LUKE 17:1 Parallel Verse View

Note: This view shows ‘verses’ which are not natural language units and hence sometimes only part of a sentence will be visible—click on any Bible version abbreviation down the left-hand side to see the verse in more of its context. Normally the OET discourages the reading of individual ‘verses’, but this view is only designed as a tool for doing comparisons of different translations—the older translations are further down the page (so you can read up from the bottom to trace the English translation history). The OET segments on this page are still very early looks into the unfinished texts of the Open English Translation of the Bible—please double-check these texts in advance before using in public.

Text critical issues=small word differences Clarity of original=clear Importance to us=normal (All still tentative.)

Key: khaki:verbs, light-green:nominative/subject, orange:accusative/object, pink:genitive/possessor.
Note: Automatic aligning of the OET-RV to the LV is done by some temporary software, hence the RV alignments are incomplete (and may occasionally be wrong).

ULT Then he said to his disciples, “It is impossible for stumbling blocks not to come, but woe to the one through whom they come!

UST Jesus said to his disciples, “Things that tempt people to sin will certainly happen. But how terrible it will be for anyone who causes those things to happen!

MSB [Jesus] said to the disciples,[fn] “It is inevitable that stumbling blocks will come, but woe [ to the one ] through whom they come!

BLB And He said to His disciples, "It is impossible for the stumbling blocks not to come, but woe to him by whom they come!

AICNT And he said to {his}[fn] disciples, “It is inevitable that stumbling blocks come, but woe to {the one} through whom they come!

17:1, his: Some manuscripts read “the.” W(032) Latin(e) BYZ TR

OEB Jesus said to his disciples, ‘It is inevitable that there should be temptations but sorrow awaits the person who does the tempting!

WEBBE He said to the disciples, “It is impossible that no occasions of stumbling should come, but woe to him through whom they come!

WMBB (Same as above)

NET Jesus said to his disciples, “Stumbling blocks are sure to come, but woe to the one through whom they come!

LSV And He said to the disciples, “It is impossible for the stumbling blocks not to come, but woe [to him] through whom they come;

FBV Jesus said to his disciples, “Temptations are unavoidable, but it will be a disaster for those through whom they come!

TCNT Then Jesus said to [fn]the disciples, “It is inevitable that stumbling blocks come, but woe to the one through whom they come!

17:1 the ¦ his ANT CT

T4T One day Jesus said to his disciples, “Things that will tempt people to sin are certain to happen, but it will be terrible for anyone who causes them to happen!

LEB And he said to his disciples, “It is impossible for causes for stumbling not to come, but woe to him through whom they come!

BBE And he said to his disciples, It is necessary for causes of trouble to come about, but unhappy is he by whom they come.

Moff To his disciples he said, "It is inevitable that hindrances should come, but woe to the man by whom they come;

Wymth Jesus said to His disciples, "It is inevitable that causes of stumbling should come; but alas for him through whom they come!

ASV And he said unto his disciples, It is impossible but that occasions of stumbling should come; but woe unto him, through whom they come!

DRA And he said to his disciples: It is impossible that scandals should not come: but woe to him through whom they come.

YLT And he said unto the disciples, 'It is impossible for the stumbling blocks not to come, but woe [to him] through whom they come;

Drby And he said to his disciples, It cannot be but that offences come, but woe [to him] by whom they come!

RV And he said unto his disciples, It is impossible but that occasions of stumbling should come: but woe unto him, through whom they come!

SLT And he said to the disciples, It is impossible there come not causes of offence: and woe, through whom they come!

Wbstr Then he said to the disciples, It is impossible but that causes of sin will come: but woe to him by whom they come!

KJB-1769 Then said he unto the disciples, It is impossible but that offences will come: but woe unto him, through whom they come!

KJB-1611 ¶ Then said he vnto the disciples, It is impossible but that offences will come, but wo vnto him through whom they come.
(Modernised spelling is same as from KJB-1769 above, apart from punctuation)

Bshps He sayde vnto the disciples, it can not be but offences wyll come, neuerthelesse, wo vnto hym, through whom they come.
(He said unto the disciples, it cannot be but offences will come, nevertheless, woe unto him, through whom they come.)

Gnva Then said he to his disciples, It can not be auoided, but that offences will come, but wo be to him by whome they come.
(Then said he to his disciples, It cannot be avoided, but that offences will come, but woe be to him by whom they come. )

Cvdl He sayde vnto his disciples: It is vnpossible that offences shulde not come: but wo vnto him by whom they come:
(He said unto his disciples: It is unpossible that offences should not come: but woe unto him by whom they come:)

TNT Then sayde he to the disciples it can not be avoyded but that offences will come. Neverthelesse wo be to him thorow whom they come.
(Then said he to the disciples it cannot be avoyded but that offences will come. Nevertheless woe be to him through whom they come. )

Wycl And Jhesu seide to hise disciplis, It is impossible that sclaundris come not; but wo to that man, bi whom thei comen.
(And Yhesu said to his disciples, It is impossible that sclaundris come not; but woe to that man, by whom they coming.)

Luth Er sprach aber zu seinen Jüngern: Es ist unmöglich, daß nicht Ärgernisse kommen; wehe aber dem, durch welchen sie kommen!
(He spoke but to/for his disciples: It is impossible, that not annoyancese coming; woe but to_him, through which_(ones) they/she/them coming!)

ClVg Et ait ad discipulos suos: Impossibile est ut non veniant scandala: væ autem illi per quem veniunt.[fn]
(And he_said to disciples his_own: Impossibile it_is as not/no they_come scandala: woe however them through which they_come. )

17.1 Et ait ad discipulos. Sciendum cum Dominus de misericordia loqueretur, Pharisæi avari in irrisione perseverabant, in quo infirmis auditoribus scandalum, ne attenderent, faciebant. Hos ergo increpat loquens apostolis, scilicet quod illi suo vitio faciebant, ut evenirent scandala per se quæ non poterant non evenire in mundo ærumnis et erroribus plenissimo.

17.1 And he_said to disciples. Sciendum when/with Master from/about mercy would_speak, Pharisees avari in/into/on irrisione perseverabant, in/into/on where sick/weak to_the_listeners scandal, not attenderent, they_were_doing. Hos therefore increpat speaking apostles, namely that them his_own spoil/with_fault they_were_doing, as evenirent scandala through himself which not/no they_could not/no evenire in/into/on to_the_world in_the_air and erroribus fullssimo.

UGNT εἶπεν δὲ πρὸς τοὺς μαθητὰς αὐτοῦ, ἀνένδεκτόν ἐστιν τοῦ τὰ σκάνδαλα μὴ ἐλθεῖν, πλὴν οὐαὶ δι’ οὗ ἔρχεται!
(eipen de pros tous mathaʸtas autou, anendekton estin tou ta skandala maʸ elthein, plaʸn ouai di’ hou erⱪetai!)

SBL-GNT Εἶπεν δὲ πρὸς τοὺς μαθητὰς ⸀αὐτοῦ· Ἀνένδεκτόν ἐστιν τοῦ ⸂τὰ σκάνδαλα μὴ ἐλθεῖν⸃, ⸂πλὴν οὐαὶ⸃ διʼ οὗ ἔρχεται·
(Eipen de pros tous mathaʸtas ⸀autou; Anendekton estin tou ⸂ta skandala maʸ elthein⸃, ⸂plaʸn ouai⸃ diʼ hou erⱪetai;)

RP-GNT Εἶπεν δὲ πρὸς τοὺς μαθητάς, Ἀνένδεκτόν ἐστιν τοῦ μὴ ἐλθεῖν τὰ σκάνδαλα· οὐαὶ δὲ δι' οὗ ἔρχεται.
(Eipen de pros tous mathaʸtas, Anendekton estin tou maʸ elthein ta skandala; ouai de di' hou erⱪetai.)

TC-GNT [fn]Εἶπε [fn]δὲ πρὸς τοὺς [fn]μαθητάς, Ἀνένδεκτόν ἐστι τοῦ [fn]μὴ ἐλθεῖν τὰ σκάνδαλα· [fn]οὐαὶ δὲ δι᾽ οὗ ἔρχεται.
(Eipe de pros tous mathaʸtas, Anendekton esti tou maʸ elthein ta skandala; ouai de di hou erⱪetai. )

17:1 ειπε ¦ ελεγε ANT

17:1 δε ¦ δε και ANT

17:1 μαθητας ¦ μαθητας αυτου ANT CT

17:1 μη ελθειν τα σκανδαλα ¦ τα σκανδαλα μη ελθειν CT

17:1 ουαι δε ¦ πλην ουαι CT

Key for above GNTs: yellow:punctuation differs, red:words differ (from our SR-GNT base).

SOTN SIL Open Translator’s Notes:

Section 17:1–10: Jesus taught his disciples about sin, faith, and duty

At the end of chapter 16, Jesus was speaking to the Pharisees. He concluded his parable about Lazarus and the rich man. Here in 17:1–10, he spoke to his disciples and taught them about several issues.Scholars have different opinions about whether the teachings in this section are thematically related to Jesus’ teachings in chapter 16. Some scholars say that the teachings in the two chapters are not connected. Other scholars do see a broad connection. Green says, “Especially due to its location adjacent to prior accounts of Jesus’ interaction with Pharisees, this pericope recapitulates Jesus’ message to his followers: They are not to be like the Pharisees!” (p. 611). Liefeld says that “it is also possible to see a logical connection between the end of chapter 16 and the beginning of chapter 17, if we understand ‘the things that cause people to sin’ to be the sins of the Pharisees, such as those mentioned in 16:14.” Scholars also disagree about whether the paragraphs in this section are related to each other. About this, Liefeld says that “there is a common unifying theme of attitudes in the Christian community” (p. 994). Morris also mentions this possible connection: “The connecting link here may be the attitude of the religious leaders. They were in danger of using their wealth wrongly, and they were also in danger of leading their lesser brethren astray—temptations that would confront his disciples as well as people like the Pharisees” (p. 279). Nolland (p. 835) says, “Luke seems to have cobbled a unity together here of three separate blocks of tradition (verses 1–2, 3–4, 5–6). The catchword link “into/in the sea” from verse 2 to verse 6 helps to give a formal unity to the piece, and it is likely that he intends the blocks so juxtaposed, to mutually qualify the meaning of one another.” He also says, “As he opens this new section (17:1–19) Luke has brought together three blocks of tradition to form a unit about the adequacy, despite all human frailty, of even the most meager of kingdom faiths for the radical challenge of Jesus’ teaching” (p. 839).

English versions divide these verses into sections in different ways. For example:

Most versions put 17:1–10 together in one section and have one heading. (The Notes follow these versions.)
Some versions divide 17:1–10 into three sections with a heading for each one. For example, the GNT has:

17:1–4	Sin
17:5–6	Faith
17:7–10	A servant’s duty

Some other possible headings for this section are:

Jesus taught his disciples to not cause others to sin, to forgive others, and to serve him humbly

Teachings about Forgiveness and Faith (NLT)

Sin, Forgiveness, Faith, and Service (NET)

There are parallel passages for this section in Matthew 18:6–7 and 18:15 and in Mark 9:42. However, Jesus may have spoken these passages in a different context from the one in this section.

17:1a

Jesus said to His disciples, “It is inevitable that stumbling blocks will come,

¶ Jesus told his disciples, “Temptations to sin are certain to come,
¶ And Jesus said to his followers, “It is certain that people will tempt/lure other people to disobey/deny God.
¶ Jesus said to his disciples, “There will always be causes for people to reject God’s way.

Jesus said to His disciples: There are different views about when Jesus said the things in this section to his disciples. He may have said them at a different time from the preceding section. It is good to connect this section to the preceding one in a way that will not imply a time connection. The BSB does this by not using a conjunction. The Greek text has a conjunction that versions suc as the RSV translate as “And.” Use a way that is natural in your language.

disciples: The Greek word that the BSB translates as disciples means “learners” who are in a special relationship with a teacher. The learners commit themselves to their teacher in order to learn from him and live according to his teaching and example. Disciples often lived with their teacher and followed him wherever he went.

Some ways to translate this are:

students/learners

apprentices

followers

See how you translated this term at 5:30a. See disciple in the Glossary for more information.

It is inevitable that stumbling blocks will come: The Greek clause that the BSB translates as It is inevitable that stumbling blocks will come is literally a double negative, “It is impossible for traps not to come.” If you would not use a double negative like this in your language, some other ways to say this are:

Snares will certainly come

Causes for falling are sure to come (NJB)

People will surely encounter/meet traps

There will indeed be causes for falling

stumbling blocks: The BSB expression stumbling blocks is the translation of one Greek word. This word literally means “traps” or “snares.” Some scholars prefer the meaning “stumbling stone” because of how the word is translated in the Greek Old Testament.Some scholars interpret this word skandala to mean “stumbling block/stone” because of the way corresponding Hebrew words are translated in the LXX. However, there are also clear instances of skandala being translated in the LXX with the sense of “trap.” See Stahlin, TDNT VII, p. 341.

In the New Testament this word is often used as a figure of speech. In this context it refers to things that tempt people to sin, that is, to disobey, distrust, or deny God.Scholars disagree about the nature and seriousness of the temptation that skandala refers to here: 1. Some Bible scholars believe that it refers to causes of sin in general. For example, Nolland says, “We need not think that some extreme form of sin or apostasy is in view here. The present saying has the same radical quality as Matthew 5:29–30. In the Lukan sequence it is the radical nature of the teaching that calls forth the response of verse 5” (p. 837). Morris says, “All hindrances to the spiritual life are included, but temptations to sin are clearly the worst of these” (p. 279). Geldenhuys speaks of “the danger that their words, their attitude or neglect of duty may do spiritual harm to others” (p. 431) and of “the responsibility resting upon all to live in such a manner that they do not lead others into sin” (p. 432). 2. Some believe that it refers specifically to the sin of apostasy or to something as serious. Bock says, “Apostasy or something as serious is in view” (p. 1384). Ellis explains it as “anything that causes an alienation of one’s allegiance to Jesus” (p. 207). Lenski translates the Greek word skandala here as “fatal traps” and explains, “The noun refers to a deathtrap which is baited so that, when the bait is touched, the stick holding the bait springs the trap…. One…is killed by a skandalon, here, of course, spiritually….”Translators should probably translate in a general way, not referring specifically to apostasy but using a term that implies the seriousness of the sin. Any sin is serious, and tempting a vulnerable person to sin merits terrible punishment.

Some ways to translate stumbling blocks are:

Translate the meaning without using a figure of speech. For example:
things that cause people to disobey/offend God
something that causes people to sin (CEV)
lure/tempt other people to reject God’s way
Use a figure of speech that expresses the same meaning in your language. For example:
snares
things that ruin people
things that spoil people’s faith in God

Notice that some of these examples refer explicitly to God. Sometimes a temptation is specifically related to losing faith in Jesus. However, if you must make explicit who is sinned against, it is better to refer more generally to God.

17:1b

but woe to the one through whom they come!

but how terrible it will be for a person who causes someone to sin!
But God will punish people with a terrible end/punishment if they tempt/lure others in that way.
But causing others to reject God’s way will result in a severe punishment.

but: The Greek word that the BSB translates as but introduces a contrast. Temptations are sure to come (17:1a), but the person who causes temptations to come will still be punished severely (17:1b). Express the contrast in a natural way in your language.

woe to the one through whom they come: The Greek phrase that the BSB translates as woe to the one through whom they come means “woe to that person who causes the temptations to come” or “woe to the person who causes other people to sin.” For example:

how terrible it will be for the person who does the tempting (NLT96)

the person who tempts his companion so that he does sin is to be pitied, for God will really punish himYakan Back Translation, TW.

In some languages there may be an idiom to express this. One example in English is:

the person who leads someone astray will have a terrible punishment

woe to the one: The Greek phrase that the BSB translates as woe to the one means that something terrible will happen to the person. He or she will suffer greatly. In this context, it implies that God will punish the person severely. This same word occurs in 6:24a.

Some other ways to translate this phrase are:

how terrible for the one (GNT)

how horrible it will be for the person (GW)

God will severely punish that person

The word woe is not a curse. Jesus was not asking God to curse this person.

the one: The phrase the one refers here to any person or people who cause other people to sin. It is not referring to a particular person. Use a natural way to refer to any person or people who do this.

they come: The word they refers to the “stumbling blocks” in 17:1a.

UTN uW Translation Notes:

Note 1 topic: figures-of-speech / doublenegatives

ἀνένδεκτόν ἐστιν τοῦ τὰ σκάνδαλα μὴ ἐλθεῖν

(Some words not found in SR-GNT: εἶπεν Δέ πρός τούς μαθητάς αὐτοῦ ἀνένδεκτον Ἐστίν τοῦ τά σκάνδαλα μή ἐλθεῖν πλήν οὐαί διʼ οὗ ἔρχεται)

If it would be helpful in your language, you could translate this double negative as a positive statement. Alternate translation: [Stumbling blocks will certainly come]

Note 2 topic: translate-unknown

τὰ σκάνδαλα

The term stumbling blocks refers to any lumps, rocks, or bumps on the ground that cause people to stumble or trip. If your readers would not be familiar with this type of object, you could use the name of something similar in your area or you could use a more general term. Alternate translation: [things that people trip on]

Note 3 topic: figures-of-speech / metaphor

τὰ σκάνδαλα

Here, Jesus speaks of things that cause people to sin as if they were stumbling blocks. If it would be clearer in your language, you could state the meaning plainly. Alternate translation: [things that lead people to disobey]

Note 4 topic: figures-of-speech / ellipsis

οὐαὶ δι’ οὗ ἔρχεται!

Jesus is leaving out some of the words that in many languages a sentence would need in order to be complete. Alternate translation: [how terrible it will be for anyone who causes these temptations to come] or [how terrible it will be for any person who tempts others to sin]

Parallel LUKE 17:1

Section 17:1–10: Jesus taught his disciples about sin, faith, and duty

17:1a

17:1b