independentparticipialrelativepurposecausecomparativecontentconditionalphrase modifierdashed = verbless / suspended
Flush-left = a main (independent) clause. Each dependent line begins directly beneath the word it attaches to in the line above — the anchor word is dotted-underlined, and lights up when you hover its dependent clause; each tag also names the attachment. A dashed border marks verbless, elliptical, or suspended lines. Where a long sentence's staircase runs wider than the page, the diagram scrolls sideways. (In print, or without JavaScript, lines fall back to stepped indent columns.)
The parable of the unjust steward and its applications 16:1–13
vv. 1–2 — the crisis: the steward accused and summoned to account
1
Ἔλεγεν δὲ καὶ πρὸς τοὺς μαθητάς·independent — the imperfect frame that carries the whole parable and its applications (vv. 1–13); δὲ καί pivots from the Pharisees of ch. 15 to the disciples
Ἄνθρωπός τις ἦν πλούσιοςcontent — the stock parable opening — the second πλούσιος of the chapter follows at v. 19
ὃς εἶχεν οἰκονόμον,relative — οἰκονόμος — the estate-steward entrusted with the master's whole affairs
καὶ οὗτος διεβλήθη αὐτῷ ὡς διασκορπίζων τὰ ὑπάρχοντα αὐτοῦ.content — διαβάλλω — a charge laid, true or slanderous left open; διασκορπίζων, the prodigal's squandering-verb (15:13)
2
καὶ φωνήσας αὐτὸνparticipial — preposed aorist participle — leans on εἶπεν
εἶπεν αὐτῷ·content — the master's summons — narrative inside the speech keeps its own frames, Mark-4 fashion
Τί τοῦτο ἀκούω περὶ σοῦ;content — the ominous question — the charge is not argued, only reported
ἀπόδος τὸν λόγον τῆς οἰκονομίας σου,content — ἀπόδος τὸν λόγον — hand over the books; the dismissal is announced as already settled
οὐ γὰρ δύνῃ ἔτι οἰκονομεῖν.cause — γάρ grounds the demand — ἔτι: the office is finished
vv. 3–4 — the soliloquy: Τί ποιήσω; — and the flash of the plan
3
εἶπεν δὲ ἐν ἑαυτῷ ὁ οἰκονόμος·content — the Lukan interior monologue (12:17; 15:17) — the parable turns on what is said ἐν ἑαυτῷ
Τί ποιήσω,content — deliberative subjunctive — the crisis-question of the rich fool (12:17) and the prodigal in substance
ὅτι ὁ κύριός μου ἀφαιρεῖται τὴν οἰκονομίαν ἀπ’ ἐμοῦ;cause — futuristic present ἀφαιρεῖται — the removal already in motion
σκάπτειν οὐκ ἰσχύω,content — the fronted infinitives weigh the ruined options — day-labor beyond his strength
ἐπαιτεῖν αἰσχύνομαι.content — shame closes the second door — begging, Lazarus's lot (v. 20), refused
4
ἔγνωνcontent — ingressive aorist — the flash of decision: 'I have it!'
τί ποιήσω,content — indirect question — the deliberative Τί ποιήσω of v. 3 answered by a future
ἵνα ὅταν μετασταθῶ ἐκ τῆς οἰκονομίας δέξωνταί με εἰς τοὺς οἴκους αὐτῶν.purpose — the ὅταν-clause folded into the purpose — δέξωνται, the welcome-verb v. 9 will make eternal
vv. 5–7 — the two debtors: the bills rewritten in haste
5
καὶ προσκαλεσάμενος ἕνα ἕκαστον τῶν χρεοφειλετῶν τοῦ κυρίου ἑαυτοῦparticipial — preposed aorist participle — leans on ἔλεγεν; ἕνα ἕκαστον, one by one, though only two are staged
ἔλεγεν τῷ πρώτῳ·content — iterative imperfect — the same interview repeated down the ledger
Πόσον ὀφείλεις τῷ κυρίῳ μου;content — still 'my master' — the office not yet surrendered is the scheme's whole leverage
6
ὁ δὲ εἶπεν·content — the article as pronoun — dialogue at speed
Ἑκατὸν βάτους ἐλαίου.content — verbless answer — a hundred baths, the yield of a large olive estate
ὁ δὲ εἶπεν αὐτῷ·content — the steward's counter-move
Δέξαι σου τὰ γράμματαcontent — τὰ γράμματα — the debt-bond itself, put back in the debtor's hands
καὶ καθίσας ταχέως γράψον πεντήκοντα.content — ταχέως — before the books are called in; the debt halved in the debtor's own hand
7
ἔπειτα ἑτέρῳ εἶπεν·content — the second interview — the pattern established
Σὺ δὲ πόσον ὀφείλεις;content — emphatic Σύ — down the list of debtors
ὁ δὲ εἶπεν·content — the exchange compressed to its bones
Ἑκατὸν κόρους σίτου.content — verbless again — a hundred kors, a fortune in grain
λέγει αὐτῷ·content — historic present — the scheme at its most vivid
Δέξαι σου τὰ γράμματαcontent — the formula repeated verbatim
καὶ γράψον ὀγδοήκοντα.content — a fifth off — the varied discounts perhaps the steward's own concealed commission written into each bond
v. 8 — the verdict: shrewdness, not dishonesty, praised
8
καὶ ἐπῄνεσεν ὁ κύριος τὸν οἰκονόμον τῆς ἀδικίαςcontent — ὁ κύριος read as the parable's master, not the Lord, though the word builds the bridge; τῆς ἀδικίας, Semitic genitive of quality
ὅτι φρονίμως ἐποίησεν·cause — φρονίμως — the praise lights on the prudence, not the fraud
ὅτι οἱ υἱοὶ τοῦ αἰῶνος τούτου φρονιμώτεροι ὑπὲρ τοὺς υἱοὺς τοῦ φωτὸς εἰς τὴν γενεὰν τὴν ἑαυτῶν εἰσιν.cause — the second ὅτι — Jesus' own comment on the verdict (the crux of whose voice speaks, named here): comparative ὑπέρ, the two 'sons' contrasted
vv. 9–13 — the applications: friends from mammon, faithful in little, two masters
9
Καὶ ἐγὼ ὑμῖν λέγω,content — emphatic ἐγώ — the dominical application now explicit
ἑαυτοῖς ποιήσατε φίλους ἐκ τοῦ μαμωνᾶ τῆς ἀδικίας,content — instrumental ἐκ — spend the world's wealth on eternal friendships; μαμωνᾶς, the Aramaic loanword, with the ἀδικίας of v. 8
ἵνα ὅταν ἐκλίπῃ δέξωνται ὑμᾶς εἰς τὰς αἰωνίους σκηνάς.purpose — δέξωνται echoes v. 4 — the steward's welcome made eternal; ἐκλίπῃ, 'when it gives out' (some witnesses ἐκλίπητε, 'when you fail')
10
ὁ πιστὸς ἐν ἐλαχίστῳ καὶ ἐν πολλῷ πιστός ἐστιν,content — gnomic maxim — fidelity is of a piece, from least to most
καὶ ὁ ἐν ἐλαχίστῳ ἄδικος καὶ ἐν πολλῷ ἄδικός ἐστιν.content — the dark half of the antithesis — ἄδικος picks up the ἀδικία-words of vv. 8–9
11
εἰ οὖν ἐν τῷ ἀδίκῳ μαμωνᾷ πιστοὶ οὐκ ἐγένεσθε,conditional — first-class protasis — forward-leaning on πιστεύσει
τὸ ἀληθινὸν τίς ὑμῖν πιστεύσει;content — τὸ ἀληθινόν fronted — the genuine wealth against the counterfeit; πιστεύσει plays on πιστοί
12
καὶ εἰ ἐν τῷ ἀλλοτρίῳ πιστοὶ οὐκ ἐγένεσθε,conditional — τὸ ἀλλότριον — present wealth as another's (God's), held in trust; forward-leaning on δώσει
τὸ ὑμέτερον τίς ὑμῖν δώσει;content — τὸ ὑμέτερον — the inheritance that is truly yours (some witnesses ἡμέτερον)
13
οὐδεὶς οἰκέτης δύναται δυσὶ κυρίοις δουλεύειν·content — the sealing maxim (par. Matt 6:24, with Luke's οἰκέτης, the household slave) — slavery is indivisible
ἢ γὰρ τὸν ἕνα μισήσει καὶ τὸν ἕτερον ἀγαπήσει,cause — gnomic futures — μισέω comparative, 'love less'
ἢ ἑνὸς ἀνθέξεται καὶ τοῦ ἑτέρου καταφρονήσει.cause — the doubled ἤ — no neutral service exists
οὐ δύνασθε θεῷ δουλεύειν καὶ μαμωνᾷ.content — the two masters named at last — mammon personified as God's rival; the hinge to the Pharisees' scoff (v. 14)
The money-lovers scoff: the heart-knower, the law, and the kingdom 16:14–18
vv. 14–15 — the scoff and the God who knows hearts
14
Ἤκουον δὲ ταῦτα πάντα οἱ Φαρισαῖοι φιλάργυροι ὑπάρχοντες,independent — φιλάργυροι ὑπάρχοντες — the causal participle kept in-clause: money-lovers overhearing a sermon against mammon
καὶ ἐξεμυκτήριζον αὐτόν.independent — ἐκμυκτηρίζω — 'turned up the nose'; the imperfect keeps the sneer running (LXX Ps 21:8 of the mockers, again at 23:35)
15
καὶ εἶπεν αὐτοῖς·independent — the answer-frame that carries vv. 15–18
Ὑμεῖς ἐστε οἱ δικαιοῦντες ἑαυτοὺς ἐνώπιον τῶν ἀνθρώπων,content — emphatic Ὑμεῖς — self-justification played to a human audience (cf. 18:9–14)
ὁ δὲ θεὸς γινώσκει τὰς καρδίας ὑμῶν·content — the heart-knower (καρδιογνώστης, Acts 15:8) set against the courtroom of men
ὅτι τὸ ἐν ἀνθρώποις ὑψηλὸν βδέλυγμα ἐνώπιον τοῦ θεοῦ.cause — verbless sentence — βδέλυγμα, the LXX's cultic loathing-word, set against ὑψηλόν
vv. 16–18 — the law and the kingdom: until John, not one serif, and the divorce-word
16
Ὁ νόμος καὶ οἱ προφῆται μέχρι Ἰωάννου·content — verbless era-statement — John the hinge of salvation-history (par. Matt 11:12–13)
ἀπὸ τότε ἡ βασιλεία τοῦ θεοῦ εὐαγγελίζεταιcontent — εὐαγγελίζεται — Luke's own verb for the mission marks the new era
καὶ πᾶς εἰς αὐτὴν βιάζεται.content — βιάζεται — the crux: middle ('everyone presses in,' read here) or passive ('all are urged in'); the crowds of chs. 14–15 press through the door
17
Εὐκοπώτερον δέ ἐστιν τὸν οὐρανὸν καὶ τὴν γῆν παρελθεῖνcontent — the counterweight to v. 16 — the new era does not void the law
ἢ τοῦ νόμου μίαν κεραίαν πεσεῖν.comparative — ἤ after the comparative — κεραία, the letter-distinguishing stroke: not the least penstroke lapses
18
Πᾶς ὁ ἀπολύων τὴν γυναῖκα αὐτοῦ καὶ γαμῶν ἑτέραν μοιχεύει,content — the law's abidingness instanced — the divorce-word, without Matthew's exception clause
καὶ ὁ ἀπολελυμένην ἀπὸ ἀνδρὸς γαμῶν μοιχεύει.content — perfect ἀπολελυμένην — her settled divorced status; the standard is God's, not the scribes'
The rich man and Lazarus 16:19–31
vv. 19–21 — the tableau: purple at the table, sores at the gate
19
Ἄνθρωπος δέ τις ἦν πλούσιος,independent — the parable told straight on, without a fresh speech-frame — the second Ἄνθρωπός τις ἦν πλούσιος (v. 1), now weighed
καὶ ἐνεδιδύσκετο πορφύραν καὶ βύσσονindependent — customary imperfect — royal purple over imported linen: luxury outside and in
εὐφραινόμενος καθ’ ἡμέραν λαμπρῶς.participial — εὐφραινόμενος — the prodigal-chapter's feasting verb (15:23–32), now daily and splendid
20
πτωχὸς δέ τις ὀνόματι Λάζαρος ἐβέβλητο πρὸς τὸν πυλῶνα αὐτοῦindependent — the only named figure in Jesus' parables — Λάζαρος, 'God has helped'; pluperfect ἐβέβλητο, dumped and left
εἱλκωμένοςparticipial — perfect participle — his ulcerated state as settled as the rich man's routine
21
καὶ ἐπιθυμῶν χορτασθῆναι ἀπὸ τῶν ψιχίων τῶν πιπτόντων ἀπὸ τῆς τραπέζης τοῦ πλουσίου·participial — χορτασθῆναι — the beatitude's filling-verb (6:21) denied; food within reach, never offered
ἀλλὰ καὶ οἱ κύνες ἐρχόμενοι ἐπέλειχον τὰ ἕλκη αὐτοῦ.independent — ascensive καί — unclean scavengers his only ministrants; iterative imperfect ἐπέλειχον (NT hapax)
vv. 22–23 — the reversal: angels for the beggar, burial for the rich man
22
ἐγένετο δὲ ἀποθανεῖν τὸν πτωχὸνindependent — the Septuagintal ἐγένετο frame — death levels the tableau
καὶ ἀπενεχθῆναι αὐτὸν ὑπὸ τῶν ἀγγέλων εἰς τὸν κόλπον Ἀβραάμ·content — coordinate infinitive under ἐγένετο — angelic escort to the place of honor at the patriarch's side
ἀπέθανεν δὲ καὶ ὁ πλούσιοςindependent — the same death, without escort
καὶ ἐτάφη.independent — ἐτάφη — a funeral, no doubt splendid, is all he gets: the two-word obituary
23
καὶ ἐν τῷ ᾅδῃ ἐπάρας τοὺς ὀφθαλμοὺς αὐτοῦ,participial — preposed aorist participle — leans on ὁρᾷ; ἐν τῷ ᾅδῃ fronted: the address has changed
ὑπάρχων ἐν βασάνοις,participial — the standing state — βάσανος, the touchstone-word for torment; also forward-leaning on ὁρᾷ
ὁρᾷ Ἀβραὰμ ἀπὸ μακρόθεν καὶ Λάζαρον ἐν τοῖς κόλποις αὐτοῦ.independent — vivid present ὁρᾷ — the reversal beheld: the beggar he overlooked now at the feast he lost
vv. 24–26 — the first dialogue: a drop of water, refused by the reversal and the chasm
24
καὶ αὐτὸς φωνήσας εἶπεν·independent — emphatic αὐτός; the coincident participle kept in-clause — the rich man calls across the gulf
Πάτερ Ἀβραάμ,phrase modifier — vocative of address — descent from Abraham pleaded as patronage (cf. 3:8)
ἐλέησόν μεcontent — the beggar's cry (18:38) now on the rich man's lips
καὶ πέμψον Λάζαρονcontent — he still treats Lazarus as an errand-boy — named, known, and never helped
ἵνα βάψῃ τὸ ἄκρον τοῦ δακτύλου αὐτοῦ ὕδατοςpurpose — a fingertip of water — the plea shrunk to the smallest imaginable relief, answering the crumbs of v. 21
καὶ καταψύξῃ τὴν γλῶσσάν μου,purpose — καταψύχω (NT hapax) — the feasting tongue now burning
ὅτι ὀδυνῶμαι ἐν τῇ φλογὶ ταύτῃ.cause — grounds the whole plea (both imperatives) — ὀδυνῶμαι, the anguish-verb Abraham will hand back (v. 25)
25
εἶπεν δὲ Ἀβραάμ·independent — the first answer
Τέκνον,phrase modifier — the kinship granted — τέκνον: a son of Abraham indeed, and it cannot help him
μνήσθητιcontent — memory as torment — the ledger of the two lives reopened
ὅτι ἀπέλαβες τὰ ἀγαθά σου ἐν τῇ ζωῇ σου,content — ἀπολαμβάνω — payment received as one's due; τὰ ἀγαθά σου, 'your' good things, chosen and used up
καὶ Λάζαρος ὁμοίως τὰ κακά·content — elliptical — the verb carried over; his evils were never 'his own' by choice
νῦν δὲ ὧδε παρακαλεῖταιcontent — νῦν δέ — the great reversal stated; παρακαλεῖται answers the woe on the rich who 'have their παράκλησις' (6:24)
σὺ δὲ ὀδυνᾶσαι.content — the rich man's own verb (v. 24) returned to him
26
καὶ ἐν πᾶσι τούτοις μεταξὺ ἡμῶν καὶ ὑμῶν χάσμα μέγα ἐστήρικται,content — resultative perfect ἐστήρικται — the divine passive: fixed, and fixed for good; χάσμα, NT hapax
ὅπως οἱ θέλοντες διαβῆναι ἔνθεν πρὸς ὑμᾶς μὴ δύνωνται,purpose — ὅπως — the chasm's design: even willing pity cannot pass
μηδὲ ἐκεῖθεν πρὸς ἡμᾶς διαπερῶσιν.purpose — the gulf bars both directions — the destinies sealed
vv. 27–31 — the second and third dialogues: the five brothers, Moses and the prophets, one risen from the dead
27
εἶπεν δέ·independent — the plea redirected — from his own relief to his family's warning
Ἐρωτῶ σε οὖν,content — ἐρωτῶ — the suppliant's request-verb, οὖν drawing the consequence of the refusal
πάτερ,phrase modifier — the address maintained — the kinship still pleaded
ἵνα πέμψῃς αὐτὸν εἰς τὸν οἶκον τοῦ πατρός μου,content — ἵνα-object clause after ἐρωτῶ — still 'send Lazarus' (v. 24), now as a witness to the living
28
ἔχω γὰρ πέντε ἀδελφούς,cause — the motive of the request — five still feasting, presumably, behind the same gate
ὅπως διαμαρτύρηται αὐτοῖς,purpose — διαμαρτύρομαι — solemn testimony; the purpose reaches back to πέμψῃς: the mission's aim
ἵνα μὴ καὶ αὐτοὶ ἔλθωσιν εἰς τὸν τόπον τοῦτον τῆς βασάνου.purpose — ἵνα μή — the first altruism the rich man shows, and it comes too late for him
29
λέγει δὲ Ἀβραάμ·independent — historic present — the decisive answer lands in the vivid tense
Ἔχουσι Μωϋσέα καὶ τοὺς προφήτας·content — the sufficiency of Scripture — the same canon as v. 16, whose serifs do not fall (v. 17)
ἀκουσάτωσαν αὐτῶν.content — third-person imperative — hearing, not spectacle, is what repentance needs
30
ὁ δὲ εἶπεν·independent — the rich man contradicts Abraham
Οὐχί, πάτερ Ἀβραάμ,content — emphatic οὐχί — Scripture, he judges, is not enough for men like his brothers (and himself)
ἀλλ’ ἐάν τις ἀπὸ νεκρῶν πορευθῇ πρὸς αὐτοὺςconditional — third-class protasis — forward-leaning on μετανοήσουσιν; the demand for a sign from the grave
μετανοήσουσιν.content — μετανοήσουσιν — the chapter's buried keyword surfaces: repentance is what the brothers lack
31
εἶπεν δὲ αὐτῷ·independent — the closing verdict
Εἰ Μωϋσέως καὶ τῶν προφητῶν οὐκ ἀκούουσιν,conditional — first-class protasis — the case as it stands; forward-leaning on πεισθήσονται
οὐδ’ ἐάν τις ἐκ νεκρῶν ἀναστῇconditional — the doubled protasis — οὐδ᾽ ἐάν with ἀναστῇ, resurrection language: Luke's readers hear the risen Jesus (and the other Lazarus, John 11–12) refused in advance
πεισθήσονται.content — πεισθήσονται — persuasion, not proof, is the issue: hearts that will not hear Scripture will explain away a resurrection
Analysis. Luke 16 hangs two great money-parables on a sayings-bridge, and the layout shows the difference in their telling. The unjust steward (vv. 1–13) is kept one section under the single imperfect Ἔλεγεν of v. 1, so the whole parable and its applications read as one blue column of speech, Mark-4 fashion: the story's own frames — the master's εἶπεν, the soliloquy's εἶπεν ἐν ἑαυτῷ, the debtor exchanges down to the historic present λέγει of v. 7 — run coordinate at the speech's own depth, each opening its little dialogue one step deeper, and the steward's Τί ποιήσω with its answering ἔγνων chains to the ἵνα of the plan, whose δέξωνται the application of v. 9 makes eternal. The chapter's first crux is taken openly at v. 8: ὁ κύριος who praises is read as the parable's master, not the Lord, and the second ὅτι as Jesus' own comment on the verdict — both hung as parallel grounds under ἐπῄνεσεν, the tags naming the seam. Verses 10–13 run as coordinate maxims, their εἰ-protases leaning forward anchor-less above their apodoses. The Pharisee bridge (vv. 14–18) reverts to narrative at depth 0 and takes βιάζεται in v. 16 as middle — 'everyone presses in' — with the dispute named; v. 17 counterweighs (not one serif falls) and v. 18 instances the law that does not fall. The rich man and Lazarus (vv. 19–31) is one section opening at the mainline — the parable told straight, with no speech-frame inside its own section — so the reversal tableau stands flush left (ἦν, ἐνεδιδύσκετο, ἐβέβλητο, the ἐγένετο of the two deaths, the vivid ὁρᾷ of v. 23), and the three Abraham-dialogues each indent under their verbs of saying: the fingertip-of-water plea grounded in ὀδυνῶμαι and refused by μνήσθητι and the perfect ἐστήρικται of the fixed chasm; the five-brothers plea chaining Ἐρωτῶ → πέμψῃς → διαμαρτύρηται → ἵνα μή; and the verdict of v. 31, whose doubled forward-leaning protases (εἰ Μωϋσέως καὶ τῶν προφητῶν οὐκ ἀκούουσιν … οὐδ᾽ ἐάν τις ἐκ νεκρῶν ἀναστῇ) stack above the two-word apodosis πεισθήσονται — Scripture unheard, resurrection unpersuasive.