Discovery BoxLuke 14:28 
Context14:28 For which of you, wanting to build a tower, doesn’t sit down 1 first and compute the cost 2 to see if he has enough money to complete it?
Luke 14:31
Context14:31 Or what king, going out to confront another king in battle, will not sit down 3 first and determine whether he is able with ten thousand to oppose 4 the one coming against him with twenty thousand?
Luke 17:7
Context17:7 “Would any one of you say 5 to your slave 6 who comes in from the field after plowing or shepherding sheep, ‘Come at once and sit down for a meal’? 7
1 tn The participle καθίσας (kaqisas) has been translated as a finite verb due to requirements of contemporary English style.
2 tn The first illustration involves checking to see if enough funds exist to build a watchtower. Both ψηφίζω (yhfizw, “compute”) and δαπάνη (dapanh, “cost”) are economic terms.
3 tn The participle καθίσας (kaqisa") has been translated as a finite verb due to requirements of contemporary English style.
4 tn On the meaning of this verb see also L&N 55.3, “to meet in battle, to face in battle.”
5 tn Grk “Who among you, having a slave… would say to him.”
6 tn See the note on the word “slave” in 7:2.
7 tn Grk “and recline at table,” as 1st century middle eastern meals were not eaten while sitting at a table, but while reclining on one’s side on the floor with the head closest to the low table and the feet farthest away. See BDAG 70 s.v. ἀναπίπτω 1.
