In the cleansing of the 10 men ([Luke 17:11-17](./11.md)), there should be an implicit understanding of the structure of this story. It is one unified story. The reaction of the supposedly ungodly Samaritan is correct, while the reaction of the other men was incorrect and it is assumed that they were Jews. (See: [[rc://en/ta/man/translate/figs-explicit]] and [[rc://en/tw/dict/bible/kt/ungodly]])
This chapter uses a series of examples from the Old Testament. All of these examples are of times when the people did not concern themselves with God. Properly understanding the meaning of each individual example will be difficult without the necessary background understanding from the book of Genesis.
#### Important figures of speech in this chapter ####
##### "It would be better" #####
This is a special type of hypothetical situation. In this situation, rather than speaking about a condition or what would happen, it gives an explanation about a hypothetical future situation if the current situation remains unchanged. (See: [[rc://en/ta/man/translate/figs-hypo]])
##### Hypothetical Situations and Rhetorical Situations #####
Jesus uses two figures of speech at the same time in this chapter. He combines a hypothetical situation and rhetorical questions because the proper answer to the hypothetical situation should be obvious. (See: [Luke 17:5-9](./05.md) and [[rc://en/ta/man/translate/figs-rquestion]])
#### Other possible translation difficulties in this chapter ####
This is a statement that seems absurd and appears to contradict itself. A paradox occurs in this chapter: "Whoever seeks to gain his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life will save it" ([Luke 17:33](./32.md)).
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