Lukas 12:35-38

Call to Faithful Stewardship

12:35 “Get dressed for service ¹  and keep your lamps burning; ²  12:36 be like people ³  waiting for their master to come back from the wedding celebration, ⁴  so that when he comes and knocks they can immediately open the door for him. 12:37 Blessed are those slaves ⁵  whom their master finds alert ⁶  when he returns! I tell you the truth, ⁷  he will dress himself to serve, ⁸  have them take their place at the table, ⁹  and will come ¹⁰  and wait on them! ¹¹  12:38 Even if he comes in the second or third watch of the night ¹²  and finds them alert, ¹³  blessed are those slaves! ¹⁴ 

Kisah Para Rasul 20:8

20:8 (Now there were many lamps ¹⁵  in the upstairs room where we were meeting.) ¹⁶ 

Kisah Para Rasul 4:5

4:5 On the next day, ¹⁷  their rulers, elders, and experts in the law ¹⁸  came together ¹⁹  in Jerusalem. ²⁰ 

[12:35]  ¹ tn Grk “Let your loins be girded,” an idiom referring to the practice of tucking the ends of the long cloak (outer garment) into the belt to shorten it in preparation for activities like running, etc.

[12:35]  ² sn Keep your lamps burning means to be ready at all times.

[12:36]  ³ tn That is, like slaves (who are mentioned later, vv. 37-38), although the term ἀνθρώποις (anqrwpoi") is used here. Since in this context it appears generic rather than gender-specific, the translation “people” is employed.

[12:36]  ⁴ sn An ancient wedding celebration could last for days (Tob 11:18).

[12:37]  ⁵ tn See the note on the word “slave” in 7:2.

[12:37]  ⁶ tn Or “watching”; Grk “awake,” but in context this is not just being awake but alert and looking out.

[12:37]  ⁷ tn Grk “Truly (ἀμήν, amhn), I say to you.”

[12:37]  ⁸ tn See v. 35 (same verb).

[12:37]  ⁹ tn Grk “have them recline at table,” as 1st century middle eastern meals were not eaten while sitting at a table, but while reclining on one’s side on the floor with the head closest to the low table and the feet farthest away.

[12:37]  ¹⁰ tn The participle παρελθών (parelqwn) has been translated as a finite verb due to requirements of contemporary English style.

[12:37]  ¹¹ sn He…will come and wait on them is a reversal of expectation, but shows that what Jesus asks for he is willing to do as well; see John 13:5 and 15:18-27, although those instances merely foreshadow what is in view here.

[12:38]  ¹² 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]  ¹³ 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]  ¹⁴ tn Grk “blessed are they”; the referent (the watchful slaves, v. 37) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[20:8]  ¹⁵ tn More commonly λαμπάς (lampa") means “torch,” but here according to BDAG 585 s.v. λαμπάς 2, “lamp…w. a wick and space for oil.”

[20:8]  ¹⁶ sn This is best taken as a parenthetical note by the author.

[4:5]  ¹⁷ tn Grk “It happened that on the next day.” The introductory phrase ἐγένετο (egeneto, “it happened that”), common in Luke (69 times) and Acts (54 times), is redundant in contemporary English and has not been translated.

[4:5]  ¹⁸ tn Or “and scribes.” The traditional rendering of γραμματεύς (grammateu") as “scribe” does not communicate much to the modern English reader, for whom the term might mean “professional copyist,” if it means anything at all. The people referred to here were recognized experts in the law of Moses and in traditional laws and regulations. Thus “expert in the law” comes closer to the meaning for the modern reader.

[4:5]  sn Experts in the law would have been mostly like the Pharisees in approach. Thus various sects of Judaism were coming together against Jesus.

[4:5]  ¹⁹ tn Or “law assembled,” “law met together.”

[4:5]  ²⁰ map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.