A Bible reader sent the following question to the Indonesian Bible Institute:
After reading Luke 16:9, there are a few things I would like to ask.
- Who is meant by I in verse 9? Is it the Lord Jesus?
- What does Mammon mean?
- What does the saying in verse 9 mean to bind friendship with honest Mammon? What is the meaning of “eternal tabernacle? ”
Answer:
Luke 6:9, which reads according to the New International Version (TB2) as follows:
I tell you, make friendship with the dishonest mammon, so that when it is no longer able to help you, you may be admitted to the eternal tabernacle.
The word "I" is the Greek translation of ego, which can indeed be interpreted as "I" or "me." In this case, the translation by the Indonesian Bible Institute (LA) is in accordance with the source text. Although the word ego does not refer to Jesus directly, it is implied that the word "I" is a pronoun for "Jesus".
The word "mamon" we translated directly from the Greek mamonawhich means "possessions and wealth that are imagined as (evil) persons. The meaning of the word mammonmore in-depth can be found in the "Bible Dictionary".
Luke 16:9 is more easily understood in the 1985 LAI Modern Indonesian Version (BIMK) of the Bible. As explained in the previous sections, this Bible avoids theological language and terms as much as possible in favour of common and communicative Indonesian. The aim is for today's readers to understand the text of the Bible in the same way that early readers or listeners understood the text of the Bible's source language.
In the BIMK Bible, Luke 16:9 reads: Then Jesus spoke again, saying, ”Listen, use the riches of this world to gain friends, so that when the riches of this world are no longer valuable, you will be received into eternal dwellings.“Thus, the phrase “bind friendship with dishonest mammon” means that we should use the wealth of the world to make friends. .
While the word “eternal tent” or “eternal abode” is a metaphor for the word “heaven”.
