Luke 16:10-14

16:10 “The one who is faithful in a very little ¹  is also faithful in much, and the one who is dishonest in a very little is also dishonest in much. 16:11 If then you haven’t been trustworthy ²  in handling worldly wealth, ³  who will entrust you with the true riches? ⁴  16:12 And if you haven’t been trustworthy ⁵  with someone else’s property, ⁶  who will give you your own ⁷ ? 16:13 No servant can serve two masters, for either he will hate ⁸  the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise ⁹  the other. You cannot serve God and money.” ¹⁰ 

More Warnings about the Pharisees

16:14 The Pharisees ¹¹  (who loved money) heard all this and ridiculed ¹²  him.

[16:10]  ¹ sn The point of the statement faithful in a very little is that character is shown in how little things are treated.

[16:11]  ² tn Or “faithful.”

[16:11]  ³ tn Grk “the unrighteous mammon.” See the note on the phrase “worldly wealth” in v. 9.

[16:11]  ⁴ 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.

[16:12]  ³ tn Or “faithful.”

[16:12]  ⁴ tn Grk “have not been faithful with what is another’s.”

[16:12]  ⁵ tn Grk “what is your own.”

[16:13]  ⁴ 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.

[16:13]  ⁵ tn Or “and treat [the other] with contempt.”

[16:13]  ⁶ tn Grk “God and mammon.” This is the same word (μαμωνᾶς, mamwnas; often merely transliterated as “mammon”) translated “worldly wealth” in vv. 9, 11.

[16:14]  ⁵ sn See the note on Pharisees in 5:17.

[16:14]  ⁶ tn A figurative extension of the literal meaning “to turn one’s nose up at someone”; here “ridicule, sneer at, show contempt for” (L&N 33.409).