Luke 20:10 And at the season he sent a servant to the husbandmen

KJV: 

Luke 20:10 And at the season he sent a servant to the husbandmen, that they should give him of the fruit of the vineyard: but the husbandmen beat him, and sent him away empty.

LISTENERS HEARD: 

And during a season, he sent off to the vine dressers a slave so that from the profit of the vineyard they are going to give him. These, however, vine dressers dismissed him beating fruitless (to no purpose)

GREEK (Each Word Explained Bottom of Page): 

LOST IN TRANSLATION: 

This verse condense two verses in Matthew and two verses in Luke. The "empty" here means both "empty handed" when referring to the sending him away and "to no purpose" when referring to the beating.  In this version, it is related to the beating while in Luke, where the same word is used, it is applied to the sending away.

The Greek word translated as "and" is used as the conjunction "and", but it also is used to add emphasis ("also").

"At the season " is a noun that means "due measure", "season", "opportunity", "time," and "profit." The "at" comes from the form, which usually an indirect object but with a noun of time means "during." There is no "the" with the word.

 The "he sent" here is a word that means "to send off" and "dispatch." It is the source of our word "apostle."

The noun translated as "a servant" means "slave." It is translated as "servant" to update the Bible.

The word translated as "to" means "towards", "by reason of (for)," and "against."

The word translated as "the husbandmen" means to those "tilling the ground," and from that, "vine dresser", "gardener," and "peasant."

The word translated as "that" is an adverb or a conjunction that starts a subordinate clause "there", "where," and "in order that."

The verb translated as "they should give" means "to give", "to grant", "to hand over", "appoint", "establish," and "to describe." It is almost always translated as some form of "give." It is in the future tense, which is odd. The form should be a subjective because it is something that should happen.

The word translated as "him" is the Greek word commonly translated as third-person pronouns in English. 

The word translated as "of the fruit" primary meaning is "fruit", "seed," or "offspring," but its secondary meaning is "returns," specifically, "profit," as we would say "fruit of our labors."

  "Of the vineyard" is the Greek noun that means "vineyard."

The Greek word translated as "but" means "but", "however", and "on the other hand". Since it always falls in the second position, translating it as "however" often captures its feeling better.  \

The word translated as "the husbandmen" means to those "tilling the ground," and from that, "vine dresser", "gardener," and "peasant."

The Greek verb translated as "beat" means "to flay" or "to skin" someone, though in later use it came to mean "to cudgel" or "to thrash." Jesus seems to use it to mean being "flogged".  However, the form is not active. It is an adjective, "beating".

There is no "him" after beaten.

There is no "and" because on the one verb is active. 

"Sent...away" is an uncommon term for Jesus to use, seen only in this story, which means  to "dispatch", "send forth", "send away", and "dismiss." It is a form of the verb translated as "sent" earlier in this verse. This verb comes first in the sentence. He wsa sent away before he is beaten.

The word translated as "him" is the Greek word commonly translated as third-person pronouns in English. 

"Empty" is another uncommon word only seen earlier in the parallel verse in Mark. It means "empty", "fruitless", "void", "ineffectual", "to no purpose", "destitute", "empty-handed", "devoid of wit", "vain," and "pretentious." Since it follows "beaten" the sense is "to no purpose". In Mark, it follows "sent away", which give it the sense of "empty".

COMPARISON: GREEK to KJV : 

καὶ (conj/adv) "And" is kai, which is the conjunction joining phrases and clauses, "and," or "but." After words implying sameness, "as" (the same opinion as you). Used in series, joins positive with negative "Not only...but also." Also used to give emphasis, "even", "also," and "just."

καιρῷ ( noun sg masc dat ) "At the season" is kairos, which means "due measure", "proportion", "fitness", "exact time", "season", "opportunity", "time", "critical times", "advantage," and "profit." --

ἀπέστειλεν ( verb 3rd sg aor ind act ) "He sent" is apostello, which means "to send off", "to send away," or "to dispatch." --

πρὸς (prep) "To" is pros, which means "on the side of", "in the direction of", "from (place)", "towards" "before", "in the presence of", "in the eyes of", "in the name of", "by reason of", "before (supplication)", "proceeding from (for effects)", "dependent on", "derivable from", "agreeable,""becoming", "like", "at the point of", "in addition to", "against," and "before." --

τοὺς γεωργοὺς (adj pl masc acc) "Husbandmen" is from georgos, which means "tilling the ground," and from that, "husbandman", "vine dresser", "gardener," and "peasant."

δοῦλον, (noun sg masc acc) "The servant" is doulos, which means a "slave," a "born bondsman," or "one made a slave."

ἵνα (adv/conj) "That" is hina, which means "in that place", "there", "where", "when", "that", "in order that", "when," and "because."

ἀπὸ (prep) "Of" is apo, a preposition of separation which means "from" or "away from" from when referring to place or motion, "from" or "after" when referring to time, "from" as an origin or cause. -- The word translated as "from" means "from" in both location and when referring to a source.

τοῦ καρποῦ (noun sg masc gen) The fruit" is karpos, which means "fruit", "the fruits of the earth", "seed", "offspring", "returns for profit," and "reward."

τοῦ ἀμπελῶνος (noun sg masc gen) "Of the vineyard" is from ampelon which means simply "vineyard."

δώσουσιν ( verb 3rd pl fut ind act ) "They should give" is didomi, which means "to give", "to grant", "to hand over", "appoint", "establish," and "to describe."

αὐτῷ: (adj sg masc dat) "Him" is autos, which means "the same," and the reflexive pronouns, "myself", "yourself", "himself", "herself", "itself," or the oblique case of the pronouns, "him", "her," and "it." It also means "one's true self," that is, "the soul" as opposed to the body and "of one's own accord." In the adverbial form, it  means "just here" or "exactly there."

οἱ (article pl masc nom) "The" 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 (conj/adv) "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 a weak connective ("and") and explanation of cause ("so") and a condition ("if"). --

γεωργοὶ (adj pl masc nom) "Husbandmen" is from georgos, which means "tilling the ground," and from that, "husbandman", "vine dresser", "gardener," and "peasant."

ἐξαπέστειλαν [uncommon]( verb 3rd pl aor ind act ) "Sent...away" is exapostellō, which means  to "dispatch", "send forth", "send away", and "dismiss."

  αὐτὸν (adj sg masc acc) "Him" is autos, which means "the same," and the reflexive pronouns, "myself", "yourself", "himself", "herself", "itself," or the oblique case of the pronouns, "him", "her," and "it." It also means "one's true self," that is, "the soul" as opposed to the body and "of one's own accord." In the adverbial form, it  means "just here" or "exactly there." -- The word translated as "him" is the Greek word commonly translated as third-person pronouns in English.  The word means "the same" when used as an adjective. In the adverbial form, it  means "just here" or "exactly there." 

δείραντες ( part pl aor act masc nom ) "Beat" is from dero, which means "to flay" or "to skin" someone, though in later use it came to mean "to cudgel" or "to thrash."

κενόν. [uncommon]( adj sg masc acc ) "Empty" is from kenos (kenos), which means "empty", "fruitless", "void", "ineffectual", "to no purpose", "destitute", "empty-handed", "devoid of wit", "vain," and "pretentious."

Wordplay: 

The "empty" here means both "empty handed" when referring to the sending him away and "to no purpose" when referring to the beating.

Related Verses: 

Front Page Date: 

Dec 2 2018