Luke 10:2

Bible in Basic English (1941)

And he said to them, There is much grain ready to be cut, but not enough workers: so make prayer to the Lord of the grain-fields that he will send workers to get in the grain.

📖 Grammatical Analysis

Original Text

Ἔλεγεν οὖν πρὸς αὐτούς, Ὁ μὲν θερισμὸς πολύς, οἱ δὲ ἐργάται ὀλίγοι: δεήθητε οὖν τοῦ Κυρίου τοῦ θερισμοῦ, ὅπως ἐκβάλλῃ ἐργάτας εἰς τὸν θερισμὸν αὐτοῦ.

Transliteration

Elegen oun pros them, The men therismos polys, the de ergatai oligoi: deēthēte oun of the Kyriou of the therismou, hopōs ekballē ergatas into the therismon of him.

Grammar Details

• *Elegen*: imperfect active indicative, 3rd singular - was saying/kept saying
• *oun*: inferential conjunction - therefore/so
• *pros*: preposition + accusative - to/toward
• *men*: postpositive particle marking contrast with *de* - on one hand
• *therismos*: nominative, masculine, singular - harvest
• *polys*: nominative, masculine, singular - much/great/abundant
• *de*: postpositive conjunction marking contrast with *men* - but/and/on the other hand
• *ergatai*: nominative, masculine, plural - workers/laborers
• *oligoi*: nominative, masculine, plural - few/little
• *deēthēte*: aorist passive imperative, 2nd plural - request/beseech/pray to
• *Kyriou*: genitive, masculine, singular - Lord/Master
• *therismou*: genitive, masculine, singular - harvest
• *hopōs*: conjunction + subjunctive - so that/in order that
• *ekballē*: present active subjunctive, 3rd singular - send out/thrust out
• *ergatas*: accusative, masculine, plural - workers/laborers
• *therismon*: accusative, masculine, singular - harvest

Word Meanings

• *Elegen*: was saying/kept saying/continued to say
• *pros*: to/toward/with
• *therismos*: harvest/crop/reaping
• *polys*: much/great/abundant/plentiful
• *ergatai*: workers/laborers/those who work
• *deēthēte*: request/beseech/pray to/ask earnestly
• *Kyriou*: Lord/Master/Owner
• *ekballē*: send out/thrust out/drive out/push out

Referenced Verses

• Matt 9:36-38 : 36 But when he saw all the people he was moved with pity for them, because they were troubled and wandering like sheep without a keeper. 37 Then he said to his disciples, There is much grain but not enough men to get it in. 38 Make prayer, then, to the Lord of the grain-fields, that he may send out workers to get in his grain.
• 1 Tim 4:10 : 10 And this is the purpose of all our work and our fighting, because our hope is in the living God, who is the Saviour of all men, and specially of those who have faith.
• 1 Tim 4:15-16 : 15 Have a care for these things; give yourself to them with all your heart, so that all may see how you go forward. 16 Give attention to yourself and your teaching. Go on in these things; for in doing so you will get salvation for yourself and for those who give hearing to you.
• 2 Thess 3:1 : 1 For the rest, my brothers, let there be prayer for us that the word of the Lord may go forward with increasing glory, even as it does with you;
• 1 Tim 1:12-14 : 12 I give praise to him who gave me power, Christ Jesus our Lord, because he took me to be true, making me his servant, 13 Though I had said violent words against God, and done cruel acts, causing great trouble: but I was given mercy, because I did it without knowledge, not having faith; 14 And the grace of our Lord was very great, with faith and love which is in Christ Jesus.
• 1 Cor 3:6-9 : 6 I did the planting, Apollos did the watering, but God gave the increase. 7 So then the planter is nothing, and the waterer is nothing; but God who gives the increase. 8 Now the planter and the waterer are working for the same end: but they will have their separate rewards in the measure of their work. 9 For we are workers with God: you are God's planting, God's building.
• Mark 16:15 : 15 And he said to them, Go into all the world, and give the good news to everyone.
• Jer 3:15 : 15 And I will give you keepers, pleasing to my heart, who will give you your food with knowledge and wisdom.
• Ezek 34:2-6 : 2 Son of man, be a prophet against the keepers of the flock of Israel, and say to them, O keepers of the sheep! this is the word of the Lord: A curse is on the keepers of the flock of Israel who take the food for themselves! is it not right for the keepers to give the food to the sheep? 3 You take the milk and are clothed with the wool, you put the fat beasts to death, but you give the sheep no food. 4 You have not made the diseased ones strong or made well that which was ill; you have not put bands on the broken or got back that which had been sent away or made search for the wandering ones; and the strong you have been ruling cruelly. 5 And they were wandering in every direction because there was no keeper: and they became food for all the beasts of the field. 6 And my sheep went out of the way, wandering through all the mountains and on every high hill: my sheep went here and there over all the face of the earth; and no one was troubled about them or went in search of them.
• John 4:35-38 : 35 You would say, Four months from now is the time of the grain-cutting. Take a look, I say to you, at the fields; they are even now white for cutting. 36 He who does the cutting now has his reward; he is getting together fruit for eternal life, so that he who did the planting and he who gets in the grain may have joy together. 37 In this the saying is a true one, One does the planting, and another gets in the grain. 38 I sent you to get in grain which you had no hand in planting: other men did that work, and you take the reward.
• 1 Thess 5:12 : 12 But we make this request to you, my brothers: give attention to those who are working among you, who are over you in the Lord to keep order among you;
• 1 Tim 5:17-18 : 17 Let rulers whose rule is good be honoured twice over, specially those whose work is preaching and teaching. 18 For the Writings say, It is not right to keep the ox from taking the grain when he is crushing it. And, The worker has a right to his reward.
• 2 Tim 2:3-6 : 3 Be ready to do without the comforts of life, as one of the army of Christ Jesus. 4 A fighting man, when he is with the army, keeps himself free from the business of this life so that he may be pleasing to him who has taken him into his army. 5 And if a man takes part in a competition he does not get the crown if he has not kept the rules. 6 It is right for the worker in the fields to be the first to take of the fruit.
• 2 Tim 4:5 : 5 But be self-controlled in all things, do without comfort, go on preaching the good news, completing the work which has been given you to do.
• Phlm 1:1 : 1 Paul, a prisoner of Jesus Christ, and Timothy our brother, to Philemon, our dear helper in the faith,
• Heb 3:6 : 6 But Christ as a son, over his house; whose house are we, if we keep our hearts fixed in the glad and certain hope till the end.
• Rev 2:1 : 1 To the angel of the church in Ephesus say: These things says he who has the seven stars in his right hand, who is walking in the middle of the seven gold lights:
• Acts 8:4 : 4 But those who had gone in flight went everywhere preaching the word.
• Acts 11:19 : 19 Then those who had gone away at the time of the trouble about Stephen, went as far as Phoenicia and Cyprus, preaching to the Jews only.
• Acts 13:2 : 2 And while they were doing the Lord's work, and going without food, the Holy Spirit said, Let Barnabas and Saul be given to me for the special work for which they have been marked out by me.
• Acts 13:4 : 4 So, being sent out by the Holy Spirit, they went down to Seleucia; and from there they went by ship to Cyprus.
• Acts 16:9-9 : 9 And Paul had a vision in the night; a man of Macedonia came, requesting him, and saying, Come over into Macedonia and give us help. 10 And when he had seen the vision, straight away we made the decision to go into Macedonia, for it seemed certain to us that God had sent us to give the good news to them.
• Acts 20:28 : 28 Give attention to yourselves, and to all the flock which the Holy Spirit has given into your care, to give food to the church of God, for which he gave his blood.
• Zech 11:5 : 5 Whose owners put them to death and have no sense of sin; and those who get a price for them say, May the Lord be praised for I have much wealth: and the keepers of the flock have no pity for them.
• Zech 11:17 : 17 A curse on the foolish keeper who goes away from the flock! the sword will be on his arm and on his right eye: his arm will become quite dry and his eye will be made completely dark.
• Num 11:17 : 17 And I will come down and have talk with you there: and I will take some of the spirit which is on you and put it on them, and they will take part of the weight of the people off you, so that you do not have to take it by yourself.
• Num 11:29 : 29 And Moses said to him, Are you moved by envy on my account? If only all the Lord's people were prophets, and the Lord might put his spirit on them!
• 1 Kgs 18:22 : 22 Then Elijah said to the people, I, even I, am the only living prophet of the Lord; but Baal's prophets are four hundred and fifty men.
• 1 Kgs 22:6-8 : 6 So the king of Israel got all the prophets together, about four hundred men, and said to them, Am I to go to Ramoth-gilead to make war or not? And they said, Go up: for the Lord will give it into the hands of the king. 7 But Jehoshaphat said, Is there no other prophet of the Lord here from whom we may get directions? 8 And the king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, There is still one man by whom we may get directions from the Lord, Micaiah, son of Imlah; but I have no love for him, for he is a prophet of evil to me and not of good. And Jehoshaphat said, Let not the king say so.
• Ps 68:11 : 11 The Lord gives the word; great is the number of the women who make it public.
• Isa 56:9-9 : 9 All you beasts of the field, come together for your meat, even all you beasts of the wood. 10 His watchmen are blind, they are all without knowledge; they are all dogs without tongues, unable to make a sound; stretched out dreaming, loving sleep. 11 Yes, the dogs are for ever looking for food; while these, the keepers of the sheep, are without wisdom: they have all gone after their pleasure, every one looking for profit; they are all the same. 12 Come, they say, I will get wine, and we will take strong drink in full measure; and tomorrow will be like today, full of pleasure.
• Mark 16:20 : 20 And they went out, preaching everywhere, the Lord working with them, and giving witness to the word by the signs which came after. So be it.
• Luke 9:1 : 1 And getting the twelve together, he gave them power and authority over all evil spirits and over diseases, to make them well.
• Matt 20:1 : 1 For the kingdom of heaven is like the master of a house, who went out early in the morning to get workers into his vine-garden.
• Mark 13:34 : 34 It is as when a man who is in another country for a time, having gone away from his house, and given authority to his servants and to everyone his work, gives the porter an order to keep watch.
• Acts 26:15-18 : 15 And I said, Who are you, Lord? And the Lord said, I am Jesus, whom you are attacking. 16 But get up on your feet: for I have come to you for this purpose, to make you a servant and a witness of the things in which you have seen me, and of those in which you will see me; 17 And I will keep you safe from the people, and from the Gentiles, to whom I send you, 18 To make their eyes open, turning them from the dark to the light, and from the power of Satan to God, so that they may have forgiveness of sins and a heritage among those who are made holy by faith in me.
• 1 Thess 2:9 : 9 For you have the memory, my brothers, of our trouble and care; how, working night and day, so that we might not be a trouble to any of you, we gave you the good news of God.
• 1 Cor 12:28 : 28 And God has put some in the church, first, Apostles; second, prophets; third, teachers; then those with wonder-working powers, then those with the power of taking away disease, helpers, wise guides, users of strange tongues.
• 1 Cor 15:10 : 10 But by the grace of God, I am what I am: and his grace which was given to me has not been for nothing; for I did more work than all of them; though not I, but the grace of God which was with me.
• 2 Cor 6:1 : 1 We then, working together with God, make our request to you not to take the grace of God to no purpose.
• Eph 4:7-9 : 7 But to every one of us has grace been given in the measure of the giving of Christ. 8 For this reason he says, He went up on high, taking his prisoners with him, and gave freely to men. 9 (Now this, He went up, what is it but that he first went down into the lower parts of the earth? 10 He who went down is the same who went up far over all the heavens so that he might make all things complete.) 11 And he gave some as Apostles, and some, prophets; and some, preachers of the good news; and some to give care and teaching; 12 For the training of the saints as servants in the church, for the building up of the body of Christ:
• Phil 2:21 : 21 For they all go after what is theirs, not after the things of Christ.
• Phil 2:25 : 25 But it seemed to me necessary to send to you Epaphroditus, my brother, who has taken part with me in the work and in the fight, and your servant, sent by you for help in my need;
• Phil 2:30 : 30 Because for the work of Christ he was near to death, putting his life in danger to make your care for me complete.
• Col 1:29 : 29 And for this purpose I am working, using all my strength by the help of his power which is working in me strongly.
• Col 4:12 : 12 Epaphras, who is one of you, a servant of Christ Jesus, sends you his love, ever taking thought for you in his prayers, that you may be complete and fully certain of all the purpose of God.
• Acts 22:21 : 21 And he said to me, Go, for I will send you far away to the Gentiles.
• Rev 11:2-3 : 2 But do not take the measure of the space outside the house; because it has been given to the nations: and the holy town will be under their feet for forty-two months. 3 And I will give orders to my two witnesses, and they will be prophets for a thousand, two hundred and sixty days, clothed with haircloth.