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InterlinearVerse GEN EXO LEV NUM DEU JOB JOS JDG RUTH 1 SAM 2 SAM PSA AMOS HOS 1 KI 2 KI 1 CHR 2 CHR PROV ECC SNG JOEL MIC ISA ZEP HAB JER LAM YNA (JNA) NAH OBA DAN EZE EZRA EST NEH HAG ZEC MAL LAO GES LES ESG DNG 2 PS TOB JDT WIS SIR BAR LJE PAZ SUS BEL MAN 1 MAC 2 MAC 3 MAC 4 MAC YHN (JHN) MARK MAT LUKE ACTs YAC (JAM) GAL 1 TH 2 TH 1 COR 2 COR ROM COL PHM EPH PHP 1 TIM TIT 1 PET 2 PET 2 TIM HEB YUD (JUD) 1 YHN (1 JHN) 2 YHN (2 JHN) 3 YHN (3 JHN) REV
Luke C1 C2 C3 C4 C5 C6 C7 C8 C9 C10 C11 C12 C13 C14 C15 C16 C17 C18 C19 C20 C21 C22 C23 C24
Luke 6 V1 V3 V5 V7 V9 V11 V13 V15 V17 V19 V21 V23 V25 V27 V29 V31 V33 V35 V37 V39 V41 V43 V45 V47 V49
OET (OET-LV) And if you_all_may_lend from whom you_all_are_hoping to_receive, what grace to_you_all it_is?
Even sinners are_lending to_sinners, in_order_that they_may_receive_back the same amounts.
OET (OET-RV) And if you only lend money to people that you’re expecting to repay you, how good is that? Even those who disobey God lend to others like them, knowing they’ll get their money back.
In this section, Jesus spoke about how his true disciples should think and act. He spoke about this immediately after he had chosen twelve of his disciples to be his apostles. Jesus said many things about this topic in his speech, so that people have often called this particular speech of Jesus a “sermon.”
In this sermon, Jesus asked those who heard him to be different from other people in the world and to think differently. He encouraged his disciples to obey his authority and live as people of God. They should be generous and merciful even to their enemies, as God is generous to everyone. Jesus assured his disciples that they would be blessed and rewarded for their obedience and for suffering for him. He concluded his speech by telling parables to motivate his disciples to obey his teaching.
Another possible heading for this section is:
The Sermon on the Plain (NET)
Some English versions divide 6:17–49 into several sections. Here is one way that might be done:
6:17–26 Blessings and woes
6:27–36 Love your enemies
6:37–42 Do not judge
6:43–45 A tree and its fruit
6:46–49 Two foundations
The sermon in 6:17–49 is similar to the sermon commonly referred to as “The Sermon on the Mount” in Matthew chapters 5–7.
In this paragraph, Jesus stated that some people respond kindly only to those who treat them well. These people are just like the “sinners” whom they despise. He illustrated this with three examples. Each example is a rhetorical question that emphasizes that people like that will get no credit for such behavior.
Jesus then restated the three situations with commands. He said that God would reward them if they followed these commands.
And if you lend to those from whom you expect repayment, what credit is that to you?: This is the third rhetorical question. Jesus used this rhetorical question to emphasize that you will not receive any credit in this situation. He said that when you lend only to those who can repay you, it is no credit to you.
Translate this emphasis using the same form (question or statement) that you used for the two previous rhetorical questions in 6:32–33.
And if you lend to those from whom you expect repayment,
And if you(plur) lend money to people whom you believe will repay you,
Likewise, if you(plur) lend money only to people whom you(plur) believe will/can return the same amount to you(plur),
you lend: In some languages, it may be necessary to supply an object for lend. For example:
you lend money (CEV)
to those from whom you expect repayment: The phrase those from whom you expect repayment refers to people whom you hope/expect will repay you. Some other ways to translate this are:
only to someone you think will pay you back (CEV)
only to those who can repay you (NLT)
always hoping to get something back (NCV)
what credit is that to you?
what favor/praise/approval will you(plur) get for that?
you(plur) certainly do not deserve any special credit/respect for that.
what credit is that to you?: This is the same clause as 6:32a–b.
In some languages, it may be natural to change the order of 6:34a and 6:34b. For example:
34bWhat credit/praise do you deserve 34afor lending to people whom you expect to repay you?
Even sinners lend to sinners, expecting to be repaid in full.
Even sinners lend to sinners and expect to get their money back. (JBP)
For even those who sin lend to one another because they think that they will receive back the full amount.
Even sinners lend to sinners: This sentence gives the reason why there is no credit in lending money to people who will repay you. Sinners also lend money to those who will fully repay them. This is not exceptional, and it does not cause a person to deserve special favor. Connect 6:32c to 6:32b in the same way that you connected 6:32c to 6:32a–b.
expecting to be repaid in full: The phrase expecting to be repaid in full is literally “that they may receive in return the equal.” It means “expecting to get back what they loaned.”Commentators discuss various interpretations for “in order to receive back the same.” Some note that the verb used for “loan” generally means to receive with interest. So it may be implied that these people loan in order to receive back the amount paid plus interest. Another possibility is that they loan in order that others will loan to them in their time of need. (See Marshall, for example.) This interpretation has in its favor that it makes good sense of the conjunction ἵνα (“in order to”) expressing purpose. However, in the Notes we have followed the English versions here which all (on TW) translate this to mean receiving back the same amount of money that was lent. Some other ways to translate this are:
and expect to get their money back (JBP)
because they think they will get it all back (CEV)
to get back the same amount (GNT)
for a full return (NLT)
Note 1 topic: figures-of-speech / rquestion
ποία ὑμῖν χάρις ἐστίν?
what ˱to˲_you_all grace ˱it˲_is
Jesus is using the question form once again as a teaching tool. You could also translate his words as a statement here. Alternate translation: [God will not reward you for doing that!]
Note 2 topic: figures-of-speech / nominaladj
ἵνα ἀπολάβωσιν τὰ ἴσα
in_order_that ˱they˲_˓may˒_receive_back (Some words not found in SR-GNT: Καί ἐάν δανίσητε πάρʼ ὧν ἐλπίζετε λαβεῖν ποία ὑμῖν χάρις ἐστίν Καί ἁμαρτωλοί ἁμαρτωλοῖς δανίζουσιν ἵνα ἀπολάβωσιν τά ἴσα)
Here the adjective same functions as a noun. It is plural, and ULT supplies the noun things to show that. Your language may use adjectives in the same way. If not, you could translate this with an equivalent phrase. The adjective is also neuter, and this is a use of the neuter plural in Greek to refer to a single thing in order to describe it in its entirety. Alternate translation: [expecting that everything they lend will be repaid]
OET (OET-LV) And if you_all_may_lend from whom you_all_are_hoping to_receive, what grace to_you_all it_is?
Even sinners are_lending to_sinners, in_order_that they_may_receive_back the same amounts.
OET (OET-RV) And if you only lend money to people that you’re expecting to repay you, how good is that? Even those who disobey God lend to others like them, knowing they’ll get their money back.
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.
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