Luke 15:30

15:30 But when this son of yours ¹  came back, who has devoured ²  your assets with prostitutes, ³  you killed the fattened calf ⁴  for him!’

Luke 17:27

17:27 People ⁵  were eating, ⁶  they were drinking, they were marrying, they were being given in marriage – right up to the day Noah entered the ark. Then ⁷  the flood came and destroyed them all. ⁸ 

Luke 19:20

19:20 Then another ⁹  slave ¹⁰  came and said, ‘Sir, here is ¹¹  your mina that I put away for safekeeping ¹²  in a piece of cloth. ¹³ 

[15:30]  ¹ sn Note the younger son is not “my brother” but this son of yours (an expression with a distinctly pejorative nuance).

[15:30]  ² sn This is another graphic description. The younger son’s consumption had been like a glutton. He had both figuratively and literally devoured the assets which were given to him.

[15:30]  ³ sn The charge concerning the prostitutes is unproven, but essentially the older brother accuses the father of committing an injustice by rewarding his younger son’s unrighteous behavior.

[15:30]  ⁴ sn See note on the phrase “fattened calf” in v. 23.

[17:27]  ⁵ tn Grk “They.” The plural in Greek is indefinite, referring to people in general.

[17:27]  ⁶ tn These verbs (“eating… drinking… marrying… being given in marriage”) are all progressive imperfects, describing action in progress at that time.

[17:27]  ⁷ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the narrative.

[17:27]  ⁸ sn Like that flood came and destroyed them all, the coming judgment associated with the Son of Man will condemn many.

[19:20]  ⁹ sn Though ten were given minas, the story stops to focus on the one who did nothing with the opportunity given to him. Here is the parable’s warning about the one who does not trust the master. This figure is called “another,” marking him out as different than the first two.

[19:20]  ¹⁰ tn The word “slave” is not in the Greek text, but has been supplied for stylistic reasons.

[19:20]  ¹¹ tn Grk “behold.”

[19:20]  ¹² tn Or “that I stored away.” L&N 85.53 defines ἀπόκειμαι (apokeimai) here as “to put something away for safekeeping – ‘to store, to put away in a safe place.’”

[19:20]  ¹³ tn The piece of cloth, called a σουδάριον (soudarion), could have been a towel, napkin, handkerchief, or face cloth (L&N 6.159).