Luke 17:6 Explained in Context

Selected verse

Verse 6. And the Lord said, If ye had faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye might say unto this sycamine tree, Be thou plucked up by the root, and be thou planted in the sea; and it should obey you.

King James Version — public domain in the United States · Bible text and permissions

Quick Meaning

Luke 17:6 uses mustard-seed and tree imagery for faith without making spectacle its measure.

Read It With

Luke 17:5–17:10

Read Luke 17:6 with 17:5–17:10. In isolation, this contribution—uses mustard-seed and tree imagery for faith without making spectacle its measure—can be detached from its speaker, audience, scene or teaching sequence, and outcome. The complete unit establishes: The apostles ask for greater faith; Jesus answers with mustard-seed imagery, then pictures enslaved household labor to deny servants a claim that duty places the master in debt.

Why This Verse Appears Here

Luke 17:6 uses mustard-seed and tree imagery for faith without making spectacle its measure. This precise contribution belongs inside “Faithful Service Is Not Leverage over God” because The apostles ask for greater faith; Jesus answers with mustard-seed imagery, then pictures enslaved household labor to deny servants a claim that duty places the master in debt.

Follow the Context

Identify the actors, setting, and initiating speech or action in Luke 17:5–17:10.
The apostles ask for greater faith; Jesus answers with mustard-seed imagery, then pictures enslaved household labor to deny servants a claim that duty places the master in debt.
Hold this material interpretive limit in view: The slavery illustration reflects an oppressive ancient institution without endorsing it. 'Unprofitable servants' concerns merit and entitlement, not human worth or permission for exploitation.

What This Verse Is Not Saying

This verse does not detach its specific contribution—uses mustard-seed and tree imagery for faith without making spectacle its measure—from the complete unit or override the unit's explicit boundary: The sayings do not endorse slavery, demean workers, authorize abusive leaders, measure faith by spectacle, or erase gratitude and fair treatment.

What Remains True

Luke 17:6 uses mustard-seed and tree imagery for faith without making spectacle its measure. Read inside Luke 17:5–17:10, this contribution supports the unit's proportionate truth: The apostles ask for greater faith; Jesus answers with mustard-seed imagery, then pictures enslaved household labor to deny servants a claim that duty places the master in debt. Its use remains accountable to affected people and the unit's explicit boundary.

How It Can Shape Life

Luke 17:6 uses mustard-seed and tree imagery for faith without making spectacle its measure. Its faithful response is proportionate to that role: Practice ordinary faithfulness without treating service as leverage over God; leaders must not use servant language to deny dignity, rest, wages, or gratitude.

Teach It Back

Explain Luke 17:6's specific contribution to Luke 17:5–17:10: uses mustard-seed and tree imagery for faith without making spectacle its measure. Include the preceding and following movement, one source-controlled uncertainty, one affected person or group, and what the verse does not authorize.

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Continue in Context

The full thought-unit study remains the final contextual authority for this Verse Lens.

Read Luke 17:5–17:10 — Faithful Service Is Not Leverage over God

Sources used for this Verse Lens

How certain is this explanation? probable

These are the sources used directly for this lens. Language, grammar, disagreements, and the complete source shelf remain attached to the full thought-unit research record.

Biblical text

King James (Authorized) Version — eng-kjv2006

eBible.org and CrossWire Bible Society

USFM archive eng-kjv2006_usfm.zip; source files dated 2026-08-19; downloaded 2026-08-24; archive SHA-256 aec1b3b26c622fd3d963d2bbac963016b9513246ffbfa20da00bb100372ea007; normalized corpus SHA-256 09aef51d90488aa7b9722b3fd9a93f4b25f6bf2064c5fd798fb39673c300ddf2.

Supports: Exact displayed KJV wording, verse order, paragraph metadata, supplied-word markup, and coverage.

Exact location: Luke 17:5–17:10, pinned eng-kjv2006 USFM-derived repository corpus

Open source ↗

Greek textual evidence

The Greek New Testament: SBL Edition

Michael W. Holmes, editor; Society of Biblical Literature and Logos

Society of Biblical Literature and Logos Bible Software, 2010

Supports: Greek wording and sentence relations; the edition is not treated as a complete apparatus.

Exact location: Faithlife SBLGNT official repository, data/sblgnt/text/Luke.txt, 17:5–17:10

Open the Luke Greek text file ↗

open translation and translator notes

NET Bible First Edition Notes: Luke

Biblical Studies Press

Biblical Studies Press, 2006

Supports: Verse-level translation, syntax, KJV-language clarification, historical notes, Synoptic parallels, and textual alternatives.

Exact location: NET Bible First Edition Luke PDF, exact tn/tc/sn entries attached to Luke 17:5–17:10

Open source ↗

Open the complete thought-unit research record