Luke 1:8

1:8 Now 1  while Zechariah 2  was serving as priest before God when his division was on duty, 3 

Luke 17:10

17:10 So you too, when you have done everything you were commanded to do, should say, ‘We are slaves undeserving of special praise; 4  we have only done what was our duty.’” 5 

1 tn Grk “Now it happened that.” The introductory phrase ἐγένετο (egeneto, “it happened that”), common in Luke (69 times) and Acts (54 times), is redundant in contemporary English and has not been translated.

2 tn Grk “he”; the referent (Zechariah) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

3 tn Grk “serving as priest in the order of his division before God.”

sn Zechariah’s division would be on duty twice a year for a week at a time.

4 tn Some translations describe the slaves as “worthless” (NRSV) or “unworthy” (NASB, NIV) but that is not Jesus’ point. These disciples have not done anything deserving special commendation or praise (L&N 33.361), but only what would normally be expected of a slave in such a situation (thus the translation “we have only done what was our duty”).

5 tn Or “we have only done what we were supposed to do.”