Luke 10:40-41

10:40 But Martha was distracted ¹  with all the preparations she had to make, ²  so ³  she came up to him and said, “Lord, don’t you care ⁴  that my sister has left me to do all the work ⁵  alone? Tell ⁶  her to help me.” 10:41 But the Lord ⁷  answered her, ⁸  “Martha, Martha, ⁹  you are worried and troubled ¹⁰  about many things,

[10:40]  ¹ sn The term distracted means “to be pulled away” by something (L&N 25.238). It is a narrative comment that makes clear who is right in the account.

[10:40]  ² tn Grk “with much serving.”

[10:40]  ³ tn Here δέ (de) has been translated as “so” to indicate that the following was a result of Martha’s distraction.

[10:40]  ⁴ tn The negative οὐ (ou) used with the verb expects a positive reply. Martha expected Jesus to respond and rebuke Mary.

[10:40]  ⁵ tn Grk “has left me to serve alone.”

[10:40]  ⁶ tn The conjunction οὖν (oun, “then, therefore”) has not been translated here.

[10:41]  ⁷ tc Most mss (A B* C D W Θ Ψ Ë^1,13 Ï it) read “Jesus” instead of “the Lord” here, but κύριος (kurios, “Lord”) has the support of some weighty papyri, uncials, and other witnesses (Ì^3,[45],75 א B² L 579 892 pc lat sa).

[10:41]  ⁸ tn Grk “answering, said to her.” This is redundant in contemporary English and has been simplified to “answered her.”

[10:41]  ⁹ sn The double vocative Martha, Martha communicates emotion.

[10:41]  ¹⁰ tn Or “upset.” Here the meanings of μεριμνάω (merimnaw) and θορυβάζομαι (qorubazomai) reinforce each other (L&N 25.234).