δανίζετε μηδὲν ἀπελπίζοντες· καὶ ἔσται ὁ μισθὸς ὑμῶν πολύς, καὶ ἔσεσθε υἱοὶ Ὑψίστου, ὅτι αὐτὸς χρηστός ἐστιν ἐπὶ τοὺς ἀχαρίστους καὶ πονηρούς.
But love your enemies and do good and lend, expecting nothing back; and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High, because he is good to the ungrateful and the evil.
36
⸀γίνεσθε οἰκτίρμονες ⸀καθὼς ὁ πατὴρ ὑμῶν οἰκτίρμων ἐστίν·
Be full of pity, as your Father is full of pity.
Why this rendering
Luke.6.36 Observation
Syntactic observation
Matthew 5:48 and Luke 6:36 stand at the same point with the same shape and **different words.** Matthew: ἔσεσθε οὖν ὑμεῖς τέλειοι ὡς ὁ πατὴρ ὑμῶν ὁ οὐράνιος τέλειός ἐστιν — be **complete**, as your heavenly Father is complete. Luke: γίνεσθε οἰκτίρμονες καθὼς ὁ πατὴρ ὑμῶν οἰκτίρμων ἐστίν — be **merciful**, as your Father is merciful. οἰκτίρμων occurs twice in the corpus and both are in this one verse; τέλειος occurs three times in Matthew, twice within 5:48 itself and once at 19:21, and not at all in Luke. So at one point the two authors chose words the other's book does not contain. Verse 35 gives Luke's ground: God is χρηστός, good, to the ἀχάριστοι, the ungrateful, and the πονηροί, the evil. ἀχάριστος is unique in the corpus, and χρηστός is the word of 5:39, the old is good — within one chapter the word attached to wine attaches to God. Matthew 5:45 puts sun and rain at that place instead.
Rendering options · 2
Adopted “Be merciful” — kept apart from be complete at Matthew 5:48
Basis Each word is absent from the other's book; one rendering for both would erase that the authors chose differently at one point.
Render as merciful in the sense of ἐλεήμων at Matthew 5:7
Basis The sense is near.
Rejected ἐλεήμων is a different word and stands **once only, at Matthew 5:7**, unique in the corpus. So the two words for mercy each belong to one book — ἐλεήμων once in Matthew, οἰκτίρμων twice in Luke, and neither in the other's book. One rendering for both would fuse three words into one.
37
Καὶ μὴ κρίνετε, καὶ οὐ μὴ κριθῆτε· ⸀καὶ μὴ καταδικάζετε, καὶ οὐ μὴ καταδικασθῆτε. ἀπολύετε, καὶ ἀπολυθήσεσθε·
And do not judge, and you will not be judged; do not condemn, and you will not be condemned; release, and you will be released.
38
δίδοτε, καὶ δοθήσεται ὑμῖν· μέτρον καλὸν πεπιεσμένον ⸀σεσαλευμένον ὑπερεκχυννόμενον δώσουσιν εἰς τὸν κόλπον ὑμῶν· ⸂ᾧ γὰρ μέτρῳ⸃ μετρεῖτε ἀντιμετρηθήσεται ὑμῖν.
Give, and it will be given to you: a good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, they will put into your bosom. For with the measure you measure it will be measured back to you.”
39
Εἶπεν δὲ ⸀καὶ παραβολὴν αὐτοῖς· Μήτι δύναται τυφλὸς τυφλὸν ὁδηγεῖν; οὐχὶ ἀμφότεροι εἰς βόθυνον ⸀ἐμπεσοῦνται;
And he told them a parable as well: “Can a blind man guide a blind man? Will they not both fall into a pit?
40
οὐκ ἔστιν μαθητὴς ὑπὲρ τὸν ⸀διδάσκαλον, κατηρτισμένος δὲ πᾶς ἔσται ὡς ὁ διδάσκαλος αὐτοῦ.
A disciple is not above his teacher; but everyone fully trained will be like his teacher.
41
τί δὲ βλέπεις τὸ κάρφος τὸ ἐν τῷ ὀφθαλμῷ τοῦ ἀδελφοῦ σου, τὴν δὲ δοκὸν τὴν ἐν τῷ ἰδίῳ ὀφθαλμῷ οὐ κατανοεῖς;
And why do you see the speck in your brother's eye, but do not notice the beam in your own eye?
42
⸀πῶς δύνασαι λέγειν τῷ ἀδελφῷ σου· Ἀδελφέ, ἄφες ἐκβάλω τὸ κάρφος τὸ ἐν τῷ ὀφθαλμῷ σου, αὐτὸς τὴν ἐν τῷ ὀφθαλμῷ σοῦ δοκὸν οὐ βλέπων; ὑποκριτά, ἔκβαλε πρῶτον τὴν δοκὸν ἐκ τοῦ ὀφθαλμοῦ σοῦ, καὶ τότε διαβλέψεις ⸂τὸ κάρφος τὸ ἐν τῷ ὀφθαλμῷ τοῦ ἀδελφοῦ σου ἐκβαλεῖν⸃.
How can you say to your brother, ‘Brother, let me take out the speck in your eye,' while you yourself do not see the beam in your own eye? Hypocrite, first take the beam out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take out the speck in your brother's eye.
43
Οὐ γάρ ἐστιν δένδρον καλὸν ποιοῦν καρπὸν σαπρόν, οὐδὲ ⸀πάλιν δένδρον σαπρὸν ποιοῦν καρπὸν καλόν.
For there is no good tree bearing rotten fruit, nor again a rotten tree bearing good fruit.
44
ἕκαστον γὰρ δένδρον ἐκ τοῦ ἰδίου καρποῦ γινώσκεται· οὐ γὰρ ἐξ ἀκανθῶν συλλέγουσιν σῦκα, οὐδὲ ἐκ βάτου ⸂σταφυλὴν τρυγῶσιν⸃.
For each tree is known by its own fruit; for figs are not gathered from thorns, nor are grapes picked from a bramble.
45
ὁ ἀγαθὸς ἄνθρωπος ἐκ τοῦ ἀγαθοῦ θησαυροῦ τῆς καρδίας ⸀αὐτοῦ προφέρει τὸ ἀγαθόν, καὶ ὁ ⸀πονηρὸς ἐκ τοῦ ⸀πονηροῦ προφέρει τὸ πονηρόν· ἐκ γὰρ ⸀περισσεύματος καρδίας λαλεῖ τὸ στόμα αὐτοῦ.
The good person out of the good treasure of the heart brings forth good, and the evil out of the evil brings forth evil; for out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks.
46
Τί δέ με καλεῖτε· Κύριε κύριε, καὶ οὐ ποιεῖτε ἃ λέγω;
And why do you call me ‘Lord, Lord,' and not do what I say?
47
πᾶς ὁ ἐρχόμενος πρός με καὶ ἀκούων μου τῶν λόγων καὶ ποιῶν αὐτούς, ὑποδείξω ὑμῖν τίνι ἐστὶν ὅμοιος·
Everyone who comes to me and hears my words and does them — I will show you whom he is like.
48
ὅμοιός ἐστιν ἀνθρώπῳ οἰκοδομοῦντι οἰκίαν ὃς ἔσκαψεν καὶ ἐβάθυνεν καὶ ἔθηκεν θεμέλιον ἐπὶ τὴν πέτραν· πλημμύρης δὲ γενομένης προσέρηξεν ὁ ποταμὸς τῇ οἰκίᾳ ἐκείνῃ, καὶ οὐκ ἴσχυσεν σαλεῦσαι αὐτὴν ⸂διὰ τὸ καλῶς οἰκοδομῆσθαι αὐτήν⸃.
He is like a man building a house, who dug and went deep and laid a foundation on the rock; and when a flood came, the river broke against that house and could not shake it, because it had been well built.
Why this rendering
Luke.6.48 Observation
Syntactic observation
The parable of building is built differently from Matthew 7:24-27. Matthew has ᾠκοδόμησεν … ἐπὶ τὴν πέτραν, he built on the rock; Luke strings three verbs — ἔσκαψεν καὶ ἐβάθυνεν καὶ ἔθηκεν θεμέλιον, he dug and went deep and laid a foundation. βαθύνω, to go deep, is unique in the corpus, and θεμέλιος, foundation, occurs three times in Luke and not at all in Matthew or Mark. What comes against the house differs too: Matthew has three — rain, rivers, winds; Luke has two — πλήμμυρα, a flood, and ποταμός, a river — and no wind. προσρήγνυμι, to break against, stands at two places, both Luke's, and the ῥῆγμα, ruin, of v.49 is unique in the corpus. And Matthew's second man builds ἐπὶ τὴν ἄμμον, on the sand, while Luke's builds ἐπὶ τὴν γῆν χωρὶς θεμελίου, on the ground without a foundation — Matthew names the sand, Luke the missing foundation. The question at v.46 differs as well: Matthew 7:21 has not everyone who says Lord, Lord will enter; Luke 6:46 has why do you call me Lord, Lord and not do what I say.
Rendering options · 2
Adopted “dug and went deep and laid a foundation” — all three verbs rendered
Basis Luke strings three verbs; compressing them makes him match Matthew and erases that the two tell one parable differently.
Compress and match Matthew
Basis Three verbs together read heavily.
Rejected Two of Luke's three words are unique to the corpus or to Luke; matching removes them from the translation altogether.
49
ὁ δὲ ἀκούσας καὶ μὴ ποιήσας ὅμοιός ἐστιν ἀνθρώπῳ οἰκοδομήσαντι οἰκίαν ἐπὶ τὴν γῆν χωρὶς θεμελίου, ᾗ προσέρηξεν ὁ ποταμός, καὶ ⸂εὐθὺς συνέπεσεν⸃, καὶ ἐγένετο τὸ ῥῆγμα τῆς οἰκίας ἐκείνης μέγα.
But the one who hears and does not do is like a man who built a house on the ground without a foundation; the river broke against it, and at once it collapsed, and the ruin of that house was great.”