Luke 16:1

The Parable of the Clever Steward

16:1 Jesus also said to the disciples, “There was a rich man who was informed of accusations that his manager was wasting his assets.

Luke 16:21-22

16:21 who longed to eat what fell from the rich man’s table. In addition, the dogs came and licked his sores.

16:22 “Now the poor man died and was carried by the angels to Abraham’s side. The 10  rich man also died and was buried. 11 


tn Grk “He”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

tn These are not formal legal charges, but reports from friends, acquaintances, etc.; Grk “A certain man was rich who had a manager, and this one was reported to him as wasting his property.”

sn His manager was the steward in charge of managing the house. He could have been a slave trained for the role.

tn Or “squandering.” This verb is graphic; it means to scatter (L&N 57.151).

tn Grk “to eat his fill,” but this phrase has been simplified as “to eat” for stylistic reasons.

tn The term κύνες (kunes) refers to “wild” dogs (either “street” dogs or watchdogs), not house pets (L&N 4.34).

sn When the dogs came and licked his sores it meant that he was unclean. See the negative image of Rev 22:15 that draws on this picture.

tn Grk “Now it happened that the.” 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.

tn Grk “to Abraham’s bosom.” The phrase “carried by the angels to Abraham’s bosom” describes being gathered to the fathers and is a way to refer to heaven (Gen 15:15; 47:30; Deut 31:16).

10 tn Grk “And the.” Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

11 sn The shorter description suggests a different fate, which is confirmed in the following verses.