Luke 10:29

10:29 But the expert, ¹  wanting to justify ²  himself, said to Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?”

Luke 14:28

14:28 For which of you, wanting to build a tower, doesn’t sit down ³  first and compute the cost ⁴  to see if he has enough money to complete it?

[10:29]  ¹ tn Grk “And he”; the referent (the expert in religious law, shortened here to “the expert”) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[10:29]  ² tn Or “vindicate.”

[14:28]  ³ tn The participle καθίσας (kaqisas) has been translated as a finite verb due to requirements of contemporary English style.

[14:28]  ⁴ tn The first illustration involves checking to see if enough funds exist to build a watchtower. Both ψηφίζω (yhfizw, “compute”) and δαπάνη (dapanh, “cost”) are economic terms.