Luke 17:8-11

17:8 Won’t ¹  the master ²  instead say to him, ‘Get my dinner ready, and make yourself ready ³  to serve me while ⁴  I eat and drink. Then ⁵  you may eat and drink’? 17:9 He won’t thank the slave because he did what he was told, ⁶  will he? ⁷  17:10 So you too, when you have done everything you were commanded to do, should say, ‘We are slaves undeserving of special praise; ⁸  we have only done what was our duty.’” ⁹ 

The Grateful Leper

17:11 Now on ¹⁰  the way to Jerusalem, ¹¹  Jesus ¹²  was passing along ¹³  between Samaria and Galilee.

[17:8]  ¹ tn The question includes a Greek particle, οὐχί (ouci), that expects a positive reply. The slave is expected to prepare a meal before eating himself.

[17:8]  ² tn Grk “he”; the referent has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[17:8]  ³ tn Grk “and gird yourself” (with an apron or towel, in preparation for service).

[17:8]  ⁴ tn BDAG 423 s.v. ἕως 2.b, “to denote contemporaneousness as long as, while… w. subjunctive… Lk 17:8.”

[17:8]  ⁵ tn Grk “after these things.”

[17:9]  ⁶ tn Grk “did what was commanded.”

[17:9]  ⁷ tn The Greek construction anticipates a negative reply which is indicated in the translation by the ‘tag’ at the end, “will he?” Thanks are not required.

[17:10]  ⁸ tn Some translations describe the slaves as “worthless” (NRSV) or “unworthy” (NASB, NIV) but that is not Jesus’ point. These disciples have not done anything deserving special commendation or praise (L&N 33.361), but only what would normally be expected of a slave in such a situation (thus the translation “we have only done what was our duty”).

[17:10]  ⁹ tn Or “we have only done what we were supposed to do.”

[17:11]  ¹⁰ tn Grk “Now it happened that on.” The introductory phrase ἐγένετο (egeneto, “it happened that”), common in Luke (69 times) and Acts (54 times), is redundant in contemporary English and has not been translated.

[17:11]  ¹¹ sn This is another travel note about Jesus going to Jerusalem in Luke 9:51-19:48, the so-called “Jerusalem journey” section of Luke’s Gospel. It is not a straight line journey, because to travel along the Galilean and Samaritan border is to go east or west, not south to Jerusalem.

[17:11]  ¹² tn Grk “he”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[17:11]  ¹³ tn Or “was traveling about.”