Lukas 10:39-40

10:39 She ¹  had a sister named Mary, who sat ²  at the Lord’s feet ³  and listened to what he said. 10:40 But Martha was distracted ⁴  with all the preparations she had to make, ⁵  so ⁶  she came up to him and said, “Lord, don’t you care ⁷  that my sister has left me to do all the work ⁸  alone? Tell ⁹  her to help me.”

¹ tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

² tn This reflexive makes it clear that Mary took the initiative in sitting by Jesus.

³ sn The description of Mary sitting at the Lord’s feet and listening to him makes her sound like a disciple (compare Luke 8:35).

⁴ sn The term distracted means “to be pulled away” by something (L&N 25.238). It is a narrative comment that makes clear who is right in the account.

⁵ tn Grk “with much serving.”

⁶ tn Here δέ (de) has been translated as “so” to indicate that the following was a result of Martha’s distraction.

⁷ tn The negative οὐ (ou) used with the verb expects a positive reply. Martha expected Jesus to respond and rebuke Mary.

⁸ tn Grk “has left me to serve alone.”

⁹ tn The conjunction οὖν (oun, “then, therefore”) has not been translated here.