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InterlinearVerse GEN EXO LEV NUM DEU JOB JOS JDG RUTH 1 SAM 2 SAM PSA AMOS HOS 1 KI 2 KI 1 CHR 2 CHR PROV ECC SNG JOEL MIC ISA ZEP HAB JER LAM YNA (JNA) NAH OBA DAN EZE EZRA EST NEH HAG ZEC MAL LAO GES LES ESG DNG 2 PS TOB JDT ESA WIS SIR BAR LJE PAZ SUS BEL MAN 1 MAC 2 MAC 3 MAC 4 MAC YHN (JHN) MARK MAT LUKE ACTs YAC (JAM) GAL 1 TH 2 TH 1 COR 2 COR ROM COL PHM EPH PHP 1 TIM TIT 1 PET 2 PET 2 TIM HEB YUD (JUD) 1 YHN (1 JHN) 2 YHN (2 JHN) 3 YHN (3 JHN) REV
Luke C1 C2 C3 C4 C5 C6 C7 C8 C9 C10 C11 C12 C13 C14 C15 C16 C17 C18 C19 C20 C21 C22 C23 C24
Luke 12 V1 V3 V5 V7 V9 V11 V13 V15 V17 V19 V21 V23 V25 V27 V29 V31 V33 V35 V37 V39 V41 V43 V45 V47 V49 V51 V53 V55 V57 V59
OET (OET-LV) And_if he_may_come in the second even_if in the third watch, and may_find them thus, blessed are those.
OET (OET-RV) If he arrives around midnight or even in the small hours of the morning, he’ll find them ready. Yes, they’ll be blessed.
In this section Jesus continued to teach his disciples. He told them to do their work faithfully and to be ready for the time he would return to earth. He used three illustrations that all emphasized how important it is to be prepared for his return. In 12:35–38 he described a man who had gone to a wedding feast. His servants needed to be ready to open the door for him at whatever time he returned. In 12:39 he described the owner of a house watching out for a thief who might come at an unexpected time. In 12:41–48, Jesus explained the difference between a faithful servant and an unfaithful servant. This encouraged his disciples to be faithful.
Some other headings for this section are:
Faithful and Unfaithful Servants (CEV)
Be Ready for the Lord’s Coming (NLT)
Watchfulness (NIV)
There is a parallel passage for 12:41–48 in Matthew 24:45–51.
In this paragraph Jesus continued to speak. It may be helpful to indicate this here at the beginning of this new section. For example:
Jesus also said …
Jesus continued teaching his disciples and he said…
Some versions, such as the NIV, order this verse differently than the Greek text. In Greek it literally says:
And if in the second or even in the third watch of the night he comes and finds them watching thus, blessed are those servants.
The BSB follows this order. Use a natural order in your language.
Even if he comes in the second or third watch of the night
Yes, even if their master comes in the middle of the night or even later,
Even if he should come in the darkest hours of the night, or even before cockcrow/dawn,
Even if he comes in the second or third watch of the night: The phrase second or third watch of the night refers to two periods of guard duty that lasted from near midnight until some time before dawn.If Jesus was using the Jewish system, the second watch would have been from 10 p.m. to 2 a.m. and the third watch from 2 a.m. to 6 a.m. If he was using the Roman system, the second watch would have been from 9 p.m. to midnight and the third watch from midnight to 3 a.m. Both views are well supported by scholars. The exact timing is not important here, and no English version specifies which system was used. During this time it would be increasingly difficult for the servants to keep awake.
If you have natural expressions in your language to refer to periods of guard duty during the night, you may use them here. Otherwise, you may use more general expressions of time. For example:
during the middle of the night, or near dawn (NRSV)
even if it is midnight or later (NCV)
and finds them alert, those servants will be blessed.
those servants will indeed be very happy/fortunate if he finds them ready for him,
there will be great happiness for those servants when the master sees that they were waiting for him,
finds them alert: The Greek phrase that the BSB translates as finds them alert is literally “finds thus.” The word “thus” refers back to 12:37a, where it makes explicit that the servants were awake and waiting for the master. Other ways to translate this are:
ready (NIV, NJB)
still waiting (NCV)
awake (REB)
In some languages it may not be natural to repeat so soon the exact information that was given in 12:37a. Consider whether there is a natural way to indicate that something is being deliberately repeated for emphasis. One way to do this in English is:
Yes, it will indeed be good for those servants whom the master finds watching like that!
See below for a suggestion on reordering these verses.
In some languages it may be more natural to change the order of information in these verses. For example:
37a/38aThose servants will be truly happy/fortunate when their master sees that they have been watching alertly for his return. 38bThey will be happy even if he returns in the middle of the night or later yet. 37bI assure you that their master will change his clothes. 37cHe will then have his servants sit down and serve them a meal.
Notice that in this example the statements in 12:37a and 12:38a have been combined to avoid repetition. This is a good option if the repetition is not natural in your language.
κἂν ἐν τῇ δευτέρᾳ κἂν ἐν τῇ τρίτῃ φυλακῇ ἔλθῃ
(Some words not found in SR-GNT: Κἄν ἐν τῇ δευτέρᾳ κἄν ἐν τῇ τρίτῃ φυλακῇ ἔλθῃ καί εὕρῃ οὕτως μακάριοι εἰσίν ἐκεῖνοι)
Alternate translation: [Even if he comes in the second or third watch of the night]
Note 1 topic: translate-unknown
ἐν τῇ δευτέρᾳ & φυλακῇ
in the second & watch
The second watch of the night was from 9:00 PM until midnight. Alternate translation: [late at night]
Note 2 topic: translate-unknown
κἂν ἐν τῇ τρίτῃ φυλακῇ
(Some words not found in SR-GNT: Κἄν ἐν τῇ δευτέρᾳ κἄν ἐν τῇ τρίτῃ φυλακῇ ἔλθῃ καί εὕρῃ οὕτως μακάριοι εἰσίν ἐκεῖνοι)
The third watch was from midnight until 3:00 AM. Alternate translation: [or even after midnight]
καὶ εὕρῃ οὕτως, μακάριοί εἰσιν ἐκεῖνοι
(Some words not found in SR-GNT: Κἄν ἐν τῇ δευτέρᾳ κἄν ἐν τῇ τρίτῃ φυλακῇ ἔλθῃ καί εὕρῃ οὕτως μακάριοι εἰσίν ἐκεῖνοι)
Alternate translation: [how good it will be for servants whom he finds waiting for him] or [how good it will be for servants who are ready when he returns]
OET (OET-LV) And_if he_may_come in the second even_if in the third watch, and may_find them thus, blessed are those.
OET (OET-RV) If he arrives around midnight or even in the small hours of the morning, he’ll find them ready. Yes, they’ll be blessed.
Note: The OET-RV is still only a first draft, and so far only a few words have been (mostly automatically) matched to the Hebrew or Greek words that they’re translated from.
Acknowledgements: The SR Greek text, lemmas, morphology, and VLT gloss are all thanks to the CNTR.