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Even if he sins against you seven times in a day, and seven times returns to you saying, ‘I repent,’ you must forgive[a] him.”

The[b] apostles said to the Lord, “Increase our faith!”[c] So[d] the Lord replied,[e] “If[f] you had faith the size of[g] a mustard seed, you could say to this black mulberry[h] tree, ‘Be pulled out by the roots and planted in the sea,’[i] and it would obey[j] you.

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Footnotes

  1. Luke 17:4 sn You must forgive him. Forgiveness is to be readily given and not withheld. In a community that is to have restored relationships, grudges are not beneficial.
  2. Luke 17:5 tn Grk “And the.” Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.
  3. Luke 17:5 sn The request of the apostles, “Increase our faith,” is not a request for a gift of faith, but a request to increase the depth of their faith.
  4. Luke 17:6 tn Here δέ (de) has been translated as “so” to indicate the implied result of previous action(s) in the narrative.
  5. Luke 17:6 tn Grk “said.”
  6. Luke 17:6 tn This is a mixed condition, with ἄν (an) in the apodosis.
  7. Luke 17:6 tn Grk “faith as,” “faith like.”
  8. Luke 17:6 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.
  9. Luke 17:6 tn The passives here (ἐκριζώθητι and φυτεύθητι, ekrizōthēti and phuteuthēti) 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).
  10. Luke 17:6 tn The verb is aorist, though it looks at a future event, another rhetorical touch to communicate certainty of the effect of faith.

Even if they sin against you seven times in a day and seven times come back to you saying ‘I repent,’ you must forgive them.”(A)

The apostles(B) said to the Lord,(C) “Increase our faith!”

He replied, “If you have faith as small as a mustard seed,(D) you can say to this mulberry tree, ‘Be uprooted and planted in the sea,’ and it will obey you.(E)

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