Luke 17:2

17:2 It would be better for him to have a millstone ¹  tied around his neck and be thrown into the sea ²  than for him to cause one of these little ones to sin. ³ 

Luke 21:6

21:6 “As for these things that you are gazing at, the days will come when not one stone will be left on another. ⁴  All will be torn down!” ⁵ 

¹ tn This term refers to the heavy upper stone of a grinding mill (L&N 7.70; BDAG 660 s.v. μυλικός).

² tn Grk “if a millstone were tied…and he were thrown.” The conditional construction in Greek has been translated by English infinitives: “to have… and be thrown.”

³ tn Or “to stumble.” This verb, σκανδαλίσῃ (skandalish), has the same root as the noun σκάνδαλον (skandalon) in 17:1, translated “stumbling blocks”; this wordplay is difficult to reproduce in English. It is possible that the primary cause of offense here would be leading disciples (“little ones”) astray in a similar fashion.

⁴ sn With the statement days will come when not one stone will be left on another Jesus predicted the total destruction of the temple, something that did occur in a.d. 70.

⁵ tn Grk “the days will come when not one stone will be left on another that will not be thrown down.”