Luke 16:9

16:9 And I tell you, make friends for yourselves by how you use worldly wealth, so that when it runs out you will be welcomed into the eternal homes.

Luke 16:11

16:11 If then you haven’t been trustworthy in handling worldly wealth, who will entrust you with the true riches?

Luke 16:13

16:13 No servant can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money.”

Luke 16:1

The Parable of the Clever Steward

16:1 Jesus 10  also said to the disciples, “There was a rich man who was informed of accusations 11  that his manager 12  was wasting 13  his assets.

Luke 6:9-10

6:9 Then 14  Jesus said to them, “I ask you, 15  is it lawful to do good on the Sabbath or to do evil, to save a life or to destroy it?” 6:10 After 16  looking around 17  at them all, he said to the man, 18  “Stretch out your hand.” The man 19  did so, and his hand was restored. 20 

Luke 6:17

The Sermon on the Plain

6:17 Then 21  he came down with them and stood on a level place. 22  And a large number 23  of his disciples had gathered 24  along with 25  a vast multitude from all over Judea, from 26  Jerusalem, 27  and from the seacoast of Tyre 28  and Sidon. 29  They came to hear him and to be healed 30  of their diseases,


tn Grk “unrighteous mammon.” Mammon is the Aramaic term for wealth or possessions. The point is not that money is inherently evil, but that it is often misused so that it is a means of evil; see 1 Tim 6:6-10, 17-19. The call is to be generous and kind in its use. Zacchaeus becomes the example of this in Luke’s Gospel (19:1-10).

sn The passive refers to the welcome of heaven.

tn Grk “eternal tents” (as dwelling places).

tn Or “faithful.”

tn Grk “the unrighteous mammon.” See the note on the phrase “worldly wealth” in v. 9.

sn Entrust you with the true riches is a reference to future service for God. The idea is like 1 Cor 9:11, except there the imagery is reversed.

sn The contrast between hate and love here is rhetorical. The point is that one will choose the favorite if a choice has to be made.

tn Or “and treat [the other] with contempt.”

tn Grk “God and mammon.” This is the same word (μαμωνᾶς, mamwnas; often merely transliterated as “mammon”) translated “worldly wealth” in vv. 9, 11.

10 tn Grk “He”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

11 tn These are not formal legal charges, but reports from friends, acquaintances, etc.; Grk “A certain man was rich who had a manager, and this one was reported to him as wasting his property.”

12 sn His manager was the steward in charge of managing the house. He could have been a slave trained for the role.

13 tn Or “squandering.” This verb is graphic; it means to scatter (L&N 57.151).

14 tn Here δέ (de) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the narrative.

15 sn With the use of the plural pronoun (“you”), Jesus addressed not just the leaders but the crowd with his question to challenge what the leadership was doing. There is irony as well. As Jesus sought to restore on the Sabbath (but improperly according to the leaders’ complaints) the leaders were seeking to destroy, which surely is wrong. The implied critique recalls the OT: Isa 1:1-17; 58:6-14.

16 tn Grk “And after.” Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

17 tn The aorist participle περιβλεψάμενος (peribleyameno") has been translated as antecedent (prior) to the action of the main verb. It could also be translated as contemporaneous (“Looking around… he said”).

18 tn Grk “him”; the referent (the man with the withered hand) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

19 tn Grk “he”; the referent (the man) has been specified in the translation for clarity. Here δέ (de) has not been translated.

20 sn The passive was restored points to healing by God. Now the question became: Would God exercise his power through Jesus, if what Jesus was doing were wrong? Note also Jesus’ “labor.” He simply spoke and it was so.

21 tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the narrative.

22 tn Or “on a plateau.” This could refer to a message given in a flat locale or in a flat locale in the midst of a more mountainous region (Jer 21:13; Isa 13:2). It is quite possible that this sermon is a summary version of the better known Sermon on the Mount from Matt 5-7.

23 tn Grk “large crowd.”

24 tn There is no verb in Greek at this point, but since “a large crowd” (see preceding tn) is in the nominative case, one needs to be supplied.

25 tn Grk “and.”

26 tn Grk “and from,” but καί (kai) has not been translated since English normally uses a coordinating conjunction only between the last two elements in a series of three or more.

27 map For location see Map5-B1; Map6-F3; Map7-E2; Map8-F2; Map10-B3; JP1-F4; JP2-F4; JP3-F4; JP4-F4.

28 map For location see Map1-A2; Map2-G2; Map4-A1; JP3-F3; JP4-F3.

29 sn These last two locations, Tyre and Sidon, represented an expansion outside of traditional Jewish territory. Jesus’ reputation continued to expand into new regions.

30 sn To hear him and to be healed. Jesus had a two-level ministry: The word and then wondrous acts of service that showed his message of God’s care were real.