Luke 17:6-7

17:6 So ¹  the Lord replied, ²  “If ³  you had faith the size of ⁴  a mustard seed, you could say to this black mulberry ⁵  tree, ‘Be pulled out by the roots and planted in the sea,’ ⁶  and it would obey ⁷  you.

17:7 “Would any one of you say ⁸  to your slave ⁹  who comes in from the field after plowing or shepherding sheep, ‘Come at once and sit down for a meal’? ¹⁰ 

[17:6]  ¹ tn Here δέ (de) has been translated as “so” to indicate the implied result of previous action(s) in the narrative.

[17:6]  ² tn Grk “said.”

[17:6]  ³ tn This is a mixed condition, with ἄν (an) in the apodosis.

[17:6]  ⁴ tn Grk “faith as,” “faith like.”

[17:6]  ⁵ sn A black mulberry tree is a deciduous fruit tree that grows about 20 ft (6 m) tall and has black juicy berries. This tree has an extensive root system, so to pull it up would be a major operation.

[17:6]  ⁶ tn The passives here (ἐκριζώθητι and φυτεύθητι, ekrizwqhti and futeuqhti) are probably a circumlocution for God performing the action (the so-called divine passive, see ExSyn 437-38). The issue is not the amount of faith (which in the example is only very tiny), but its presence, which can accomplish impossible things. To cause a tree to be uprooted and planted in the sea is impossible. The expression is a rhetorical idiom. It is like saying a camel can go through the eye of a needle (Luke 18:25).

[17:6]  ⁷ tn The verb is aorist, though it looks at a future event, another rhetorical touch to communicate certainty of the effect of faith.

[17:7]  ⁸ tn Grk “Who among you, having a slave… would say to him.”

[17:7]  ⁹ tn See the note on the word “slave” in 7:2.

[17:7]  ¹⁰ tn Grk “and recline at table,” as 1st century middle eastern meals were not eaten while sitting at a table, but while reclining on one’s side on the floor with the head closest to the low table and the feet farthest away. See BDAG 70 s.v. ἀναπίπτω 1.