Online Resource Library
Commentary Index | Return to PrayerRequest.com | DownloadBob Utley You Can Understand the Bible - Luke 16:10 - 16:13
(Show All Books | Show All Chapters)
This Chapter Verse Commentaries:
NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: Luk_16:10-13
10"He who is faithful in a very little thing is faithful also in much; and he who is unrighteous in a very little thing is unrighteous also in much. 11Therefore if you have not been faithful in the use of unrighteous wealth, who will entrust the true riches to you? 12And if you have not been faithful in the use of that which is another's, who will give you that which is your own? 13No servant can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and wealth."
Luk_16:10 "a very little thing" This referred to earthly wealth or stewardship. Humans reveal their character in their daily choices and actions.
▣ "in much" This is uses twice in this verse. It refers to heavenly wealth (cf. Mat_6:19-34).
Luk_16:11 "if" This is a first class conditional which was assumed to be true from the author's perspective or for his literary purposes. Believers must use the things of this world to (1) help people come to know Christ and (2) to help believers.
▣ "entrust" There is a word play between "faithful" (pistos, Luk_16:10-12) and "entrust" (pisteuô, Future active indicative). Believers are stewards (cf. 1Co_4:1-5; Tit_1:7; 1Pe_4:10). The question is what kind of stewards (cf. Mat_5:13-15).
The rhetorical question of Luk_16:11 expects a negative answer (as does Luk_16:12). People who do not know God cannot be faithful even in small things. An unstated contrast is the point of the parable. Smart people can get other people whom they have bribed to help them in this life (cf. Luk_16:4), but they have no resources for the next life ("eternal dwellings").
Luk_16:12 "if" This also is a first class conditional sentence. This rhetorical question is negated. Unbelievers are unfaithful in all things.
▣ "that which is another's" Many interpreters see this as a reference to God's ownership of all things. Believers are stewards of everything and owners of nothing. This is true of the gospel and worldly resources.
▣ "that which is your own" There is a Greek manuscript variant involving the pronoun. UBS4 text says "you" (humeteron) an "A" rating (certain, cf. MSS P75, à , A, D, W, and the Vulgate, Syriac, Coptic, and Armenean versions).
But, other modern, eclectic Greek texts such as Nestles' 21st Edition have "our" (hçmeteron, i.e., the Father's and the Son's, cf. MSS B and L). The effect on meaning is negligible, but it gives the opportunity to discuss how the NT was copied and why variants like this occurred. Often one person read a Greek text while several others wrote down what he read. Therefore, words that sound alike were often confused. The pronunciation of these two pronouns was very similar, thus the variant! See Appendix Two.
Luk_16:13 "no servant can serve two masters" One cannot have two priorities (i.e., self and God). One must choose between this world's goods or spiritual treasures (cf. Mat_6:19-34; Mat_10:34-39; 1Jn_2:15-17). "You cannot serve God and wealth."
▣ "hate . . . love" This was a Hebrew idiom of comparison (cf. Gen_29:31; Deu_21:15; Mal_1:2-3; Luk_14:26; Luk_16:13; Joh_12:25; Rom_9:13). God and His kingdom must be priority.