LUKE 21:3 Interlinear View

1. Greek word
2. Greek lemma
3. OET-LV words
4. OET-RV words
5. Strongs
6. Role/Morphology
7. OET Gloss
8. VLT Gloss
9. CAPS codes
10. Confidence
11. OET tags
12. OET word #
1. Καί
2. kai
3. And
4. -
5. 25320
6. C·······
7. and
8. and
9. S
10. Y33
11. 57992
1. εἶπεν
2. legō
3. he said
4. said
5. 30040
6. VIAA3··S
7. ˱he˲ said
8. ˱he˲ said
9. -
10. Y33; R57734; Person=Jesus
11. 57993
1. Ἀληθῶς
2. alēthōs
3. Truly
4. -
5. 2300
6. D·······
7. truly
8. truly
9. D
10. Y33
11. 57994
1. λέγω
2. legō
3. I am saying
4. -
5. 30040
6. VIPA1··S
7. ˱I˲ ˓am˒ saying
8. ˱I˲ ˓am˒ saying
9. -
10. Y33; R57734; Person=Jesus
11. 57995
1. ὑμῖν
2. su
3. to you all
4. -
5. 47710
6. R···2D·P
7. ˱to˲ you_all
8. ˱to˲ you_all
9. -
10. Y33; R57916
11. 57996
1. ὅτι
2. hoti
3. that
4. -
5. 37540
6. C·······
7. that
8. that
9. -
10. Y33
11. 57997
1. ἡ
2. ho
3. the
4. -
5. 35880
6. E····NFS
7. ¬the
8. ¬the
9. -
10. Y33
11. 57998
1. χήρα
2. χēra
3. widow
4. widow
5. 55030
6. N····NFS
7. widow
8. widow
9. -
10. Y33; F58022; F58027; F58033
11. 57999
1. αὕτη
2. houtos
3. this
4. -
5. 37780
6. E····NFS
7. this
8. this
9. -
10. Y33
11. 58000
1. ἡ
2. ho
3. the
4. -
5. 35880
6. E····NFS
7. ¬the
8. ¬the
9. -
10. Y33
11. 58001
1. πτωχή
2. ptōχos
3. poor
4. -
5. 44340
6. A····NFS
7. poor
8. poor
9. -
10. Y33
11. 58002
1. αὕτη
2. houtos
3. -
4. -
5. 37780
6. E····NFS
7. this
8. this
9. -
10. R57982
11. 58003
1. πλεῖον
2. pleiōn
3. more than
4. -
5. 41190
6. S····ANS
7. more ‹than›
8. more ‹than›
9. -
10. Y33
11. 58004
1. πλείω
2. pleiō
3. -
4. -
5. 41175
6. D·······
7. more
8. more
9. -
10. -
11. 58005
1. πάντων
2. pas
3. all
4. -
5. 39560
6. S····GMP
7. all
8. all
9. -
10. Y33; F58011; F58015
11. 58006
1. ἔβαλεν
2. ballō
3. throw
4. -
5. 9060
6. VIAA3··S
7. throw
8. cast
9. -
10. Y33
11. 58007

SIL Open Translator’s Notes:

Section 21:1–4: Jesus praised a widow because she gave all her money to God

In this section, a poor widow gave all the money that she had as an offering to God. Jesus praised her for doing that. He contrasted her gift with the gifts that the rich people gave. They gave greater amounts of money, but the widow gave God all the money that she had.

Jesus praised the widow on the same day that he criticized the scribes in the preceding section. In 20:47 Jesus said that the scribes “devour widow’s houses.” Most of the scribes were rich people. There is a strong contrast between the scribes and the widow. The scribes served God in order to impress other people, but the widow served him sincerely.

It is good to translate this section before you decide on a heading for it. Examples of other headings for this section are:

A poor widow gave a generous gift to/for the temple

Jesus compared the gifts given to God by the rich to the gift given by a poor widow

The widow’s gift/offering

There is a parallel passage for this section in Mark 12:41–44.

21:3a

“Truly I tell you,” He said,

He said, “I solemnly/truly assure you^(plur) that
Then Jesus said to his disciples, “Listen^(plur) and understand!
He said, “Listen^(plur) and I will tell you what is true!

Truly I tell you: Jesus often used the phrase that the BSB translates as Truly I tell you to begin a statement that he wanted to emphasize. It indicates that the statement was important and totally reliable. It also indicates that people should listen carefully to it.

The word you is plural here. Jesus was about to tell people what he wanted them to learn from the widow’s offering. His statement in 21:3–4 was surprising to most people. He taught them that God valued the small gift of the poor widow more than the large gifts of the rich people.

Some other ways to translate Truly I tell you are:

Truly I tell you

I can guarantee this truth (GW)

I solemnly assure you

You may think that this woman has given less than the others. But the truth is that…

He said: Jesus probably spoke to his disciples here. In some languages it may be necessary to make that explicit. For example:

he said to his disciples

The BSB places the words He said after “Truly I tell you.” In Greek, these words occur at the beginning of 21:3. Place the words He said where it is natural in your language.

21:3b

“this poor widow has put in more than all the others.

this poor widow has given more than all the others have given.
This poor widow actually put/dropped in more than all the rich people together put/dropped in.
The money that this poor widow gave has more value to God than all the money that the others gave,

this poor widow has put in more than all the others: Here Jesus used a figurative way to praise the widow and the gift that she had given. She did not literally give more money than the others, but what she gave had more value to God than all the other gifts. Jesus explained the reason for this in 21:4.

In some languages people may not understand this figurative use correctly. If that is true in your language, you may translate the meaning directly. For example:

What this poor widow gave has more value to God than all the money that the others gave.

more than all the others: The Greek phrase that the BSB translates as more than all the others is literally “more than all.” This phrase has two possible meanings:

She gave more than the combined gifts of all the others. (Her gift had more value to God than all of those other gifts combined.)
She gave more than any other individual person gave. (Her gift had more value to God than any of the other gifts.)

Since this comparison is figurative, either meaning is acceptable. However, option (a) is more emphatic. Some ways to translate it are:

this poor widow has put in more than all of the others together

this poor widow has put in very much, the others have only put in a little

the gift that the poor widow has put in surpasses/exceeds what the others put in

uW Translation Notes:

Note 1 topic: figures-of-speech / explicit

εἶπεν

˱he˲_said

Jesus is still speaking to his disciples, as in [20:45](../20/45.md). If it would be helpful to your readers, you could state that explicitly. Alternate translation: [he said to his disciples]

ἀληθῶς λέγω ὑμῖν

(Some words not found in SR-GNT: Καί εἶπεν Ἀληθῶς λέγω ὑμῖν ὅτι ἡ χήρα αὕτη ἡ πτωχή πλεῖον πάντων ἔβαλεν)

Jesus says this to emphasize the importance of what he is about to say. Alternate translation: [I can assure you]

Note 2 topic: figures-of-speech / metaphor

ἡ χήρα αὕτη ἡ πτωχὴ, πλεῖον πάντων ἔβαλεν

¬the widow this ¬the (Some words not found in SR-GNT: Καί εἶπεν Ἀληθῶς λέγω ὑμῖν ὅτι ἡ χήρα αὕτη ἡ πτωχή πλεῖον πάντων ἔβαλεν)

Even though it is not literally true that the widow has put more money into the offering box than all the rich people, this is still not figurative language. As Jesus explains in the next verse, he means that she has put in proportionately more than all the others, relative to her means, and that is literally true. But Jesus makes the seemingly untrue statement first, to get his disciples to reflect on how it can be true. So it would be appropriate to translate Jesus’ words directly and not interpret them as if they were figurative. For example, it would be a figurative interpretation to say, “God considers what this poor widow has given to be more valuable than the gifts of all the others”

Note 3 topic: figures-of-speech / explicit

πάντων

all

In context, all means specifically all of the rich people who were putting large monetary gifts in the collection boxes. Alternate translation: [all of those rich people]

OET-LV English word order (‘Reverse’ interlinear)

1. OET-LV words
2. OET-RV words
3. Strongs
4. Greek word
5. Greek lemma
6. Role/Morphology
7. OET Gloss
8. VLT Gloss
9. CAPS codes
10. Confidence
11. OET tags
12. OET word #
1. And
2. -
3. 25320
4. S
5. kai
6. C-·······
7. and
8. and
9. S
10. Y33
11. 57992
1. he said
2. said
3. 30040
5. legō
6. V-IAA3··S
7. ˱he˲ said
8. ˱he˲ said
9. -
10. Y33; R57734; Person=Jesus
11. 57993
1. Truly
2. -
3. 2300
4. D
5. alēthōs
6. D-·······
7. truly
8. truly
9. D
10. Y33
11. 57994
1. I am saying
2. -
3. 30040
5. legō
6. V-IPA1··S
7. ˱I˲ ˓am˒ saying
8. ˱I˲ ˓am˒ saying
9. -
10. Y33; R57734; Person=Jesus
11. 57995
1. to you all
2. -
3. 47710
5. su
6. R-···2D·P
7. ˱to˲ you_all
8. ˱to˲ you_all
9. -
10. Y33; R57916
11. 57996
1. that
2. -
3. 37540
5. hoti
6. C-·······
7. that
8. that
9. -
10. Y33
11. 57997
1. the
2. -
3. 35880
5. ho
6. E-····NFS
7. ¬the
8. ¬the
9. -
10. Y33
11. 57998
1. this
2. -
3. 37780
5. houtos
6. E-····NFS
7. this
8. this
9. -
10. Y33
11. 58000
1. the
2. -
3. 35880
5. ho
6. E-····NFS
7. ¬the
8. ¬the
9. -
10. Y33
11. 58001
1. poor
2. -
3. 44340
5. ptōχos
6. A-····NFS
7. poor
8. poor
9. -
10. Y33
11. 58002
1. widow
2. widow
3. 55030
5. χēra
6. N-····NFS
7. widow
8. widow
9. -
10. Y33; F58022; F58027; F58033
11. 57999
1. throw
2. -
3. 9060
5. ballō
6. V-IAA3··S
7. throw
8. cast
9. -
10. Y33
11. 58007
1. more than
2. -
3. 41190
5. pleiōn
6. S-····ANS
7. more ‹than›
8. more ‹than›
9. -
10. Y33
11. 58004
1. all
2. -
3. 39560
5. pas
6. S-····GMP
7. all
8. all
9. -
10. Y33; F58011; F58015
11. 58006

Note: The OET-RV is still only a first draft, and so far only a few words have been (mostly automatically) matched to the Hebrew or Greek words that they’re translated from.

Acknowledgements: The SR Greek text, lemmas, morphology, and VLT gloss are all thanks to the CNTR.

OET interlinear LUKE 21:3

SR Greek word order (including unused variant words in grey)

Section 21:1–4: Jesus praised a widow because she gave all her money to God

21:3a

21:3b

OET-LV English word order (‘Reverse’ interlinear)