Luke 16:3

The manager said to himself, ‘What shall I do, now that my master is taking away my position? I am too weak to dig and too ashamed to beg.

Berean Standard Bible

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Study note

Setting — The manager speaks to himself immediately after his master demands an account of his management and declares he can no longer hold the position.

The words — οἰκονόμος (oikonomos) literally means manager or household steward, while τί ποιήσω (ti poiēsō) translates directly to “what shall I do?”

The thread — The manager’s urgent self-questioning aligns with Proverbs 27:23 on knowing the state of one’s flocks, Esther 6:6 on strategic deliberation before a superior, and Proverbs 13:4 on the contrast between idle craving and diligent action.

Why it lands — The text states a dismissed steward’s recognition of his own weakness and shame before he formulates a plan. It asks a reader to acknowledge the limits of personal ability and the necessity of decisive, pragmatic response when authority is revoked.

Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.

The Greek words

King James Version

Then the steward said within himself, What shall I do? for my lord taketh away from me the stewardship: I cannot dig; to beg I am ashamed.

Cross-references

Proverbs 27:23 Be sure to know the state of your flocks, and pay close attention to your herds;
Esther 6:6 Haman entered, and the king asked him, “What should be done for the man whom the king is delighted to honor?” Now Haman thought to himself, “Whom would the king be delighted to honor more than me?”
Proverbs 13:4 The slacker craves yet has nothing, but the soul of the diligent is fully satisfied.
Proverbs 18:9 Whoever is slothful in his work is brother to him who destroys.
Proverbs 19:15 Laziness brings on deep sleep, and an idle soul will suffer hunger.
Proverbs 20:4 The slacker does not plow in season; at harvest time he looks, but nothing is there.
Proverbs 21:25 The craving of the slacker kills him because his hands refuse to work.
Proverbs 24:30 I went past the field of a slacker and by the vineyard of a man lacking judgment.
Proverbs 26:13 The slacker says, “A lion is in the road! A fierce lion roams the public square!”
Proverbs 29:21 A servant pampered from his youth will bring grief in the end.