Lukas 2:31

2:31 that you have prepared in the presence of all peoples: ¹ 

Lukas 17:6

17:6 So ²  the Lord replied, ³  “If ⁴  you had faith the size of ⁵  a mustard seed, you could say to this black mulberry ⁶  tree, ‘Be pulled out by the roots and planted in the sea,’ ⁷  and it would obey ⁸  you.

[2:31]  ¹ sn Is the phrase all peoples a reference to Israel alone, or to both Israel and the Gentiles? The following verse makes it clear that all peoples includes Gentiles, another key Lukan emphasis (Luke 24:47; Acts 10:34-43).

[17:6]  ² tn Here δέ (de) has been translated as “so” to indicate the implied result of previous action(s) in the narrative.

[17:6]  ³ tn Grk “said.”

[17:6]  ⁴ tn This is a mixed condition, with ἄν (an) in the apodosis.

[17:6]  ⁵ tn Grk “faith as,” “faith like.”

[17:6]  ⁶ sn A black mulberry tree is a deciduous fruit tree that grows about 20 ft (6 m) tall and has black juicy berries. This tree has an extensive root system, so to pull it up would be a major operation.

[17:6]  ⁷ tn The passives here (ἐκριζώθητι and φυτεύθητι, ekrizwqhti and futeuqhti) are probably a circumlocution for God performing the action (the so-called divine passive, see ExSyn 437-38). The issue is not the amount of faith (which in the example is only very tiny), but its presence, which can accomplish impossible things. To cause a tree to be uprooted and planted in the sea is impossible. The expression is a rhetorical idiom. It is like saying a camel can go through the eye of a needle (Luke 18:25).

[17:6]  ⁸ tn The verb is aorist, though it looks at a future event, another rhetorical touch to communicate certainty of the effect of faith.