Lukas 12:38

12:38 Even if he comes in the second or third watch of the night ¹  and finds them alert, ²  blessed are those slaves! ³ 

Lukas 21:26

21:26 People will be fainting from fear ⁴  and from the expectation of what is coming on the world, for the powers of the heavens will be shaken. ⁵ 

Lukas 24:21

24:21 But we had hoped ⁶  that he was the one who was going to redeem ⁷  Israel. Not only this, but it is now the third day since these things happened.

[12:38]  ¹ sn The second or third watch of the night would be between 9 p.m. and 3 a.m. on a Roman schedule and 10 p.m. to 6 a.m. on a Jewish schedule. Luke uses the four-watch schedule of the Romans in Acts 12:4, so that is more probable here. Regardless of the precise times of the watches, however, it is clear that the late-night watches when a person is least alert are in view here.

[12:38]  ² tn Grk “finds (them) thus”; but this has been clarified in the translation by referring to the status (“alert”) mentioned in v. 37.

[12:38]  ³ tn Grk “blessed are they”; the referent (the watchful slaves, v. 37) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[21:26]  ⁴ tn According to L&N 23.184 this could be mainly a psychological experience rather than actual loss of consciousness. It could also refer to complete discouragement because of fear, leading people to give up hope (L&N 25.293).

[21:26]  ⁵ sn An allusion to Isa 34:4. The heavens were seen as the abode of heavenly forces, so their shaking indicates distress in the spiritual realm. Although some take the powers as a reference to bodies in the heavens (like stars and planets, “the heavenly bodies,” NIV) this is not as likely.

[24:21]  ⁶ tn The imperfect verb looks back to the view that they held during Jesus’ past ministry.

[24:21]  ⁷ sn Their messianic hope concerning Jesus is expressed by the phrase who was going to redeem Israel.