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Luke

About this book
Chapter 16

1 Jesus also said to the disciples, “There was a rich man who was informed of accusations that his manager was wasting his assets. 2 So he called the manager in and said to him, ‘What is this I hear about you? Turn in the account of your administration, because you can no longer be my manager.’ 3 Then the manager said to himself, ‘What should I do, since my master is taking my position away from me? I’m not strong enough to dig, and I’m too ashamed to beg. 4 I know what to do so that when I am put out of management, people will welcome me into their homes.’ 5 So he contacted his master’s debtors one by one. He asked the first, ‘How much do you owe my master?’ 6 The man replied, ‘100 measures of olive oil.’ The manager said to him, ‘Take your bill, sit down quickly, and write 50.’ 7 Then he said to another, ‘And how much do you owe?’ The second man replied, ‘100 measures of wheat.’ The manager said to him, ‘Take your bill, and write 80.’ 8 The master commended the dishonest manager because he acted shrewdly. For the people of this world are more shrewd in dealing with their contemporaries than the people of light.⁠ 9 And I tell you, make friends for yourselves by unrighteous mammon31,⁠ so that when it runs out, you will be welcomed into the eternal homes.⁠ 10 “The one who is faithful in a very little is also faithful in much,⁠ and the one who is dishonest in a very little is also dishonest in much. 11 If then you haven’t been trustworthy in handling worldly wealth, who will entrust you with the true riches?⁠ 12 And if you haven’t been trustworthy with someone else’s property, who will give you your own? 13 No servant can serve two masters,⁠ for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money.”⁠ 14 The Pharisees (who loved money) heard all this and ridiculed him. 15 But Jesus said to them, “You are the ones who justify yourselves in men’s eyes, but God knows your hearts. For what is highly prized among men is utterly detestable in God’s sight. 16 “The law and the prophets were in force until John; since then, the good news of the kingdom of God has been proclaimed, and everyone is urged to enter it. 17 But it is easier for heaven and earth to pass away than for one tiny stroke of a letter in the law to become void. 18 “Everyone who divorces his wife and marries someone else commits adultery, and the one who marries a woman divorced from her husband commits adultery. 19 “There was a rich man who dressed in purple and fine linen and who feasted sumptuously every day.⁠ 20 But at his gate lay a poor man named Lazarus whose body was covered with sores, 21 who longed to eat what fell from the rich man’s table. In addition, the dogs came and licked his sores. 22 “Now the poor man died and was carried by the angels to Abraham’s side.⁠ The rich man also died and was buried. 23 And in Hades, as he was in torment, he looked up and saw Abraham far off with Lazarus at his side.⁠ 24 So he called out, ‘Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue because I am in anguish in this fire.’⁠ 25 But Abraham said, ‘Child, remember that in your lifetime you received your good things and Lazarus likewise bad things, but now he is comforted here and you are in anguish. 26 Besides all this, a great chasm has been fixed between us, so that those who want to cross over from here to you cannot do so, and no one can cross from there to us.’⁠ 27 So the rich man said, ‘Then I beg you, father—send Lazarus to my father’s house 28 (for I have five brothers) to warn them so that they don’t come into this place of torment.’ 29 But Abraham said, ‘They have Moses and the prophets; they must respond to them.’ 30 Then the rich man said, ‘No, father Abraham, but if someone from the dead goes to them, they will repent.’ 31 He replied to him, ‘If they do not respond to Moses and the prophets, they will not be convinced even if someone rises from the dead.’”

Texts in conversation

Compare Luke 16:13 and 2 Clement 6:1

New Testament · Early Christian

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Summary

In Luke 16, Jesus says no servant can serve two masters. In 2 Clement, the preacher repeats Luke's term for servant, then applies the saying to God and wealth; this may be his own explanation rather than part of the quotation.

Passages

Luke 16:13

New Testament
10 “The one who is faithful in a very little is also faithful in much, and the one who is dishonest in a very little is also dishonest in much. 11 If then you haven’t been trustworthy in handling worldly wealth, who will entrust you with the true riches? 12 And if you haven’t been trustworthy with someone else’s property, who will give you your own? 13 No servant can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money.” 14 The Pharisees (who loved money) heard all this and ridiculed him.
75–85 CE (scholarly estimate) Read in Luke

2 Clement 6:1

Early Christian
1 But the Lord says, “No servant can serve two masters.” If we desire to serve both God and wealth, it is useless for us: 2 For what advantage is it, if a person gains the whole world and loses their soul? 3 Now this age and the age to come are two enemies. 4 One speaks of adultery and defilement and greed and deceit, but the other rejects these. 5 We therefore cannot be friends with both, but must reject the one and keep company with the other. 6 Let us consider that it is better to hate the things here, because they are lowly, short-lived, and perishable, and to love the things there, for they are good and imperishable.
130–160 CE (scholarly estimate) Read in 2 Clement

References

“... The saying in 2 Clem. 6. 1 can probably tell us little in the present context. Clearly, it is related in some way or other to the tradition in Matt. 6. 24 // Luke 16. 13, and in the first part of the saying, there is almost verbatim agreement between the versions. 2 Clement is slightly closer to the Lucan version in having οἰκέτης, which Matthew omits; but whether one can build very much on this is uncertain. The second part of the saying in 2 Clement is by no means as close verbally to the synoptic versions. There is the contrast between ‘serving God’ and ‘(serving) mammon’, but the structure of the sayings is different. Hence, at most there seems to be a common tradition underlying the versions here, but we cannot go further. In any case, it is not clear that in this part ‘Clement’ thinks that he is actually quoting as such. The use of the first person plural [...] may suggest rather that this is ‘Clement’s’ own gloss on, or interpretation of, the saying, rather than a continuation of the quotation of the saying of ‘the Lord’. ...”
Andrew Gregory and Christopher Tuckett, eds., The Reception of the New Testament in the Apostolic Fathers (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2005), 267.

References are not endorsements of their contents. Read each reference in full to understand its author's intentions in using these texts.

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Luke 16:13 and 2 Clement 6:1

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