After being condemned by the Pharisees for letting a woman "sinner" wash his feet with her tears, Jesus performs a scene with Simon the Pharisee to make a point.
Luke 7:41 There was a certain creditor which had two debtors: the one owed five hundred pence, and the other fifty.
Luke 7:41 Two people owed money to a certain moneylender. One owed him five hundred denarii, and the other fifty.
Two poor debtorsvwere in with a money lender, a someone. The one owed five hundred denari, however, the other fifty.
Creditors are bound by their debts.
δύο χρεοφιλέται ἦσαν δανιστῇ τινί:
Two poor debtors were in with a money lender, a someone.
ὁ εἷς ὤφειλεν δηνάρια πεντακόσια, ὁ δὲ ἕτερος πεντήκοντα.
The one owed five hundred denari, the however, other fifty.
The challenge here was tracking down the meaning of the Greek words translated as "creditor/money lender" and "debtor/people." They do not appear in the lexicons of ancient Greek words. I finally track them both to the Septuagint, the Greek Old Testament where they both appear together in, Proverbs 29:13. The "debtor/people" word, which has a Greek root meaning "debtor," only appears in this verse, while the "creditor/money" word also appears in a couple more. From the Hebrew words they were used to translate and the Greek root, the best translations seem to be "money lender" and "poor debtor."
The "poor debtors" are the subjects of the sentence, as shown in the NIV, but the verb is "were." However, the direct indirect object is "the money lender. The problem is that in English the verb "to be" doesn't take an indirect object. The English sense of this is "They are to him," but the Greek sense is usually translated as "He has them," changing the verb to "has" and reversing the subject and objects. This is how the KJV translates this, while the NIV changes the verb to "owes," which is more clearly wrong. However, the Greek indirect object form takes a wider variety of English prepositions than the English "to" and has a broader sense of meaning. Here, we can translate this as "They are in with him" and carries the sense well, and the word forms, and the verb.
The Greek word translated as "a certain" is not an adjective but a pronoun. In the singular , it means "anyone", "someone," and "anything." The sense here is "a money-lender, a someone." Jesus does this to emphasis that this was a well-known and successful man just like we say such a person is "a someone" in English.
- IW - Inserted Word -- The "there was" doesn't exist in the source.
- WF -- Wrong Form - The "certain" is not an adjective but a pronoun, "a someone."
- IW - Inserted Word -- The "which" doesn't exist in the source.
- WW --Wrong Word -- The word translated as "and" should be something more like "however."
- WW --Wrong Word -- The word translated as "people" should be something more like "poor people."
- WW --Wrong Word -- The word translated as "owed" should be something more like "were."
- IW - Inserted Word -- The "money" doesn't exist in the source.
- WF -- Wrong Form - The "certain" is not an adjective but a pronoun, "a someone."
- MW - Missing Word -- The word "the" is not shown in the English translation.
- WW --Wrong Word -- The word translated as "and" should be something more like "however."
There was -- (IW) This word is not in the Greek source. The verb "to be" here is plural and transformed into have by the dative form following.
a -- There is no indefinite article in Greek, but when a noun doesn't have a definite article, the indefinite article can be added in English translation.
certain -- (WF) The Greek word translated as "certain " in the singular means "anyone," "someone," "something," and "anything." This is not an adjective, but a pronoun with the sense of "a someone."
creditor -- "Creditor" is from a Greek root that means "money-lender," but this is not a common form of the word. In the Greek Old Testament, this word was used to translate the Hebrew word meaning "creditor" and in one place, the Greek word meaning "oppressor."This is in the form of an indirect object, not a sibject, but it reverses in translating the verb.
which-- (IW) This word is not in the Greek source.
had - The plural verb that means "to be," "to exist," is transformed by the form of its object. With an indirect (dative) object, it means "have" where the subject and object are reversed. The Greek says "two debtors were of a creditor," but this means "A creditor had two debtors."
two -- The "two" is the numeral, "two," which, like numbers in English, plays a lot of roles. Often, it acts as an adjective, but without a noun to modify, so it takes on the role of a noun. The Greek word is "duo," which of course in English means "a pair of singers," or, more generally, any "pair." It uses joins the two people walking together as a pair or a couple.
debtors: - The word translated as "debtors" has "debtor" as its root. It was used in the Greek Old Testament to translate a Hebrew word that means "poor." This is in the form of a subject, not an object but it reverses in translating the verb.
the -- The word translated as "the " is the Greek definite article, "the," which usually precedes a noun. Without a noun, it has the sense of "the one." Before an adjective or a particle, it changes the following word to act like a noun. The Greek article is much closer to our demonstrative pronouns ("this," "that," "these," "those") than the English "the." See this article for more. This word starts a new sentence as its subject.
one - The word "one " is from a Greek word that. "one " means "one" (as opposed to other numbers), "single," and "one and the same."As in English, it can be used as a pronoun, meaning a single person.
owed - - The Greek word translated as "owed" has three related but different meanings. Jesus uses several of them at different times. The most common is "to owe," "to be bound," and "to be obliged." The next means "to strengthen" and to enlarge," and "to increase." The final one means "to help," "to aid," "to succor," "to be of use or service," "to enrich," and "to benefit.
five hundred - The word translated as "five hundred" means "five hundred".
pence, -- "Pence" is from the Greek word for a denarius, which was a coin of silver, which had the purchasing power of about $70-$80 today (though comparisons are obviously not very meaningful). It was the standard wage for a day's labor by a general laborer, which for most of human history was an agricultural worker. An English penny in the 1500s was also a silver coin, but a day's wages was a few pence (the plural of "penny").
and -- (WW) The Greek word translated as "and" means "but," "however," and "on the other hand." It joins phrases in an adversarial way. Since it always falls in the second position, translating it as "however" often captures its feeling better. "And" is the wrong word.
the - The word translated as "the " is the Greek definite article, "the," which usually precedes a noun. Without a noun, it has the sense of "the one." Before an adjective or a particle, it changes the following word to act like a noun. The Greek article is much closer to our demonstrative pronouns ("this," "that," "these," "those") than the English "the." See this article for more. This word starts a new sentence as its subject.
other -- The word translated as "the other" means "one of two," "other," or "different." It is an adjective used as a noun.
fifty. The word translated as "five hundred" means "five hundred".
Two -- The "two" is the numeral, "two," which, like numbers in English, plays a lot of roles. Often, it acts as an adjective, but without a noun to modify, so it takes on the role of a noun. The Greek word is "duo," which of course in English means "a pair of singers," or, more generally, any "pair." It uses joins the two people walking together as a pair or a couple.
people : - (WW) The word translated as "people" has "debtor" as its root. It was used in the Greek Old Testament to translate a Hebrew word that means "poor." This is in the form of a subject, not an object but it reverses in translating the verb. This is not the word for "people."
owed - (WW) The "owed" is a verb that means "to be," "to exist," is transformed by the form of its object. With an indirect (dative) object, it means "have" where the subject and object are reversed. The Greek says "two debtors were of a creditor," but this means "A creditor had two debtors."
money -- (IW) This word is not in the Greek source.
to -- This word "to" comes from the indirect object form of the following word that requires the addition of a preposition in English. The most common is a "to" for the English indirect object. However, the translator can choose other prepositions: "with," "in," "of," "as," "by," "for," "at," or "on" depending on the context.
a -- There is no indefinite article in Greek, but when a noun doesn't have a definite article, the indefinite article can be added in English translation.
certain -- (WF) The Greek word translated as "certain " in the singular means "anyone," "someone," "something," and "anything." This is not an adjective, but a pronoun with the sense of "a someone."
moneylender-- "Creditor" is from a Greek root that means "money-lender," but this is not a common form of the word. In the Greek Old Testament, this word was used to translate the Hebrew word meaning "creditor" and in one place, the Greek word meaning "oppressor."This is in the form of an indirect object, not a sibject, but it reverses in translating the verb.
missing "the" -- (MW) The untranslated word "the " is the Greek definite article, "the," which usually precedes a noun. Without a noun, it has the sense of "the one." Before an adjective or a particle, it changes the following word to act like a noun. The Greek article is much closer to our demonstrative pronouns ("this," "that," "these," "those") than the English "the." See this article for more. This word starts a new sentence as its subject.
One - The word "one " is from a Greek word that. "one " means "one" (as opposed to other numbers), "single," and "one and the same."As in English, it can be used as a pronoun, meaning a single person.
owed - - The Greek word translated as "owed" has three related but different meanings. Jesus uses several of them at different times. The most common is "to owe," "to be bound," and "to be obliged." The next means "to strengthen" and to enlarge," and "to increase." The final one means "to help," "to aid," "to succor," "to be of use or service," "to enrich," and "to benefit.
him -- There is no Greek pronoun here, but Greek does not need pronouns when the object can be assumed from the context. In English, they are added for the subject-verb-object form of our sentences.
five hundred - The word translated as "five hundred" means "five hundred".
denarii, -- "Denarii" is from the Greek word for a denarius, which was a coin of silver, which had the purchasing power of about $70-$80 today (though comparisons are obviously not very meaningful). It was the standard wage for a day's labor by a general laborer, which for most of human history was an agricultural worker. To offer and agree to work for this wage would be considered the expected practice for hundreds of years around the birth of Christ in the Roman Empire.
and -- (WW) The Greek word translated as "and" means "but," "however," and "on the other hand." It joins phrases in an adversarial way. Since it always falls in the second position, translating it as "however" often captures its feeling better. "And" is the wrong word.
the - The word translated as "the " is the Greek definite article, "the," which usually precedes a noun. Without a noun, it has the sense of "the one." Before an adjective or a particle, it changes the following word to act like a noun. The Greek article is much closer to our demonstrative pronouns ("this," "that," "these," "those") than the English "the." See this article for more. This word starts a new sentence as its subject.
other -- The word translated as "the other" means "one of two," "other," or "different." It is an adjective used as a noun.
fifty. The word translated as "five hundred" means "five hundred".
δύο. [36 verses](numeral) "Two" is duo, which means the number "two," "a couple," and "a pair." -- The Greek word for "two" means "two" or a "couple."
χρεοφιλέται [2 verses](noun pl masc nom) "Debtor" is from chreopheiletes, which means "debtor". The last part of the verse is from the standard word for debtor (opheiletes), with a prefix (κιχράω), that means "glitter" in modern Greek. Neither the whole word nor its prefix appears in cannot be found in the Liddle Scott Jones Lexicon In one verse of the Septuagint, Pro 29:13, where it is used with the word translated here as "creditor," this word is used to translate the Hebrew rûš (רוּשׁ), which means "the poor."
ἦσαν [614 verses](verb 3rd pl imperf ind act) "There was"is eimi, which means "to be," "to exist," "to be the case," of circumstance and events "to happen," and "is possible." With the possessive (genitive) object, it means "is descended from," "is the type of," "belongs to," "is made of," "is a duty of," "is at the mercy of," or " is dependent on." With an indirect (dative) object, it means "have" where the subject and object are reversed. "It is to him" becomes "it is his" or "he has it." With the preposition,"into" (εἰς), the sense is "consist of."
δανιστῇ (noun, sg masc dat) "Creditor" is from daneistes, which means "creditor." Its root is a Greek word that means "money-lender." In the Septuagint it translates the Hebrew word, nāšâ (צָבָא)l which means "to lend" and "creditor." In one verse of the Septuagint, Pro 29:13, where it is used with the word translated here as "debtor," it was used to translate the Hebrew, ṯḵ. (תך), which means "oppressor."
τινί: [252 verses](pron sg dat) "A certain" is tis, which can mean "someone," "something," "any one," "everyone," "they [indefinite]," "many a one," "whoever," "anyone," "anything," "some sort," "some sort of," "each," "any," "the individual," "such," and so on. In a question, it can mean "who," "why," or "what." Plural, "who are" is τίνες ἐόντες. It has specific meanings with certain prepositions, διὰ τί; for what reason? ἐκ τίνος; from what cause? ἐς τί; to what point? to what end?
ὁ [821 verses](article sg masc nom) "The" is the Greek definite article, hos, ("the"). When not preceding a noun, takes the meaning of "the one" or, in the plural, "the ones." Proper nouns do normally not take articles but they are needed when the noun ending cannot be changed to show the noun's role in the sentence as an object, indirect object, or genitive (possessive) form. However, the Greek article is very close to "this" so the purpose of an article like this can also be demonstrative. See this article.
εἷς [85 verses](noun sg masc nom) "One"is heis, which means "one" (as opposed to other numbers), "single," and "one and the same." This noun/adjective is irregular, having a number of forms depending on gender and case. It is always singular.
ὤφειλεν [8 verses](verb 3rd sg imperf ind act) "Owed" is opheleo, a Greek word with three related but different meanings. The most common is "to owe," "to be bound," and "to be obliged." The next means "to strengthen" and to enlarge," and "to increase." The final one means "to help," "to aid," "to succor," "to be of use or service," "to enrich," and "to benefit."
δηνάρια, [8 verses]( noun pl neut acc) "Penny" is from denarion, which was the principle silver coin of the Roman Empire in NT times.
πεντακόσια, [1 verse](adj pl neut acc) "Five hundred" is from pentakosioi, which means "five hundred".
ὁ (article sg masc nom ) "Unto them that" is the Greek definite article, which usually precedes a noun and, without a noun, takes the meaning of "the one" or, in the plural, "the ones." -- The word translated as "goods" is the Greek definite article, which usually precedes a noun and, without a noun, takes the meaning of "the one." The Greek article is much closer to our demonstrative pronouns ("this", "that", "these", "those"). See this article for more.
δὲ [446 verses](conj) "But" is de which means "but" and "on the other hand." It is the particle that joins sentences in an adversarial way but can also be an explanation of indirect cause ("so"). In an "if" (εἰ ) clause or temporal "when" (ὅταν) clause the sense is "if/when... then." In a series begun by men, its means "on the other hand." In a listing, the sense is "then" or "yet." After an interruption, "so then."
ἕτερος [21 verses](adj sg masc nom ) "Another" is heteros, which means "one or the other of two," "the second," "the secondary," "the minor," "other things [of like kind]," "another," "different," "other than," "different from," "other than should be," and "in another or a different way." As an adverb, it means "in one or the other way," "differently," "otherwise than should be," "badly," and "wrongly."
πεντήκοντα. (numeral) "Fifty" is from pentekonta, which means "fifty". -