But Martha was distracted with much serving, and she came up to him, and said, “Lord, don’t you care that my sister left me to serve alone? Ask her therefore to help me.”
Parallel Translations
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But Martha was distracted with much serving, and she came up to him, and said, “Lord, don’t you care that my sister left me to serve alone? Ask her therefore to help me.”
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And Martha was combred about moche servinge and stode and sayde: Master doest thou not care that my sister hath leeft me to minister alone? Byd her therfore that she helpe me.
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But Martha was combred about much seruing, and came to him, and saide, Master, doest thou not care that my sister hath left me to serue alone? bid her therefore, that she helpe me.
Cross-references (7)
Passages linked to Luke 10:40 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- John 6:27 Don’t work for the food which perishes, but for the food which remains to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give to you. For God the Father has sealed him.”
- Luke 12:29 Don’t seek what you will eat or what you will drink; neither be anxious.
- Matthew 14:15 When evening had come, his disciples came to him, saying, “This place is deserted, and the hour is already late. Send the multitudes away, that they may go into the villages, and buy themselves food.”
- Matthew 16:22 Peter took him aside, and began to rebuke him, saying, “Far be it from you, Lord! This will never be done to you.”
- Jonah 4:1-4 But it displeased Jonah exceedingly, and he was angry. He prayed to Yahweh, and said, “Please, Yahweh, wasn’t this what I said when I was still in my own country? Therefore I hurried to flee to Tarshish, for I knew that you are a gracious God, and merciful, slow to anger, and abundant in loving kindness, and you relent of doing harm. Therefore now, Yahweh, take, I beg you, my life from me; for it is better for me to die than to live.” Yahweh said, “Is it right for you to be angry?”
- Mark 3:21 When his friends heard it, they went out to seize him; for they said, “He is insane.”
- Luke 9:55 But he turned and rebuked them, “You don’t know of what kind of spirit you are.
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this verse (16 sources)
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John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain 40 But Martha was cumbered about much serving, and…
40 But Martha was cumbered about much serving, and came to him, and said, Lord, dost thou not care that my sister hath left me to serve alone? bid her therefore that she help me.
Ver. 40. Martha was cumbered] Diversely distracted, περιεσπατο. In multitude of worldly business, the soul is like a mill, where one cannot hear another, the noise is such as taketh away all intercourse. We should look at the world but only cut at the eye’s end, as it were.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain Two things are blameable in Martha:
Two things are blameable in Martha:
1. That she made too much ado about the entertainment of our Saviour. That she entertained our Saviour she did well; but herein she erred, that she made her entertainment of him so troublesome, as it would not give her leave to take that advantage, which she might, or ought to have done, from the entertainment of a prophet.
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2. That she is displeased with her sister because she would not lend her hand, but chose rather to sit at Christ’s feet and hear his word, and desireth Christ to send her away to her assistance.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
William Burkitt 1703 · Public Domain Observe here, 1. Martha’s behavior: She was cumbered about…
Observe here, 1. Martha’s behavior: She was cumbered about much serving; that is, much taken up with providing for the entertainment of Christ and his friends; all which considered in itself was no miscarriage, but a token of Martha’s endeared respect to her best Friend.
A person that sincerely loves Christ as Martha did, thinks he can never show enough of respect unto him. Martha having such a guest to honor her house, puts forth herself all she can, yea, more than she was able, to give him entertainment: She was cumbered about much serving.
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Observe, 2. Martha’s complaint to Christ concerning her sister’s not joining with her in the work that lay so hard upon her: Lord, dost thou not care that my sister hath left me to serve alone? Bid her therefore that she help me: as if Martha had said, is it a fit thing that both thyself, and all this company, should be unprovided for? Or is it reasonable that the whole burden should lie upon me, while Mary sits still, and does not touch the least household business with one of her fingers?
Lord, what infirmity and weakness intermixes and mingles with the virtues and graces of the best of thy servants, especially when they give way to their distempered passions!
This good woman at this time did not attend upon Christ’s preaching herself, but interrupts him with a frivolous complaint about her sister: Bid her that she help me.
But why did not Martha speak to her sister herself, and whisper in her ear, and acquaint her how she wanted her help, but makes her moan to Christ?
Answer, it is like she thought her sister was so tied by the ear with those adamantine chains of Christ’s heavenly doctrine, that until Christ was silent she had no power to stir; doubtless she believed that Mary would not move unless Christ spoke to her so to do.
Observe, 3. That all this while Mary speaks not one word for herself: no doubt it troubled her, good woman, to hear her sister complain of her to Christ, and find herself blamed for her piety, and implicitly condemned for laying hold upon such a sweet opportunity of hearing the beloved of her soul whose lips dropped as the honey-comb; however, she speaks not a word in her own vindication, but leaves her answer to her Saviour.
Learn thence, that when we are complained of for well doing, it is our duty, and may it be our prudence, to seal up our lips in silence, and to expect our vindication from above. Mary says nothing, but Christ speaks for her in the next verses.
William Burkitt's Expository Notes on the New Testament (1700–1703) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain And Jesus answered and said unto her,.... Calling her…
And Jesus answered and said unto her,.... Calling her by her name, and repeating it, Martha, Martha, which expresses great intimacy and friendship, and much earnestness, and, as it were, pitying her present situation and circumstances:
thou art careful and troubled about many things; intimating, that she was over anxious, and too solicitous, and more thoughtful and careful than she need be: he did not require such preparations for him, and so much attendance; she gave herself an unnecessary trouble in providing so many things for his entertainment, when less would have sufficed; so that instead of joining with her in her request, he reproves her for her over anxious care and solicitude, to have a nice and plentiful feast. The Persic version gives a sense quite contrary to the design of the text, rendering the words thus, "thou art adorned in all things, and hast the preference above many women".
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain Martha was encumbered - The Greek word properly signifies…
Martha was encumbered - The Greek word properly signifies to be drawn different ways at the same time, and admirably expresses the situation of a mind, surrounded (as Martha's then was) with so many objects of care, that it hardly knows which to attend to first.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain Verse 40. Martha was cumbered] περιεσπατο, perplexed, from περι,…
Verse 40. Martha was cumbered] περιεσπατο, perplexed, from περι, about, and σπαω, I draw. She was harassed with different cares and employments at the same time; one drawing one way, and another, another: a proper description of a worldly mind. But in Martha's favour it may be justly said, that all her anxiety was to provide suitable and timely entertainment for our Lord and his disciples; for this is the sense in which the word διακοςιας, serving, should be taken. And we should not, on the merest supposition, attribute earthly-mindedness to a woman whose character stands unimpeachable in the Gospel; and who, by entertaining Christ and his disciples, and providing liberally for them, gave the highest proof that she was influenced by liberality and benevolence, and not by parsimony or covetousness.
Dost thou not care] Dost thou not think it wrong, that my sister thus leaves me to provide and prepare this supper, alone?
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Help me.] συναντιλαβηται, from συν, together, and αντιλαμβανομαι, to support. The idea is taken from two pillars meeting together at the top, exactly over the centre of the distance between their bases, and thus mutually supporting each other. Order her to unite her skill and strength with mine, that the present business may be done with that speed and in that order which the necessity and importance of the case demand.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain Martha was cumbered about much serving - Was much…
Martha was cumbered about much serving - Was much distracted with the cares of the family, and providing suitably to entertain the Saviour. It should be said here that there is no evidence that Martha had a worldly or covetous disposition. Her anxiety was to provide suitable entertainment for the Lord Jesus. As mistress of the family, this care properly devolved on her; and the only fault which can be charged on her was too earnest a desire to make such entertainment, when she might have sat with Mary at his feet, and, perhaps, too much haste and fretfulness in speaking to Jesus about Mary.
Dost thou not care ... - This was an improper reproof of our Lord, as if “he” encouraged Mary in neglecting her duty. Or perhaps Martha supposed that Mary was sitting there to show him the proper expressions of courtesy and kindness, and that she would not think it proper to leave him without his direction and permission. She therefore “hinted” to Jesus her busy employments, her need of the aid of her sister, and requested that he would signify his wish that Mary should assist her.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain Calvin here ridicules the professors of evangelical poverty, because…
Calvin here ridicules the professors of evangelical poverty, because they gather from this place that there are two states of life, viz. the active and the contemplative, figured by Martha and Mary. But what will he answer, when he is informed, that this is the opinion not merely of monks, but even of a St. Augustine, (Serm. xxvii. De verbis Domini,) of a St. Jerome, (Com. 3 cap. of Jeremiah,) of a St. Gregory, and many others? Not that they were ignorant that there was another more natural explanation; but they were of opinion that nothing could be found more proper for the illustration of these different states of life. (Maldonatus)
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain came to him--"presented herself before Him," as from another…
cumbered--"distracted."
came to him--"presented herself before Him," as from another apartment, in which her sister had "left her to serve (or make preparation) alone."
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carest thou not . . . my sister, &c.--"Lord, here am I with everything to do, and this sister of mine will not lay a hand to anything; thus I miss something from Thy lips, and Thou from our hands."
bid her, &c.--She presumes not to stop Christ's teaching by calling her sister away, and thus leaving Him without His one auditor, nor did she hope perhaps to succeed if she had tried.
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain 40. Cumbered—Her mind was not only occupied, but disturbed…
40. Cumbered—Her mind was not only occupied, but disturbed and
distracted. Much serving—The preparations of the apartments for her guest; furnishings, and feastings, and lodging. This was to honour him, but in a very physical way. To provide amply for her Lord was her duty, and practical proof of her love and faith, (as attested in Joh_11:20-28;) but there was a way more truly to honour him than by considering him as an epicure who had come for a banquet. Mary better understood that the Son of God sojourned but briefly upon earth, and that he devoted these few hours to their quiet home for higher purposes than the appetites of the table. Lord,
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dost thou not care?—Now, this is a nervous lady; and hers is a sharp, nay, a two-edged speech. It cuts Mary, and it cuts our Lord. Dost thou not care? This seems to mean that lazy Mary shirks, while Jesus, who ought to prevent, is indulging her.
Hath left me—That is, she aided Martha for a while, until, perhaps, a sense of divine propriety said, “Enough; to provide more were an overdoing which he would blame;” and then she left, satisfied that she honoured the Lord more, and that she fulfilled the purpose of his visit better, by listening to the truths of the great Teacher than by providing a luxurious banquet or superabundant furnishings.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain 40. cumbered about much serving] The word for “cumbered”…
40. cumbered about much serving] The word for “cumbered” literally means ‘was being dragged in different directions,’ i.e. was distracted (1Co_7:35). She was anxious to give her Lord a most hospitable reception, and was vexed at the contemplative humility which she regarded as slothfulness.
came to him] Rather, but suddenly coming up (Luk_20:1; Act_23:27). We see in this inimitable touch the little petulant outburst of jealousy in the loving, busy matron, as she hurried in with the words, “Why is Mary sitting there doing nothing?”
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left me] The Greek word means ‘left me alone in the middle of my work’ to come and listen to you.
bid her therefore that she help me] We almost seem to hear the undertone of ‘It is no use for me to tell her.’ Doubtless, had she been less ‘fretted’ (θορυβάζῃ), she would have felt that to leave her. alone and withdraw into the background while this eager hospitality was going on was the kindest and most unselfish thing which Mary could do.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain (40) Martha was cumbered.—Literally, was distracted; drawn hither and…
(40) Martha was cumbered.—Literally, was distracted; drawn hither and thither by conflicting cares.
About much serving.—We may probably infer from this that our Lord had been invited as an honoured guest, and that Mary had been asked to meet Him; and, so far, the narrative agrees with what is suggested by the narrative of John 11 as to the social position of the household at Bethany. The use of a like word in Luk_12:42 suggests that this also may have passed from the abstract to the concrete sense, and have been used for a household of many servants as well as for the act of serving.
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Came to him.—The Greek word implies something like a hasty movement to interrupt the calm tenor of the Lord’s discourse. The hasty vehement complaint that follows is quite in keeping with this.
That she help me.—More literally, that she join in helping.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain Came to him. Dr. Farrar very happily seizes the…
Came to him. Dr. Farrar very happily seizes the tone and temper of Martha. He renders the Greek words here, "but suddenly coming up." We see in this inimitable touch the little petulant outburst of jealousy in the loving, busy matron, as she hurried in with the words, "Why is Mary sitting there doing nothing?" Bid her therefore that she help me. "We almost seem to hear the undertone of "It is no use for me to tell her." Doubtless, had she been less" fretted," she would have felt that to leave her (Martha) alone and withdraw into the background while this eager hospitality was going on, was the kindest and most unselfish thing which Mary could do."
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
B. W. Johnson 1891 · Public Domain 40. Dost thou not care? Her sister seemed to…
40. Dost thou not care? Her sister seemed to her negligent and selfish, when her apparent neglect was do to the absorption in the truth.
B. W. Johnson's The People's New Testament with Notes (1889–1891) — public domain. Electronic text from the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (CCEL) ThML edition.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 overly busy
overly busy
"very busy" or "too busy"
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do you not care ... alone?
Martha is complaining that the Lord is allowing Mary to sit listening to him when there is so much work to do. She respects the Lord, so she uses a rhetorical question to make her complaint more polite. AT: "it seems like you do not care ... alone." (See: Rhetorical Question)
Martha, Martha
Jesus repeats Martha's name for emphasis. AT: "Dear Martha" or "You, Martha"
only one thing is necessary
Jesus is contrasting what Mary is doing with what Martha is doing. It may be helpful to make this explicit. AT: "the only thing that is really necessary is to listen to my teaching" or "listening to my teaching is more necessary than preparing a meal" (See: Assumed Knowledge and Implicit Information)
which will not be taken away from her
Possible meanings are 1) "I will not take this opportunity away from her" or 2) "she will not lose what she has gained as she was listening to me" (See: Active or Passive)
translationWords
servant
lord
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 10:40 Martha was distracted by the big dinner she…
10:40 Martha was distracted by the big dinner she was preparing: Hospitality was valued highly, and Martha was fulfilling the expected role of a woman. She was frustrated that Mary was not.
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.