The following observations can be made on this verse:
- a. There is a discrepancy between the ‘great multitude’ (ὄχλοι πολλοι) in verse 25 and the disciples (μαθητης) in verse 26. The great number of the audience gives the impression that a leader is speaking to his followers rather than a teacher to his disciples. Maybe μαθητης is better translated here as follower or adherent.
- b. This great multitude is male. If we take this element into account, we can translate ὄχλοι πολλοι as ‘many ordinary men’.
Elsewhere I discussed the ‘feeding of the 5000’ fragment, showing that these 5000 were revolutionary soldiers. Verse 26 may be part of Jesus’ speech to the 5000 or to a similar assembly of Galilean recruits.
- c. The μισεῖ verb is traditionally translated as ‘to hate’. It is strange that Jesus asks his followers to hate their parents, as this request is diametrically opposed to his command to honor one’s parents elsewhere in the gospels (following the OT commandment). However, μισέω can also be translated as ‘disfavor, disregard, renounce’, and then this sentence is the simple warning that his recruits will have to abandon their families by leaving their home and livelihood. This is a basic characteristic of the life of a soldier.
- d. The sacrifice is extreme. Considering that Jesus is addressing common people who do not have any significant possessions, Jesus warns them that they should be prepared to sacrifice all they have: their family and their life. This extreme sacrifice, which is summarized in verse 33, fits into a war scenario.
Verses 28-30 read as follows:
(28) “For which of you, desiring to build a tower, does not first sit down and count the cost, whether he has enough to complete it? (29) Otherwise, when he has laid a foundation, and is not able to finish, all who see it begin to mock him, (30) saying, ‘This man began to build, and was not able to finish.’ ”
At first sight these verses seem to be a neutral reflection on foresight, but πυργος (tower) is not a neutral word. A πυργος is a fortified structure, a defensive tower to repel hostile attacks and to enable watchmen to see in every direction (Strong’s 4444). So these verses are about foresight in preparing the war. They are reminiscent of Josephus’s description of his attempts to fortify the Galilean towns and strongholds. The defence of Galilee had to be realized in a short time, so it is not improbable that funds, time or manpower to finish the work lacked. Maybe these verses are a criticism of Josephus, who was responsible for the organization of the defence of Galilee in 66-67 CE.
The next two verses are overtly warlike:
(31) “Or what king, going to encounter another king in war, will not sit down first and take counsel whether he is able with ten thousand to meet him who comes against him with twenty thousand? (32) And if not, while the other is yet a great way off, he sends an embassy and asks terms of peace.”
These verses are a reflection on the desirability of waging war against a powerful enemy. The number of 20,000 for the troops of the enemy may be referring concretely to the war against the Romans. With a number of 5,120 legionaries per legion, the total strength of the Roman army marching against the Jews was 20,480 legionaries (four legions, the auxiliaries left uncounted). The Jews seemed to estimate their strength at half the Romans’.
One could object that the second and third element of this paragraph are critical towards the war. Maybe they can be interpreted as a counterweight aimed at obscuring Jesus’ belligerent speech in the first part. All in all the three parts of this passage are held together by the war theme.
My research has shown that the Jesus of the gospels is the same person as Jesus son of Saphat in Josephus. Josephus describes Jesus son of Saphat as the leader of the pro-war faction in Tiberias. In Life Josephus describes this party as the party of the common people. In this writing Jesus is connected to the multitude (ὄχλος) at least two times. In verse 133 Jesus son of Sapphias, ‘at that time the chief magistrate of Tiberias’ is called ‘the principal instigator of the mob’. Also in verse 277 a large crowd in the synagogue of Tiberias is associated with Jesus, who seems to have the lead of that assembly.
Finally I would like to point to an editing issue. It is remarkable that three verses of this fragment (26, 27 and 33) end with the same phrase ‘cannot be my disciple’ (ού δύναται εἶναι μου μαθητἠς). As the content of verse 33 perfectly connects with verse 26, maybe the original sequence was verse 25-26-33, verse 27 being a later insertion. I reconstruct as follows:
(The sacrifices of the revolutionary soldier)
(25) Now many ordinary men accompanied him; and he turned and said to them, (26) “If any one comes to me and does not disregard his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes and even his own life, he cannot be my follower. [(27)] (33) So therefore, whoever of you does not renounce all that he has cannot be my adherent.”
(Worries about defence)
(28) For which of you, desiring to build a defensive tower, does not first sit down and count the cost, whether he has enough to complete it? (29) Otherwise, when he has laid a foundation, and is not able to finish, all who see it begin to mock him, (30) saying, ‘This man began to build, and was not able to finish.’
(Worries about strength)
(31) Or what king, going to encounter another king in war, will not sit down first and take counsel whether he is able with ten thousand to meet him who comes against him with twenty thousand? (32) And if not, while the other is yet a great way off, he sends an embassy and asks terms of peace.
