Discovery BoxLuke 3:9 
Context3:9 Even now the ax is laid at the root of the trees, 1 and every tree that does not produce good fruit will be 2 cut down and thrown into the fire.”
Luke 13:19
Context13:19 It is like a mustard seed 3 that a man took and sowed 4 in his garden. It 5 grew and became a tree, 6 and the wild birds 7 nested in its branches.” 8
Luke 17:6
Context17:6 So 9 the Lord replied, 10 “If 11 you had faith the size of 12 a mustard seed, you could say to this black mulberry 13 tree, ‘Be pulled out by the roots and planted in the sea,’ 14 and it would obey 15 you.
1 sn Even now the ax is laid at the root of the trees. The imagery of an “ax already laid at the root of the trees” is vivid, connoting sudden and catastrophic judgment for the unrepentant and unfruitful. The image of “fire” serves to further heighten the intensity of the judgment referred to. It is John’s way of summoning all people to return to God with all their heart and avoid his unquenchable wrath soon to be poured out. John’s language and imagery is probably ultimately drawn from the OT where Israel is referred to as a fruitless vine (Hos 10:1-2; Jer 2:21-22) and the image of an “ax” is used to indicate God’s judgment (Ps 74:5-6; Jer 46:22).
2 tn Grk “is”; the present tense (ἐκκόπτεται, ekkoptetai) has futuristic force here.
3 sn The mustard seed was noted for its tiny size.
4 tn Grk “threw.”
5 tn Grk “garden, and it.” Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style. Because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, a new sentence was started here in the translation.
6 sn Calling the mustard plant a tree is rhetorical hyperbole, since technically it is not one. This plant could be one of two types of mustard popular in Palestine and would be either 10 or 25 ft (3 or 7.5 m) tall.
7 tn Grk “the birds of the sky” or “the birds of the heaven”; the Greek word οὐρανός (ouranos) may be translated either “sky” or “heaven,” depending on the context. The idiomatic expression “birds of the sky” refers to wild birds as opposed to domesticated fowl (cf. BDAG 809 s.v. πετεινόν).
8 sn The point of the parable seems to be that while the kingdom of God may appear to have insignificant and unnoticeable beginnings (i.e., in the ministry of Jesus), it will someday (i.e., at the second advent) be great and quite expansive. The kingdom, however, is not to be equated with the church, but rather the church is an expression of the kingdom. Also, there is important OT background in the image of the mustard seed that grew and became a tree: Ezek 17:22-24 pictures the reemergence of the Davidic house where people can find calm and shelter. Like the mustard seed, it would start out small but grow to significant size.
9 tn Here δέ (de) has been translated as “so” to indicate the implied result of previous action(s) in the narrative.
10 tn Grk “said.”
11 tn This is a mixed condition, with ἄν (an) in the apodosis.
12 tn Grk “faith as,” “faith like.”
13 sn A black mulberry tree is a deciduous fruit tree that grows about 20 ft (6 m) tall and has black juicy berries. This tree has an extensive root system, so to pull it up would be a major operation.
14 tn The passives here (ἐκριζώθητι and φυτεύθητι, ekrizwqhti and futeuqhti) are probably a circumlocution for God performing the action (the so-called divine passive, see ExSyn 437-38). The issue is not the amount of faith (which in the example is only very tiny), but its presence, which can accomplish impossible things. To cause a tree to be uprooted and planted in the sea is impossible. The expression is a rhetorical idiom. It is like saying a camel can go through the eye of a needle (Luke 18:25).
15 tn The verb is aorist, though it looks at a future event, another rhetorical touch to communicate certainty of the effect of faith.
