Luke 17:9

9 Does he thank that servant because he did the things that were commanded him? I think not.

Luke 17:9 Meaning and Commentary

Luke 17:9

Doth he thank that servant
As if he had done him a favour, and what he was not obliged to;

because he did the things that were commanded him?
for, as a servant, he ought to do them, and in so doing does but his duty: he may indeed be commended for it, but not thanked:

I trow not;
or "I think not"; it do not seem so to me, as if he would, or, as though it was proper and necessary he should. The Ethiopic version leaves out this last clause.

Luke 17:9 In-Context

7 And which of you, having a servant plowing or tending sheep, will say to him when he has come in from the field, 'Come at once and sit down to eat'?
8 But will he not rather say to him, 'Prepare something for my supper, and gird yourself and serve me till I have eaten and drunk, and afterward you will eat and drink'?
9 Does he thank that servant because he did the things that were commanded him? I think not.
10 So likewise you, when you have done all those things which you are commanded, say, 'We are unprofitable servants. We have done what was our duty to do.' "
11 Now it happened as He went to Jerusalem that He passed through the midst of Samaria and Galilee.

Footnotes 1

  • [a]. NU-Text ends verse with commanded; M-Text omits him.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.