- -, B-Greek, [], 20 Jul 2006 Fridolin Janzen: Luke 17:34 says that two men shall be in one "bed" (KLINE). Could "O" (masculine) also refer to a woman? Wouldn't it be strange to have two men sleeping in one bed at the coming of Christ?
- Harold Holmyard: I heard a sermon concerning the reality that even in the U.S. in past generations it was not uncommon for brothers to share the same bed, and for similar situations to exist.
- N.E. Barry Hofstetter: It was quite common in ancient times for people of the same gender to share beds, particularly when traveling. Don't make the mistake of reading modern cultural predilictions into the ancient text...
- Harold Holmyard: The definite article is modifying EIN and hETEROS: "the one" and "the other." I don't think there has to be an emphasis on the gender of the person. The definite article can function as a demonstrative pronoun: "this one," "that one." The word DUO seems to refer to two human beings, without concern for gender. In its generic use the article singles out an individual who is typical of its class, and the class here is person, or human being. So the hO would simply have a generic function, specifying, now one of the persons, now the other. The masculine may function as the default gender when there are no particular details.
- Carl W. Conrad: I would agree with Harold that hO hEIS and hO hETEROS may be generic masculine rather than gender-specific masculine; certainly the gender of the two who are lying in one bed is not the important point here and assumptions of impropriety really are out of place. But certainly the FORMS (hO hEIS, hO hETEROS) are masculine forms.
- Jim West: The scribes seem to have had a problem with the verse- as the definite masculine article you reference is omitted by some very, very reliable textual sources ( NA apparatus ad loc). But, fact is, the reading is difficult, doesn't look like a slip of the eye, and so probably belongs where it is. So what to make of it? Nolland says "probably a man and wife are intended although the terms are all masculine in Greek". I think he's probably right. There's no real need to read into the text here something that may or may not be present; and there's also no need to be so tied to grammatical rules that we don't allow biblical authors a slip every now and again. (see Revelation!).
- David Miller: Note however that verse 35 features two women. Given Luke's predilection for male-female paired examples (Anna and Simeon, the woman with the lost coin, the man with the lost sheep, etc.) a case could be made for two men on stylistic grounds.
Vertaling Bijbel, Kanttekeningen SV, [], Ik zeg u: In dien [33]nacht zullen twee op een bed zijn; de een zal [34]aangenomen, en de ander zal [35]verlaten worden. 33. Namelijk als Christus ten oordeel zal komen. 34. Namelijk van God in genade. 35. Namelijk om rechtvaardig veroordeeld te worden.