Lukas 12:1-2

Fear God, Not People

12:1 Meanwhile, ¹  when many thousands of the crowd had gathered so that they were trampling on one another, Jesus ²  began to speak first to his disciples, “Be on your guard against ³  the yeast of the Pharisees, ⁴  which is hypocrisy. ⁵  12:2 Nothing is hidden ⁶  that will not be revealed, ⁷  and nothing is secret that will not be made known.

Lukas 12:46

12:46 then the master of that slave will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour he does not foresee, and will cut him in two, ⁸  and assign him a place with the unfaithful. ⁹ 

[12:1]  ¹ tn The phrase ἐν οἷς (en Jois) can be translated “meanwhile.”

[12:1]  ² tn Grk “he”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[12:1]  ³ tn According to L&N 27.59, “to pay attention to, to keep on the lookout for, to be alert for, to be on your guard against.” This is another Lukan present imperative calling for constant vigilance.

[12:1]  ⁴ sn See the note on Pharisees in 5:17.

[12:1]  ⁵ sn The pursuit of popularity can lead to hypocrisy, if one is not careful.

[12:2]  ⁶ tn Or “concealed.”

[12:2]  ⁷ sn I.e., be revealed by God. The passive voice verbs here (“be revealed,” be made known”) see the revelation as coming from God. The text is both a warning about bad things being revealed and an encouragement that good things will be made known, though the stress with the images of darkness and what is hidden in vv. 2-3 is on the attempt to conceal.

[12:46]  ⁸ tn The verb διχοτομέω (dicotomew) means to cut an object into two parts (L&N 19.19). This is an extremely severe punishment compared to the other two later punishments. To translate it simply as “punish” is too mild. If taken literally this servant is dismembered, although it is possible to view the stated punishment as hyperbole (L&N 38.12).

[12:46]  ⁹ tn Or “unbelieving.” Here the translation employs the slightly more ambiguous “unfaithful,” which creates a link with the point of the parable – faithfulness versus unfaithfulness in servants. The example of this verse must be taken together with the examples of vv. 47-48 as part of a scale of reactions with the most disobedient response coming here. The fact that this servant is placed in a distinct group, unlike the one in vv. 47-48, also suggests ultimate exclusion. This is the hypocrite of Matt 24:51.