Luke 16:13

No servant can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.

King James Version · Read in your translation · Open the Explore console

Word by word — the Greek

Word	Greek	Strong’s	Meaning
No	Οὐδεὶς Oudeis	G3762	not even one (man · adjective — nominative singular masculine
servant	οἰκέτης oiketēs	G3610	a fellow resident · noun — nominative singular masculine
can	δύναται dunatai	G1410	to be able or possible · verb — present middle or passive deponent indicative, 3rd person singular
serve	δουλεύειν· douleuein	G1398	to be a slave to (literal or figurative · verb — present active infinitive
two	δυσὶν dusin	G1417	"two" · adjective — dative plural masculine
masters	κυρίοις kuriois	G2962	supreme in authority · noun — dative plural masculine
for	γὰρ gar	G1063	properly · conjunction
either	ἢ ē	G2228	disjunctive · conjunction
he will hate	μισήσει misēsei	G3404	to detest (especially to persecute) · verb — future active indicative, 3rd person singular
the one	ἕνα hena	G1520	one · adjective — accusative singular masculine
and	καὶ kai	G2532	and · conjunction
love	ἀγαπήσει, agapēsei	G25	to love (in a social or moral sense) · verb — future active indicative, 3rd person singular
the other	ἕτερον heteron	G2087	(an- · adjective — accusative singular masculine
or else	ἢ ē	G2228	disjunctive · conjunction
he will hold to	ἀνθέξεται anthexetai	G472	to hold oneself opposite to · verb — future middle deponent indicative, 3rd person singular
the one	ἑνὸς henos	G1520	one · adjective — genitive singular masculine
and	καὶ kai	G2532	and · conjunction
despise	καταφρονήσει. kataphronēsei	G2706	to think against · verb — future active indicative, 3rd person singular
the other	ἑτέρου heterou	G2087	(an- · adjective — genitive singular masculine
Ye cannot	δύνασθε dunasthe	G1410	to be able or possible · verb — present middle or passive deponent indicative, 2nd person plural
serve	δουλεύειν douleuein	G1398	to be a slave to (literal or figurative · verb — present active infinitive
God	θεῷ theō	G2316	figuratively · noun — dative singular masculine, a title
and	καὶ kai	G2532	and · conjunction
mammon	μαμωνᾷ.¶ mamōna	G3126	mammonas · noun — dative singular masculine

Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).

Cross-references

1 John 2:15-16 Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him.
Matthew 6:24 No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Y…
James 4:4 Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? whosoever therefore will be a friend of the…
Romans 8:5-8 For they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh; but they that are after the Spirit the things of the Spirit.
Joshua 24:15 And if it seem evil unto you to serve the LORD, choose you this day whom ye will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that were…
Luke 14:26 If any man come to me, and hate not his father, and mother, and wife, and children, and brethren, and sisters, yea, and his own life also, h…
Luke 11:23 He that is not with me is against me: and he that gathereth not with me scattereth.
Matthew 4:10 Then saith Jesus unto him, Get thee hence, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve.

Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Luke 16:1-18

We mistake if we imagine that the design of Christ's doctrine and holy religion was either to amuse us with notions of divine mysteries or to entertain us with notions of divine mercies. No, the divine revelation of both these in the gospel is intended to engage and quicken us to the practice of Christian duties, and, as much as any one thing, to the duty of beneficence and doing good to those who stand in need of any thing that either we have or can do for them. This our Saviour is here pressing us to, by reminding us that we are but stewards of the manifold grace of God; and since we have in divers instances been unfaithful, and have forfeited the favour of our Lord, it is our wisdom to th…

Read the whole note in the console

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Luke 16:13

can serve--be entirely at the command of; and this is true even where the services are not opposed. hate . . . love--showing that the two here intended are in uncompromising hostility to each other: an awfully searching principle!

Adam Clarke on Luke 16:13

No servant can serve two masters - The heart will be either wholly taken up with God, or wholly engrossed with the world. See on Mat 6:24 (note).

John Gill on Luke 16:13

No servant can serve two masters,.... See Gill on Matthew 6:24.

John Calvin on Luke 16:1-16

Luke 16:1-15 Luke 16:1-15 1. And he said also to his disciples, There was a certain rich man who had a steward, and he was accused to him that he was wasting his estate. 2. And he called him, and said to him, What is this that I hear of thee? render an account of thy stewardship, for thou shalt no longer have it in thy power to be steward. 3. And the steward said within himself, What shall I do, since my master taketh from me my stewardship? I cannot dig, and am ashamed to beg. 4. I know what I shall do, that, when I shall be dismissed from the stewardship, they may receive me [294] into their houses. 5. Having therefore sent for each of his master's debtors, he said to the first, How much…

The Church Fathers

What the two masters are who, He says, cannot be served, on the ground that while one is pleased the other must needs be displeased, He Himself makes clear, when He mentions God and mammon.
— Tertullian, Against Marcion Book IV

No servant can serve two masters. Because it is not possible to love both transitory and eternal things at the same time. For if we love eternity, we possess all temporal things in use, not in affection.
— Bede, On the Gospel of Luke

For either he will hate the one and love the other; or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. These words must be carefully considered. For who these two masters are, he subsequently explains by saying:
— Bede, On the Gospel of Luke

The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).

Dictionary and topics

Idolatry — Image-worship or divine honour paid to any created object. Paul describes the origin of idolatry in Rom. 1:21-25: men forsook God, and sank into ignorance and moral corruption (1:28). The forms of…
Consistency · General scriptures concerning — General scriptures concerning
Decision · EXHORTATION TO — EXHORTATION TO
Hypocrisy · General scriptures concerning — General scriptures concerning
Mammon · Wealth — Wealth
Rich, The · General scriptures concerning — General scriptures concerning
Worldliness · 1:8;2:1-12;6:11,12;8:15-17;10:19;11:9,10; — 1:8;2:1-12;6:11,12;8:15-17;10:19;11:9,10;

Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).

Word by word — the Greek

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Luke 16:1-18

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Luke 16:13

Adam Clarke on Luke 16:13

John Gill on Luke 16:13

John Calvin on Luke 16:1-16

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

Word by word — the Greek

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Luke 16:1-18

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Luke 16:13

Adam Clarke on Luke 16:13

John Gill on Luke 16:13

John Calvin on Luke 16:1-16

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

Tyndale Open Study Notes on Luke 16:13