Luke 16:3

Luke 16:3 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)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.
• New International Version (NIV)“The manager said to himself, ‘What shall I do now? My master is taking away my job. I’m not strong enough to dig, and I’m ashamed to beg—
• English Standard Version (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.
• New King James Version (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.

Context of Luke 16:3

1Jesus told another story to his disciples: ‘A rich man had a servant who worked for him. The servant took care of the money and things that belonged to the man. Then some people told the rich man that his servant was wasting his master's things. 2So the master sent someone to bring his servant to him. He said to his servant, “I am hearing bad stories about you. So write down everything that you have done with my money and my things. Then you must stop working for me.” “I must think about what I can do,” the servant said to himself. “My master will not let me work for him any longer. I am not strong enough to dig in the ground. I would be ashamed to ask other people for money. 4I must stop working for my master. But I know what I can do so that people will then accept me into their homes.” 5Many people had a debt that they had not paid back to the master. So the servant told those people to come to him. He asked the first man, “How big is your debt to my master?”

Luke 16:3 word by word

εἶπεν δὲ ἐν ἑαυτῷ ὁ οἰκονόμος· τί ποιήσω, ὅτι ὁ κύριός μου ἀφαιρεῖται τὴν οἰκονομίαν ἀπ᾽ ἐμοῦ; σκάπτειν οὐκ ἰσχύω, ἐπαιτεῖν αἰσχύνομαι.Read the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• Thenδέde · thenG1161
• the stewardὁho hē to · the/this/whoG3588
• the stewardοἰκονόμοςoikonomos · managerG3623
• saidλέγωlegō · to sayG3004
• withinἐνen · in/on/amongG1722
• himselfἑαυτοῦheautou · themselfG1438
• Whatτίςtis · which?G5101
• shall I doποιέωpoieō · to do/make: doG4160
• forὅτιhoti · that/since: sinceG3754
• myἐγώegō · I/weG1473
• lordκύριοςkurios · lord: masterG2962
• taketh awayἀφαιρέωaphaireō · to removeG851
• fromἀπόapo · away fromG575
• the stewardshipοἰκονομίαoikonomia · managementG3622
• I cannotἰσχύωischuō · be strongG2480
• ·οὐou · noG3756
• digσκάπτωskaptō · to digG4626
• to begἐπαιτέωepaiteō · to ask/begG1871
• I am ashamedαἰσχύνωaischunomai · be ashamedG153

Cross-references for Luke 16:3

• Luke 18:4For a long time, the judge would not do anything to help her. Later, he thought, “I am not afraid of God. Nor do I respect people.
• Esther 6:6Haman came in to the king's room. The king asked him, ‘If I want to give great honour to a man, what should we do for that man?’ Haman thought to himself, ‘I am sure that I am that man. The king must want to give me honour.’
• Luke 12:17He thought about how much he would soon have. “I have nowhere to store all the food from my plants,” he said to himself.
• Isaiah 10:3It will be bad for you on the day when God comes to judge people. You will not escape the punishment that he will bring from far away. There will be nobody to help you. There will be no safe place to hide your valuable things.
• Jeremiah 5:31The prophets speak messages that are not true. The priests make their own rules for people to obey. And my people love to live like this! But when all this comes to an end, my people will be helpless!’
• Hosea 9:5So what will you do on your festival days? You will no longer be able to worship the Lord properly.
• Acts 9:6Now you must get up and go into the city. Someone there will tell you what you must do.’
• Proverbs 13:4A lazy person always wants to have more, but he will not get it. If a person works hard, he will have more than he needs.
• Proverbs 15:19A lazy person always has problems, as if he is walking through thorn bushes. But an honest person walks on a straight road through life.
• Proverbs 18:9A lazy person is as bad as someone who destroys things.
• Proverbs 19:15A lazy person cannot wake up from sleep. If he does no work, he will always be hungry.
• Proverbs 21:25Lazy people want many things but they refuse to work, so they are killing themselves.
• Proverbs 24:30I walked past the field of a lazy person. And I walked past the vineyard of a stupid person.
• Proverbs 26:13A lazy person does not go out of his house. He says, ‘There is a lion outside in the street!’
• Proverbs 27:23Always take care of your sheep and your goats, as well as your cows.
• Proverbs 29:21You may give a servant everything that he wants from his birth. But if you do that, he will be useless in the end.

Commentaries on Luke 16:3

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 3I cannot dig - He could not submit to become a common day-laborer, which was both a severe and base employment: To beg I am ashamed. And as these were the only honest ways left him to procure a morsel of bread, and he would not submit to either, he found he must continue the system of knavery, in order to provide for his idleness and luxury, or else starve. Wo to the man who gets his bread in this way! The curse of the Lord must be on his head, and on his…Read the comment
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 3Said within himself - Thought, or considered. My lord - My master, my employer. I cannot dig - This may mean either that his employment had been such that he could not engage in agriculture, not having been acquainted with the business, or that he was “unwilling” to stoop to so low an employment as to work daily for his support. “To dig,” here, is the same as to till the earth, to work at daily labor. To beg - These were the only two ways that presented…Read the comment
• Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 3too ashamed to beg: The Jewish wisdom writer Sirach said, “It is better to die than to beg” (Sirach 40:28). This reflects how many Jews viewed begging.Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 33. cannot dig ... to beg, ashamed--therefore, when dismissed, shall be in utter want.Read the comment

Topics related to Luke 16:3

• Beggars
• Covetousness
• Dishonesty
• Embezzlement
• Jesus Continued
• Jesus, the Christ
• Malfeasance in Office
• Probation
• Servant
• Steward
• Worldliness

In the dictionaries

• Account
• Beg
• Beside
• Cool
• Deride
• Dig
• Fare
• Put
• Riches
• Torment

Commentaries on Luke 16

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
• Tyndale Open Study Notes
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
• Calvin’s Commentaries
• John Wesley’s Notes
• Catena Aurea
• Illustrated New Testament
• Burkitt’s Expository Notes
• Darby Translation Notes
• Family Bible Notes
• Geneva Bible Translation Notes
• Kingcomments
• John Lightfoot Commentary
• Luther’s Commentary on Selected Bible Passages
• Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
• Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
• The People’s New Testament
• Robertson’s Word Pictures
• Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
• The Fourfold Gospel and Commentary on Acts
• Original Douay–Rheims Annotations
• Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
• EGW Writings