Discovery BoxLuke 17:2 
Context17:2 It would be better for him to have a millstone 1 tied around his neck and be thrown into the sea 2 than for him to cause one of these little ones to sin. 3
Luke 19:30
Context19:30 telling them, 4 “Go to the village ahead of you. 5 When 6 you enter it, you will find a colt tied there that has never been ridden. 7 Untie it and bring it here.
1 tn This term refers to the heavy upper stone of a grinding mill (L&N 7.70; BDAG 660 s.v. μυλικός).
sn The punishment of drowning with a heavy weight attached is extremely gruesome and reflects Jesus’ views concerning those who cause others who believe in him to sin.
2 tn Grk “if a millstone were tied…and he were thrown.” The conditional construction in Greek has been translated by English infinitives: “to have… and be thrown.”
3 tn Or “to stumble.” This verb, σκανδαλίσῃ (skandalish), has the same root as the noun σκάνδαλον (skandalon) in 17:1, translated “stumbling blocks”; this wordplay is difficult to reproduce in English. It is possible that the primary cause of offense here would be leading disciples (“little ones”) astray in a similar fashion.
4 tn Grk “saying.”
5 tn Grk “the village lying before [you]” (BDAG 530 s.v. κατέναντι 2.a).
6 tn Grk “in which entering.” This is a continuation of the previous sentence in Greek, but because of the length and complexity of the construction a new sentence was started here in the translation.
7 tn Grk “a colt tied there on which no one of men has ever sat.”
