Luke Chapter 14 verse 28 Holy Bible
For which of you, desiring to build a tower, doth not first sit down and count the cost, whether he have `wherewith' to complete it?
read chapter 14 in ASV
For which of you, desiring to put up a tower, does not first give much thought to the price, if he will have enough to make it complete?
read chapter 14 in BBE
For which of you, desirous of building a tower, does not first sit down and count the cost, if he have what [is needed] to complete it;
read chapter 14 in DARBY
For which of you, intending to build a tower, sitteth not down first, and counteth the cost, whether he have sufficient to finish it?
read chapter 14 in KJV
read chapter 14 in WBT
For which of you, desiring to build a tower, doesn't first sit down and count the cost, to see if he has enough to complete it?
read chapter 14 in WEB
`For who of you, willing to build a tower, doth not first, having sat down, count the expense, whether he have the things for completing?
read chapter 14 in YLT
Pulpit Commentary
Pulpit CommentaryVerses 28-30. - For which of you, intending to build a tower, sitteth not down first, and counteth the cost, whether he have sufficient to finish it? Lest haply, after he hath laid the foundation, and is not able to finish it, all that behold it begin to mock him, saying, This man began to build, and was not able to finish. The imagery was not an unfamiliar one in those days. The magnificent Herodian house had a passion for erecting great buildings, sacred and profane, in the varied cities under their sway. They would doubtless be often imitated, and no doubt many an unfinished edifice testified to the foolish emulation of some would-be imitator of the extravagant royal house. Now, such incomplete piles of masonry and brickwork simply excite a contemptuous pity for the builder, who has so falsely calculated his resources when he drew the plan of the palace or villa he was never able to finish. So in the spiritual life, the would-be professor finds such living harder than he supposed, and so gives up trying after the nobler way of living altogether; and the world, who watched his feeble efforts and listened with an incredulous smile when he proclaimed his intentions, now ridicules him, and pours scorn upon what it considers an unattainable ideal. Such an attempt and failure injure the cause of God.
Ellicott's Commentary
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers(28-30) Which of you, intending to build a tower . .?--The words do not depend for their meaning on any local or personal allusion, but it is quite possible that their force may have been heightened for those who heard them by the memory of recent facts. Pilate had begun to build--certainly an aqueduct, probably a tower--and had not been able to finish. (See Notes on Luke 13:4; Matthew 27:16.) He had not "counted the cost," and when he was hindered from laying hands on the Corban, or treasure of the Temple, his resources failed.
