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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 ESA 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
OET (OET-LV) But the one having_heard and not having_done, is similar to_a_man having_built a_house on the ground without a_foundation, to_which dashed_against the flood and immediately it_fell_in, and the burst of_ the that _house became great.
OET (OET-RV) But the person who listens but doesn’t put the message into practice is like a man that just built his house on the ground with no foundation, and when the flood dashed against it, the house immediately collapsed and broke into many pieces.”
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.
Jesus concluded his sermon by challenging his listeners not only to hear his teaching but also to obey it. He spoke a parable that illustrated the wisdom of listening and obeying and the folly of listening without obeying.
But the one who hears My words
But the person who listens to me
However, people who hear what I say
and does not act on them
and then does not do as I say
but do not obey me
But: The Greek conjunction that the BSB translates as But introduces an opposite example. Another way to translate this conjunction is:
However
the one who hears My words and does not act on them: The person described in this clause does not obey Jesus’ teaching. Translate this clause in a way that shows this man to be the direct opposite of the man in 6:47b–c. For example:
the person who hears what I say but does not obey
the person who hears what I tell him to do but does not do it
and: The Greek word that the BSB translates as and connects two actions: hearing Jesus’ words and not obeying them. Normally we would expect someone who comes to Jesus and hears his teaching to be ready to obey it. This person does not obey Jesus’ teaching.
In some languages, it may be more natural to use a contrast connector like “but.” For example:
hears my words but does not obey
Connect these clauses in a natural way in your language.
is like a man who built his house on ground
is like a man who built a house on the ground
are like a man who built a house on the surface/top of the ground
without a foundation.
and not on a strong foundation.
and did not dig down to build a foundation upon the bedrock.
is like a man who built his house on ground without a foundation: Unlike the man in 6:48a–b, this man did not build a solid foundation for his house. Instead, he built it directly on the surface of the earth. He did not dig down to the bedrock.
The torrent crashed against that house, and immediately it fell—
When it rained hard, the water from the river burst against the house and it immediately fell down,
When the nearby river overflowed its banks, the waters smashed against his house, and it fell down right away.
The torrent crashed against that house, and immediately it fell: In Greek, the structure of this clause is parallel to what happened to the first house in 6:48c–d. Some other ways to translate this are:
As soon as the river rushed against that house, it was smashed (CEV)
As soon as the river burst upon it, the house collapsed (REB)
It may be good style in some languages to keep the examples of the two houses similar in structure.
fell: The Greek word that the BSB translates as fell here means “fell down.” The river washed out the earth from under the house, and it quickly fell down. For example:
the house quickly fell (NCV)
and great was its destruction!”
and it was completely destroyed/ruined.”
There was nothing left of it.”
great was its destruction: The phrase great was its destruction means “it was completely destroyed.”
In some languages, there may be an idiom or a more descriptive way to express that the house was completely destroyed. For example:
it was smashed to pieces (CEV)
collapse into a heap of ruins (NLT)
If it is more natural in your language to use an active verb, you could say:
the waters destroyed it completely
Note 1 topic: grammar-connect-logic-contrast
δὲ
(Some words not found in SR-GNT: ὁ Δέ ἀκούσας καί μή ποιήσας ὅμοιος ἐστίν ἀνθρώπῳ οἰκοδομήσαντι οἰκίαν ἐπί τήν γῆν χωρίς θεμελίου ᾗ προσέρρηξεν ὁ ποταμός καί εὐθύς συνέπεσεν καί ἐγένετο τό ῥῆγμα τῆς οἰκίας ἐκείνης μέγα)
Jesus uses the word But to draw a strong contrast to the previous person who built with a foundation. Alternate translation: [However]
Note 2 topic: figures-of-speech / ellipsis
ὁ & ἀκούσας καὶ μὴ ποιήσας
the_‹one› & ˓having˒_heard the & (Some words not found in SR-GNT: ὁ Δέ ἀκούσας καί μή ποιήσας ὅμοιος ἐστίν ἀνθρώπῳ οἰκοδομήσαντι οἰκίαν ἐπί τήν γῆν χωρίς θεμελίου ᾗ προσέρρηξεν ὁ ποταμός καί εὐθύς συνέπεσεν καί ἐγένετο τό ῥῆγμα τῆς οἰκίας ἐκείνης μέγα)
Jesus is leaving out some of the words that in many languages a sentence would need in order to be complete. These words can be supplied from [6:47](../06/47.md). Alternate translation: [anyone who hears my teachings but does not put them into practice]
Note 3 topic: figures-of-speech / simile
ὅμοιός ἐστιν
(Some words not found in SR-GNT: ὁ Δέ ἀκούσας καί μή ποιήσας ὅμοιος ἐστίν ἀνθρώπῳ οἰκοδομήσαντι οἰκίαν ἐπί τήν γῆν χωρίς θεμελίου ᾗ προσέρρηξεν ὁ ποταμός καί εὐθύς συνέπεσεν καί ἐγένετο τό ῥῆγμα τῆς οἰκίας ἐκείνης μέγα)
Jesus says this to introduce the simile that follows in the rest of the verse.
Note 4 topic: figures-of-speech / gendernotations
ἀνθρώπῳ οἰκοδομήσαντι οἰκίαν
˱to˲_˓a˒_man ˓having˒_built ˓a˒_house
Here Jesus is using man in the generic sense. Alternate translation: [a person who built a house]
Note 5 topic: translate-unknown
ἐπὶ τὴν γῆν χωρὶς θεμελίου
(Some words not found in SR-GNT: ὁ Δέ ἀκούσας καί μή ποιήσας ὅμοιος ἐστίν ἀνθρώπῳ οἰκοδομήσαντι οἰκίαν ἐπί τήν γῆν χωρίς θεμελίου ᾗ προσέρρηξεν ὁ ποταμός καί εὐθύς συνέπεσεν καί ἐγένετο τό ῥῆγμα τῆς οἰκίας ἐκείνης μέγα)
The phrase on the ground without a foundation refers to the same method of building as in [6:48](../06/48.md). You could describe this more fully in your translation. Alternatively, if the people of your culture would not be familiar with that building method, you could use the same image for creating a stable building that you used there in your translation. Alternate translation: [without digging down first to create a foundation]
ᾗ προσέρρηξεν ὁ ποταμός
˱to˲_which dashed_against the flood
In this context, the word flowed indicates violent impact. It may be helpful to begin a new sentence here. Alternate translation: [The floodwaters crashed against it]
συνέπεσεν
˱it˲_fell_in
Alternate translation: [it fell down] or [it came apart]
ἐγένετο τὸ ῥῆγμα τῆς οἰκίας ἐκείνης μέγα
became (Some words not found in SR-GNT: ὁ Δέ ἀκούσας καί μή ποιήσας ὅμοιος ἐστίν ἀνθρώπῳ οἰκοδομήσαντι οἰκίαν ἐπί τήν γῆν χωρίς θεμελίου ᾗ προσέρρηξεν ὁ ποταμός καί εὐθύς συνέπεσεν καί ἐγένετο τό ῥῆγμα τῆς οἰκίας ἐκείνης μέγα)
Your language may require you to say what was responsible for the ruin of the house. Alternate translation: [the floodwaters completely demolished that house]
OET (OET-LV) But the one having_heard and not having_done, is similar to_a_man having_built a_house on the ground without a_foundation, to_which dashed_against the flood and immediately it_fell_in, and the burst of_ the that _house became great.
OET (OET-RV) But the person who listens but doesn’t put the message into practice is like a man that just built his house on the ground with no foundation, and when the flood dashed against it, the house immediately collapsed and broke into many pieces.”
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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