Luke 16:3

Then ¹  the manager said to himself, ‘What should I do, since my master is taking my position ²  away from me? I’m not strong enough to dig, ³  and I’m too ashamed ⁴  to beg.

Es 6:6; Pr 13:4; Pr 15:19; Pr 18:9; Pr 19:15; Pr 20:4; Pr 21:25,26; Pr 24:30-34; Pr 26:13-16; Pr 27:23-27; Pr 29:21; Isa 10:3; Jer 5:31; Ho 9:5; Mr 10:46; Lu 12:17; Lu 16:20,22; Lu 18:4; Joh 9:8; Ac 3:2; Ac 9:6; 2Th 3:11

¹ tn Here δέ (de) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events in the parable.

² tn Grk “the stewardship,” “the management.”

³ tn Here “dig” could refer (1) to excavation (“dig ditches,” L&N 19.55) or (2) to agricultural labor (“work the soil,” L&N 43.3). In either case this was labor performed by the uneducated, so it would be an insult as a job for a manager.

⁴ tn Grk “I do not have strength to dig; I am ashamed to beg.”

sn To beg would represent a real lowering of status for the manager, because many of those whom he had formerly collected debts from, he would now be forced to beg from.