Luke 17:9
 
Luke 17:9
(KJV) Doth he thank that servant because he did the things that were commanded him? I trow not.
(1611 KJV) Doeth he thanke that seruant, because hee did the things that were commanded him? I trow not.
(1587 Geneva Bible) Doeth he thanke that seruant, because hee did that which was commaunded vnto him? I trowe not.
(1526 Tyndale) Doeth he thanke that servaunt because he dyd that which was commaunded vnto him? I trowe not.
 
Counterfeit Versions
(1881 RV) Doth he thank the servant because he did the things that were commanded?
(1901 ASV) Doth he thank the servant because he did the things that were commanded?
(AMP) Is he grateful and does he praise the servant because he did what he was ordered to do?
(CEB) You won’t thank the servant because the servant did what you asked, will you?
(CEV) Servants don’t deserve special thanks for doing what they are supposed to do.
(CSB) Does he thank that servant because he did what was commanded?
(1899 Douay-Rheims American Edition) Doth he thank that servant, for doing the things which he commanded him?
(ERV) The servant should not get any special thanks for doing his job. He is only doing what his master told him to do
(ESV) Does he thank the servant because he did what was commanded?
(GNB) The servant does not deserve thanks for obeying orders, does he?
(HCSB) Does he thank that slave because he did what was commanded?
(THE MESSAGE) Does the servant get special thanks for doing what's expected of him?
(NASV) He does not thank the slave because he did the things which were commanded, does he?
(NCV) The servant does not get any special thanks for doing what his master commanded.
(NIRV) Would you thank the servant because he did what he was told to do?
(2011 NIV) Will he thank the servant because he did what he was told to do?
(NLV) Does the servant get thanks for doing what he was told to do? I am sure he does not.
(NLT) And does the master thank the servant for doing what he was told to do? Of course not.
(RSV) Does he thank the servant because he did what was commanded?
(2010 NAB-Roman Catholic) Is he grateful to that servant because he did what was commanded?
(NWT-Jehovah’s Witnesses) He will not feel gratitude to the slave because he did the things assigned, will he?
 
Textus Receptus - Traditional Text
μη χαριν εχει τω δουλω εκεινω οτι εποιησεν τα διαταχθεντα αυτω ου δοκω
 
Hort-Westcott - Critical Text
μη εχει χαριν τω δουλω οτι εποιησεν τα διαταχθεντα
 
Corrupted Manuscripts
This verse is corrupted in the following manuscripts:
 
Omits “him” after commanded
Aleph 01 - Sinaiticus - Nineteenth Century Counterfeit
A 02 - Alexandrinus - Fifth century
B 03 - Vaticanus - Fourth century
L 019 - Seventh century
Gamma 036 - Ninth or Tenth century
Delta 037 - Ninth century
Theta 038 - Ninth century
Byzantine Text (450-1450 A.D.)
1 (Minuscule) - Seventh century
P 75 - Third Century
 
Omits “I trow not”
Aleph 01 - Sinaiticus - Nineteenth Century Counterfeit
B 03 - Vaticanus - Fourth century
L 019 - Seventh century
X 033 - Tenth century
1 (Minuscule) - Seventh century
P 75 - Third Century
 
Manuscripts which agree with the Textus Receptus for this Verse
 
Includes “him” after “commanded”
D 05 - Bezae Cantabrigiensis - Fifth century
X 033 - Tenth century
13 (Minuscule) - Eighth century
Stephanus 1550
 
Includes “I trow not”
Byzantine Text (450-1450 A.D.)
A 02 - Alexandrinus - Fifth century
D 05 - Bezae Cantabrigiensis - Fifth century
K 017 - Ninth century
W 032 - Fourth/fifth century
Gamma 036 - Ninth or Tenth century
Delta 037 - Ninth century
Theta 038 - Ninth century
13 (Minuscule) - Eighth century
 
Published Critical Greek Texts with Corruptions
 
Omits “him” after “commanded”
Greisbach, Johann - 1805
Lachmann, Karl - 1842
Tischendorf, Constantine - 1869
Tregelles, Samuel - 1857
Alford, Henry - 1849 revised in 1871
Wordsworth, Christopher - 1856 revised in 1870
Westcott and Hort - 1881
Weiss, Bernhard - 1894
Nestle - 1927 as revised in seventeenth edition in 1941
Nestle-Aland - 1979 - Twenty Sixth Edition
Nestle-Aland - 1993 - Twenty Seventh Edition
United Bible Societies - 1983 - Fourth Edition
Von Soden, Freiherr - 1902
Hodges and Farstad - Majority Text 1982 as corrected in 1985
 
Omit “I trow not” at end of verse
Lachmann, Karl - 1842 (in margin or brackets)
Tischendorf, Constantine - 1869
Tregelles, Samuel - 1857
Alford, Henry - 1849 revised in 1871
Westcott and Hort - 1881
Nestle - 1927 as revised in seventeenth edition in 1941
Nestle-Aland - 1979 - Twenty Sixth Edition
Nestle-Aland - 1993 - Twenty Seventh Edition
United Bible Societies - 1983 - Fourth Edition
Von Soden, Freiherr - 1902
 
Affected Teaching
The removal of “him” takes away the object of who is being commanded. Then when “I trow not” is omitted, it removes the bridge to the next verse. Luke 17:9-10 (KJV) Doth he thank that servant because he did the things that were commanded him? I trow not. {10} So likewise ye, when ye shall have done all those things which are commanded you, say, We are unprofitable servants: we have done that which was our duty to do. The servant is required by their masters to prepare their dinner for them. This was part of their daily routine and was expected of them. The master was not going to go out of his way and thank the slave for doing what he was supposed to be doing. This example segues right into the Christian life. We are supposed to be witnessing, giving, and being a testimony to the world. Should the Lord thank us for what we should be doing as a natural part of the Christian life? Jesus is not being cruel when He uses this illustration because that was the master-servant relationship back then. It is the same today, do wealthy people thank the servants they are paying for doing what they are getting paid to do? On your job, does your boss come to you and thank you for what you should be doing anyway, I think not. These verses are showing the responsibility of the believer and we must have the same mindset that as we go on in ministry, serving the Lord, we are not going to be getting a special thank you or some type of special gifts. We must have the mindset of the servant that we know what our responsibility is as believers and we are to engage our lives in the service of the Lord not looking for a handout. Below is a hymn which is perfectly fits today’s verses.
SO SEND I YOU by Margaret Clarkson written in 1937
So send I you to labor unrewarded,
To serve unpaid, unloved, unsought, unknown,
To bear rebuke, to suffer scorn and scoffing-
So send I you to toil for Me alone.
 
So send I you to bind the bruised and broken,
O’er wand’ring souls to work, to weep, to wake,
To bear the burdens of a world aweary-
So send I you to suffer for My sake.
 
So send I you to loneliness and longing,
With heart a hung’ring for the loved and known,
Forsaking home and kindred, friend and dear one-
So send I you to know My love alone.
 
So send I you to leave your life’s ambition,
To die to dear desire, self-will resign,
To labor long, and love where men revile you-
So send I you to lose your life in Mine.
 
So Send I you to hearts made hard by hatred
To eyes made blind because they will not see,
To spend, tho' it be blood, to spend and spare not-
So send  you to taste of Calvary

Back