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Luke 17

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Warnings on Stumbling and Forgiveness 1–6

1
Then said he unto the disciples, It is impossible but that offences will come: but woe unto him, through whom they come! ​
2
It were better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and he cast into the sea, than that he should offend one of these little ones. ​
3
Take heed to yourselves: If thy brother trespass against thee, rebuke him; and if he repent, forgive him. ​
4
And if he trespass against thee seven times in a day, and seven times in a day turn again to thee, saying, I repent; thou shalt forgive him. ​
5
And the apostles said unto the Lord, Increase our faith. ​
6
And the Lord said, If ye had faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye might say unto this sycamine tree, Be thou plucked up by the root, and be thou planted in the sea; and it should obey you. ​

Duty of the Servant 7–10

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But which of you, having a servant plowing or feeding cattle, will say unto him by and by, when he is come from the field, Go and sit down to meat? ​
8
And will not rather say unto him, Make ready wherewith I may sup, and gird thyself, and serve me, till I have eaten and drunken; and afterward thou shalt eat and drink?
9
Doth he thank that servant because he did the things that were commanded him? I trow not.
10
So likewise ye, when ye shall have done all those things which are commanded you, say, We are unprofitable servants: we have done that which was our duty to do. ​

Jesus Heals Ten Lepers 11–19

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And it came to pass, as he went to Jerusalem, that he passed through the midst of Samaria and Galilee. ​
12
And as he entered into a certain village, there met him ten men that were lepers, which stood afar off:
13
And they lifted up their voices, and said, Jesus, Master, have mercy on us.
14
And when he saw them, he said unto them, Go shew yourselves unto the priests. And it came to pass, that, as they went, they were cleansed. ​
15
And one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, and with a loud voice glorified God,
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And fell down on his face at his feet, giving him thanks: and he was a Samaritan. ​
17
And Jesus answering said, Were there not ten cleansed? but where are the nine?
18
There are not found that returned to give glory to God, save this stranger.
19
And he said unto him, Arise, go thy way: thy faith hath made thee whole. ​

The Coming of the Kingdom of God 20–21

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And when he was demanded of the Pharisees, when the kingdom of God should come, he answered them and said, The kingdom of God cometh not with observation: ​
21
Neither shall they say, Lo here! or, lo there! for, behold, the kingdom of God is within you. ​

Signs of the Son of Man's Return 22–37

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And he said unto the disciples, The days will come, when ye shall desire to see one of the days of the Son of man, and ye shall not see it. ​
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And they shall say to you, See here; or, see there: go not after them, nor follow them.
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For as the lightning, that lighteneth out of the one part under heaven, shineth unto the other part under heaven; so shall also the Son of man be in his day. ​
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But first must he suffer many things, and be rejected of this generation. ​
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And as it was in the days of Noe, so shall it be also in the days of the Son of man. ​
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They did eat, they drank, they married wives, they were given in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark, and the flood came, and destroyed them all.
28
Likewise also as it was in the days of Lot; they did eat, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they builded;
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But the same day that Lot went out of Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven, and destroyed them all.
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Even thus shall it be in the day when the Son of man is revealed.
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In that day, he which shall be upon the housetop, and his stuff in the house, let him not come down to take it away: and he that is in the field, let him likewise not return back. ​
32
Remember Lot's wife. ​
33
Whosoever shall seek to save his life shall lose it; and whosoever shall lose his life shall preserve it. ​
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I tell you, in that night there shall be two men in one bed; the one shall be taken, and the other shall be left. ​
35
Two women shall be grinding together; the one shall be taken, and the other left.
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Two men shall be in the field; the one shall be taken, and the other left.
37
And they answered and said unto him, Where, Lord? And he said unto them, Wheresoever the body is, thither will the eagles be gathered together. ​

Bible text: King James Version (1769 Blayney text) · Public domain

Study Notes for Luke 17

Verse 1

offences — Skandalon, a cause of stumbling. Matt 18:7 has the same saying: 'it must needs be that offences come; but woe to that man by whom the offence cometh!' 'Impossible' (anendektos), literally not admitted as possible, occurs only here: stumbling-blocks will come, and the woe falls on the one through whom they come.

Verse 2

a millstone were hanged about his neck — The Greek is mulos onikos, a millstone 'of an ass', one large enough to be turned by an animal. Matt 18:6 and Mark 9:42 give the same sentence; Matthew adds 'drowned in the depth of the sea'. 'Offend' is skandalizo, the verb of the noun in v.1, and 'little ones' are those who 'believe in me' (Matt 18:6).

Verse 3

Take heed to yourselves — Two steps follow: 'rebuke him' and 'if he repent, forgive him'. 'Trespass' is hamartano, to sin; Matt 18:15 gives the first step as 'tell him his fault between thee and him alone'. 'Forgive' is aphiemi, to send away, and 'repent' is metanoeo, to change the mind.

Verse 4

seven times in a day — Peter asks the matching question in Matt 18:21, 'till seven times?', and is answered, 'Until seventy times seven' (18:22). Here the seven returns fall in one day, each with 'I repent' (metanoeo), and the command is plain: 'thou shalt forgive him'. 'Turn again' is epistrepho.

Verse 5

Increase our faith — 'Increase' is prostithemi, to add: the verb of 'all these things shall be added unto you' (Matt 6:33) and of Luke 12:25. The request comes from 'the apostles' after the standard of vv.3–4. The answer in v.6 names the smallest measure, 'a grain of mustard seed'.

Verse 6

sycamine tree — Sukaminos, the sycamine, is found only here. 'Plucked up by the root' is ekrizoo, the verb of Matt 15:13 (a plant 'rooted up'); Matt 17:20 and 21:21 give the saying with a mountain that is removed and 'cast into the sea'. Here the tree is 'planted in the sea', and 'it should obey you' (hupakouo).

Verse 7

a servant plowing or feeding cattle — 'Servant' is doulos, a slave, the word of 'unprofitable servants' in v.10. V.8 supplies the answer: 'gird thyself, and serve me'. 'Gird' (perizonnumi) is the verb of Luke 12:37, where the master himself 'shall gird himself, and make them to sit down to meat, and will come forth and serve them'.

Verse 10

unprofitable servants — Achreios, useless or without merit, is found only here and in Matt 25:30, 'cast ye the unprofitable servant into outer darkness'. 'Duty' is opheilo, to owe, the verb of 'every one that is indebted to us' (Luke 11:4): what was done was what was owed.

Verse 11

through the midst of Samaria and Galilee — The journey 'to Jerusalem' is Luke's thread from 9:51, 'he stedfastly set his face to go to Jerusalem', through 13:22 and 18:31. The road crosses both regions, and the company of v.12 includes a Samaritan (v.16), though 'the Jews have no dealings with the Samaritans' (John 4:9).

Verse 14

Go shew yourselves unto the priests — The law of the leper required it: 'He shall be brought unto the priest', who 'shall look' whether the plague 'be healed' (Lev 14:2–3); Luke 5:14 gives the same command to another leper. They are 'cleansed' (katharizo) 'as they went', after setting out, as the blind man 'went his way… and washed, and came seeing' (John 9:7).

Verse 16

he was a Samaritan — Samarites. The king of Assyria 'placed them in the cities of Samaria' (2 Kings 17:24), and 'the Jews have no dealings with the Samaritans' (John 4:9). 'Giving thanks' is eucharisteo, the verb of Christ at the supper, 'gave thanks' (Luke 22:19). V.18 calls him 'stranger' (allogenes), a word found only there.

Verse 19

thy faith hath made thee whole — Sozo, to save or make whole, the verb of 'Thy faith hath saved thee' (Luke 7:50; 18:42) and 'thy faith hath made thee whole' (8:48). All ten were 'cleansed' (katharizo, vv.14, 17); the one who returned is 'healed' (iaomai, v.15) and hears 'Arise, go thy way'.

Verse 20

with observation — Paratereseis, close watching, found only here; its verb describes the Pharisees' watching of Jesus: 'the scribes and Pharisees watched him, whether he would heal on the sabbath day' (Luke 6:7; also 14:1). Of the kingdom Christ says elsewhere, 'the kingdom of God is come unto you' (Matt 12:28).

Verse 21

within you — Entos, inside, occurs only here and in Matt 23:26, 'that which is within the cup'. The pronoun is plural and v.20 shows Pharisees are addressed, so Christians read it as 'within' the hearers or as 'in the midst of' them, the King being present. 'Lo here… lo there' is the warning repeated in v.23.

Verse 22

one of the days of the Son of man — The audience turns from the Pharisees (v.20) to 'the disciples'. 'Desire' is epithumeo. 'The days will come' is a formula Luke has also at 5:35, 'the days will come, when the bridegroom shall be taken away from them'. 'Days' is plural here; v.24 has 'his day'.

Verse 24

as the lightning — Astrape. Matt 24:27 has the same simile, 'out of the east, and shineth even unto the west', and Christ says of Satan, 'I beheld Satan as lightning fall from heaven' (Luke 10:18). It answers v.23, 'See here; or, see there': this shines 'out of the one part under heaven… unto the other'.

Verse 25

first must he suffer many things — 'Must' is dei, it is necessary: the word of 'The Son of man must suffer many things, and be rejected' (Luke 9:22) and 'Ought not Christ to have suffered these things' (24:26). 'Rejected' is apodokimazo, the verb of 'The stone which the builders rejected' (Luke 20:17). 'Generation' is genea, as in Matt 24:34.

Verse 26

the days of Noe — 'Noe' is the New Testament spelling of Noah. Matt 24:37–39 gives the comparison with Noe alone; Luke pairs it with Lot (vv.28–29). 'The days of the Son of man' answer 'the days of Noe', and the eating, drinking and marrying are in the imperfect, continuing 'until the day that Noe entered into the ark'.

Verse 31

he which shall be upon the housetop — The roof was a place of use (Acts 10:9, 'Peter went up upon the housetop to pray') and was built with a 'battlement' (Deut 22:8). Matt 24:17 sets the same command in the flight from Jerusalem; here it is 'in that day', when the Son of man 'is revealed' (v.30). 'Back' is opiso, behind.

Verse 32

Remember Lot's wife — Lot was told 'look not behind thee' (Gen 19:17), and 'his wife looked back from behind him, and she became a pillar of salt' (Gen 19:26). The command follows v.31, 'let him likewise not return back'; the saying on losing life, v.33, comes next.

Verse 33

shall lose his life shall preserve it — 'Lose' is apollumi, the verb translated 'destroyed' in vv.27 and 29, of the flood and the fire; 'life' is psuche; 'preserve' is zoogoneo, to keep alive, found only here and Acts 7:19. The saying is given also at Matt 10:39, Mark 8:35, Luke 9:24 and John 12:25.

Verse 34

the one shall be taken, and the other shall be left — 'Taken' is paralambano, 'left' aphiemi, as in Matt 24:40–41; here the scenes are a night, a mill (v.35) and a field (v.36). Paralambano is also the verb of 'I will come again, and receive you unto myself' (John 14:3). Christians differ whether the one taken is gathered to Christ or taken in judgment, as in vv.27, 29.

Verse 37

Wheresoever the body is — The disciples ask 'Where, Lord?' after the taking and leaving of vv.34–36. 'Body' is soma, where Matt 24:28 has 'carcase' (ptoma); 'eagles' is aetos, the bird of Job 39:30, 'where the slain are, there is she'. The answer names no place, only the body.