Luke 16:3

 Luke 16:3

Then the steward said within himself, What shall I do? for my lord taketh away from me the stewardship: I cannot dig; to beg I am ashamed.

a. NASB 1995: “The manager said to himself, ‘What shall I do, since my [fn]master is taking the management away from me? I am not strong enough to dig; I am ashamed to beg. [NASB95 New American Standard Bible. Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation; All Rights Reserved]

b. NKJV: “Then the steward said within himself, ‘What shall I do? For my master is taking the stewardship away from me. I cannot dig; I am ashamed to beg. [Scripture quotations marked "NKJV" are taken from the New King James Version®, Copyright© 1982, Thomas Nelson. All rights reserved.]

c. Classic Amplified: And the manager of the estate said to himself, What shall I do, seeing that my master is taking the management away from me? I am not able to dig, and I am ashamed to beg. [Amplified Bible, Classic Edition (AMPC) Copyright © 1954, 1958, 1962, 1964, 1965, 1987 by The Lockman Foundation]

d. Peshitta Eastern Text: Then the steward said to himself, What will I do? for my lord will take away from me the stewardship? I cannot dig, and I am ashamed to beg. [HOLY BIBLE FROM THE ANCIENT EASTERN TEXT. Copyright  Ⓒ 1933 by A.J. Holmon Co.; copyright  Ⓒ renewed 1968 by A.J. Holmon Co.; All rights reserved. Printed in the United States of America. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews. HarperCollins Publishers, 195 Broadway, New York, NY 10007.]

e. ESV: And the manager said to himself, ‘What shall I do, since my master is taking the management away from me? I am not strong enough to dig, and I am ashamed to beg. [Scripture quotations are from the Holy Bible, English Standard Version, copyright © 2001, 2007, 2011, 2016 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved."]

f. Unless otherwise stated, all Greek and Hebrew definitions are from Blue Letter Bible

1. “Then the steward said within himself, What shall I do? for my lord taketh away from me the stewardship: I cannot dig; to beg I am ashamed.”

a. Then [Strong: 1161 dé, deh; a primary particle (adversative or continuative); but, and, etc.:—also, and, but, moreover, now (often unexpressed in English).]

b. the [Strong: 3588. [ho] ὁ ho ho, including the feminine he hay, and the neuter to to in all their inflections; the definite article; the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom):--the, this, that, one, he, she, it, etc.] [Thayer: [ho] ὁ, ἡ, τό, originally τος, τῇ, τό (as is evident from the forms τοι, ται for οἱ, αἱ in Homer and the Ionic writings), corresponds to our definite article the (German der, die, das), which is properly a demonstrative pronoun, which we see in its full force in Homer, and of which we find certain indubitable traces also in all kinds of Greek prose, and hence also in the N. T.] [Additional variants: tē, hoi, oi, tēn, ta, tēs, tois, tais, tō, tōn, tou, hé, Hē, hē, hai, tas.]

c. steward [Strong: 3623 oikonómos, oy-kon-om'-os; from G3624 and the base of G3551; a house-distributor (i.e. manager), or overseer, i.e. an employee in that capacity; by extension, a fiscal agent (treasurer); figuratively, a preacher (of the Gospel):—chamberlain, governor, steward.]

d. said [Strong: 2036 épō, ep'-o; a primary verb (used only in the definite past tense, the others being borrowed from G2046, G4483, and G5346); to speak or say (by word or writing):—answer, bid, bring word, call, command, grant, say (on), speak, tell.]

e. within [Strong: 1722 en, en; a primary preposition denoting (fixed) position (in place, time or state), and (by implication) instrumentality (medially or constructively), i.e. a relation of rest (intermediate between G1519 and G1537); "in," at, (up-)on, by, etc.:—about, after, against, + almost, × altogether, among, × as, at, before, between, (here-)by (+ all means), for (… sake of), + give self wholly to, (here-)in(-to, -wardly), × mightily, (because) of, (up-)on, (open-)ly, × outwardly, one, × quickly, × shortly, (speedi-)ly, × that, × there(-in, -on), through(-out), (un-)to(-ward), under, when, where(-with), while, with(-in). Often used in compounds, with substantially the same import; rarely with verbs of motion, and then not to indicate direction, except (elliptically) by a separate (and different) preposition.]

f. himself [Strong: 1438 heautoû, heh-ow-too'; from a reflexive pronoun otherwise obsolete and the genitive case (dative case or accusative case) of G846; him- (her-, it-, them-, also (in conjunction with the personal pronoun of the other persons) my-, thy-, our-, your-) self (selves), etc.:—alone, her (own, -self), (he) himself, his (own), itself, one (to) another, our (thine) own(-selves), + that she had, their (own, own selves), (of) them(-selves), they, thyself, you, your (own, own conceits, own selves, -selves).]

1). Perry Stone: A steward oversaw the house, estate, and personal affairs of his master.A steward also purchased provisions and assisted in his master’s business affairs. He was forced to provide an accounting of income collected from business deals, and in this narrative, had failed to collect what was due. Thus he was fired from his job (v.2). He was unwilling to do other forms of work such as digging (farming) and was too proud to beg  for help because of his former high position. Verses 5-7 explains the steward’s wise plan. Perhaps the debtors did not have all the money needed to pay their entire debt, so they had paid nothing at all. The steward released the debtors from a percentage of their debt of oil and wheat if they would immediately pay the other part. This deal was acceptable to all involved. At the end of the parable, the master commends the steward for using wisdom in these business dealings.

g. What [Strong: 5101 tís, tis; probably emphatic of G5100; an interrogative pronoun, who, which or what (in direct or indirect questions):—every man, how (much), + no(-ne, thing), what (manner, thing), where (-by, -fore, -of, -unto, - with, -withal), whether, which, who(-m, -se), why.

h. [shall I] do [Strong: 4160 poiéō, poy-eh'-o; apparently a prolonged form of an obsolete primary; to make or do (in a very wide application, more or less direct):—abide, + agree, appoint, × avenge, + band together, be, bear, + bewray, bring (forth), cast out, cause, commit, + content, continue, deal, + without any delay, (would) do(-ing), execute, exercise, fulfil, gain, give, have, hold, × journeying, keep, + lay wait, + lighten the ship, make, X mean, + none of these things move me, observe, ordain, perform, provide, + have purged, purpose, put, + raising up, × secure, shew, X shoot out, spend, take, tarry, + transgress the law, work, yield.]

i. for [Strong: 3754 hóti, hot'-ee; neuter of G3748 as conjunction; demonstrative, that (sometimes redundant); causative, because:—as concerning that, as though, because (that), for (that), how (that), (in) that, though, why.]

j. my [Strong: 3450 moû, moo; the simpler form of G1700; of me:—I, me, mine (own), my.]

k. [Strong: 3588. [ho] ὁ ho ho, including the feminine he hay, and the neuter to to in all their inflections; the definite article; the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom):--the, this, that, one, he, she, it, etc.] [Thayer: [ho] ὁ, ἡ, τό, originally τος, τῇ, τό (as is evident from the forms τοι, ται for οἱ, αἱ in Homer and the Ionic writings), corresponds to our definite article the (German der, die, das), which is properly a demonstrative pronoun, which we see in its full force in Homer, and of which we find certain indubitable traces also in all kinds of Greek prose, and hence also in the N. T.] [Additional variants: tē, hoi, oi, tēn, ta, tēs, tois, tais, tō, tōn, tou, hé, Hē, hē, hai, tas.]

l. lord [Strong: 2962 kýrios, koo'-ree-os; from κῦρος kŷros (supremacy); supreme in authority, i.e. (as noun) controller; by implication, Master (as a respectful title):—God, Lord, master, Sir.]

m. taketh away [Strong: 851 kýrios, koo'-ree-os; from κῦρος kŷros (supremacy); supreme in authority, i.e. (as noun) controller; by implication, Master (as a respectful title):—God, Lord, master, Sir.]

n. from [Strong: 575 apó, apo'; a primary particle; "off," i.e. away (from something near), in various senses (of place, time, or relation; literal or figurative):—(X here-)after, ago, at, because of, before, by (the space of), for(-th), from, in, (out) of, off, (up-)on(-ce), since, with.]

o. me [Strong: 1700 emoû, em-oo'; a prolonged form of G3449; of me:—me, mine, my.]

p. the [Strong: 3588. [tēn] ὁ ho ho, including the feminine he hay, and the neuter to to in all their inflections; the definite article; the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom):--the, this, that, one, he, she, it, etc.] [Thayer: [tēn] ὁ, ἡ, τό, originally τος, τῇ, τό (as is evident from the forms τοι, ται for οἱ, αἱ in Homer and the Ionic writings), corresponds to our definite article the (German der, die, das), which is properly a demonstrative pronoun, which we see in its full force in Homer, and of which we find certain indubitable traces also in all kinds of Greek prose, and hence also in the N. T.] [Additional variants: tē, hoi, oi, tēn, ta, tēs, tois, tais, tō, tōn, tou, hé, Hē, hē, hai, tas.]

q. stewardship [Strong: 3622 oikonomía, oy-kon-om-ee'-ah; from G3623; administration (of a household or estate); specially, a (religious) "economy":—dispensation, stewardship.]

r. [Strong: 3650 ou, oo; a primary word; the absolute negative (compare G3361) adverb; no or not:—+ long, nay, neither, never, no (X man), none, (can-)not, + nothing, + special, un(-worthy), when, + without, + yet but.]

s. [I] cannot [Strong: 2480 ischýō, is-khoo'-o; from G2479; to have (or exercise) force (literally or figuratively):—be able, avail, can do(-not), could, be good, might, prevail, be of strength, be whole, + much work.]

t. dig [Strong: 4626 skáptō, skap'-to; apparently a primary verb; to dig:—dig.]

u. [to] beg [Strong: 1871 epaitéō, ep-ahee-teh'-o; from G1909 and G154; to ask for:—beg.]

v. [I am] ashamed [Strong: 153 aischýnomai, ahee-skhoo'-nom-ahee; from αἶσχος aîschos (disfigurement, i.e. disgrace); to feel shame (for oneself):—be ashamed.]