St Luke 10:38-42
Choosing the better part
10:38 Now as they went on their way, he entered a certain village, where a woman named Martha welcomed him into her home.
10:39 She had a sister named Mary, who sat at Jesus’s feet and listened to what he was saying.
10:40 But Martha was distracted by her many tasks, so she came to him and asked, “Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to do all the work by myself? Tell her, then, to help me.”
10:41 But the Lord answered her, “Martha, Martha, you are worried and distracted by many things,
10:42 but few things are needed–indeed only one. Mary has chosen the better part, which will not be taken away from her.”
[38] ᾿Εγένετο δὲ ἐν τῷ πορεύεσθαι αὐτοὺς καὶ αὐτὸς εἰσῆλθεν εἰς κώμην τινά. γυνὴ δέ τις ὀνόματι Μάρθα ὑπεδέξατο αὐτὸν εἰς τὸν οἶκον αὐτῆς.
[39] καὶ τῇδε ἦν ἀδελφὴ καλουμένη Μαρία, ἣ καὶ παρακαθίσασα παρὰ τοὺς πόδας τοῦ ᾿Ιησοῦ ἤκουε τὸν λόγον αὐτοῦ.
[40] ἡ δὲ Μάρθα περιεσπᾶτο περὶ πολλὴν διακονίαν· ἐπιστᾶσα δὲ εἶπε· Κύριε, οὐ μέλει σοι ὅτι ἡ ἀδελφή μου μόνην με κατέλιπε διακονεῖν; εἰπὲ οὖν αὐτῇ ἵνα μοι συναντιλάβηται.
[41] ἀποκριθεὶς δὲ εἶπεν αὐτῇ ὁ ᾿Ιησοῦς· Μάρθα Μάρθα, μεριμνᾷς καὶ τυρβάζῃ περὶ πολλά·
[42] ἑνὸς δέ ἐστι χρεία· Μαρία δὲ τὴν ἀγαθὴν μερίδα ἐξελέξατο, ἥτις οὐκ ἀφαιρεθήσεται ἀπ᾿ αὐτῆς.
Comments
A study in contrasts: Martha serves at table, bustling about and fretting; Mary sits at Jesus’ feet and listens to him; many (mundane) matters vs one (spiritual) matter.
[38] ὑπεδέξατο αὐτὸν: 3rd pers. sg. aor., ὑποδέχομαι, ‘receive into one’s house, welcome’, c. acc. (already in Homer; also cl. Gk: LSJ s.v. I.1).
εἰς τὸν οἶκον αὐτῆς: ‘into her house’. Cl. Gk would use the old locative οἴκοι. In koine the prep. phrase εἰς + acc. (which in cl. Gk indicates motion) tends to replace ‘in’ or ‘at’ (which indicates rest/ position). A minor point, but it shows that St Luke’s Gk includes koine traits, which evolved into modern Gk. The latter would normally use εἰς + acc. > στον, στην, στο + acc.
[40] ἡ δὲ Μάρθα περιεσπᾶτο περὶ πολλὴν διακονίαν: the particle δὲ suggests contrast here: ‘But Martha’, ‘On the other hand, Martha’.
[39] παρακαθίσασα παρὰ τοὺς πόδας τοῦ ᾿Ιησοῦ: lit., ‘after sitting at the feet of Jesus’. The phrase ‘sit at the feet of someone’ (a Septuagintism) has given rise to the English idiom ‘at the feet of’. Cf. ‘She studied theology under X.’ Cf. Deut. 33:3, ‘they sat at thy feet’ and Acts 22:3, Paul was reared ‘at the feet of Gemaliel’. The phrase suggests humility, attentiveness, receptivity, intimacy: παρὰ πόδας in LXX can mean ‘ just next to, close by’ (Muraoka s.v. παρά, ΙΙΙ.b).
περιεσπᾶτο: 3rd pers. sg. impf., pass., περισπάομαι, a cmpd vb, apparently koine: ‘have one’s mind occupied over various matters’ (LXX: Muraoka s.v., 2b). Lit. the vb means ‘to have one’s mind wheel around, spin’. Cf. the etym. related Engl. spasm. περιεσπᾶτο suits Martha’s frenetic multi-tasking διακονία, ‘service’ (cl. Gk prose: LSJ s.v. I.1); more relevant, in NT the basic meaning is that of ‘service as a waiter/ waitress’: EDNT s.v. 2). Martha is busy ‘waitressing’.
ἐπιστᾶσα δὲ: aor. part., fem., ἐφίσταμαι, aor. ἐπέστην, middle vc, intr. sense, ‘stand near’ (already in Homer and cl. Gk:LSJ s.v. B.III.1). ‘Standing near’ contrasts (cf. δὲ) Martha to Mary, who in v. 39 is referred to as παρακαθίσασα (‘sitting near’).
μόνην με κατέλιπε: μόνην, ‘alone, on my own’, is the emphatic first word in the causal clause.
κατέλιπε: aor. 2, 3rd pers. sg., καταλείπω, ‘I leave behind’ (already in Homer: LSJ s.v.); the vb can connote ‘desert, abandon, forsake’(in cl. Gk & LXX). Martha’s language is emphatic and emotional: ‘…my sister has left me to serve ALONE.’
[41] τυρβάζῃ περὶ πολλά: τυρβάζῃ, 2nd pers., sg., pass.of τυρβάζω, ‘I trouble, stir up’ (cl. Gk; not in LXX); cf. Engl. turb-ulent, dis-turb. Jesus too uses emotional language: ‘You are troubled, are stirred up, exercised over many matters.’
[42] ἑνὸς δέ ἐστι χρεία: ἑνὸς, emphatic at the beginning of the sentence, stands in contrast to πολλά, ‘many matters’ (v.41). δέ is contrastive: ‘whereas’. Thus: ‘Whereas of ONE THING there is need.’
τὴν ἀγαθὴν μερίδα ἐξελέξατο: ἐξελέξατο, 3rd pers. sg., aor. ἐκλέγομαι, mid. vc., ‘pick for oneself, choose’ (cl. Gk: LSJ s.v. ἐκλέγω, I.1).
μερίδα: μερίς, fem., ‘portion’, e.g,. of a meal or sacrifice; ‘share’ in many contexts (LXX: Muraoka s.v.).
Insights into Biblical Greek Grammar and Syntax 