Translation commentary on Luke 16:2

Exegesis:

kai phōnēsas auton eipen autō ‘and he summoned him and said to him.’ For phōneō as synonymous with kaleō cf. on 14.12.

ti touto akouō peri sou lit. ‘what this I hear about you,’ with demonstrative touto loosely appositive to interrogative ti, implying that the question concerns something which both parties know about.

apodos ton logon tēs oikonomias sou ‘render the account of your managing.’ As the article ton shows the reference is here to some specific account, i.e. the final account, as the rest of the verse shows.

oikonomia (also vv. 3 and 4) ‘the function of a manager,’ ‘stewardship,’ ‘agency,’ cf. on v. 3.

ou gar dunē oikonomein ‘for you cannot be manager any longer.’

oikonomeō ‘to act as manager,’ ‘to be manager.’

Translation:

He called him, or, ‘had him called,’ ‘caused(-someone)-to-fetch that man’ (Tae’ 1933). Again the subject may have to be specified, cf. e.g. ‘the rich man sent to call him’ (Sranan Tongo).

Turn in the account of your stewardship may be described by, ‘write down what you received and spent,’ ‘count-for-me all that came-in, went-out’ (Tae’ 1933), ‘show the books of your stewardship’ (Kituba, similarly Trukese, Pohnpeian), ‘give me so that I can hear about your supervision’ (Shona 1966). Your stewardship, or as a verbal phrase, ‘the way you managed my property,’ ‘what you did as my steward/manager.’

You can no longer be steward, or, ‘you cannot remain (or, continue as) my steward.’

Quoted with permission from Reiling, J. and Swellengrebel, J.L. A Handbook on the Gospel of Luke. (UBS Handbook Series). New York: UBS, 1971. For this and other handbooks for translators see here . Make sure to also consult the Handbook on the Gospel of Mark for parallel or similar verses.

Subscribe
Notify of
guest
0 Comments
Oldest
Newest Most Voted
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments