Luke 12:1-14

New English Translation

Footnotes

1. Luke 12:1 tn The phrase ἐν οἷς (en hois) can be translated “meanwhile.”
2. Luke 12:1 tn Grk “he”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
3. Luke 12:1 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.
4. Luke 12:1 sn See the note on Pharisees in 5:17.
5. Luke 12:1 sn The pursuit of popularity can lead to hypocrisy, if one is not careful.
6. Luke 12:2 tn Or “concealed.”
7. Luke 12:2 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.
8. Luke 12:3 tn Or “because.” Understanding this verse as a result of v. 2 is a slightly better reading of the context. Knowing what is coming should impact our behavior now.
9. Luke 12:3 tn Grk “spoken in the ear,” an idiom. The contemporary expression is “whispered.”
10. Luke 12:3 sn The term translated private rooms refers to the inner room of a house, normally without any windows opening outside, the most private location possible (BDAG 988 s.v. ταμεῖον 2).
11. Luke 12:3 tn The expression “proclaimed from the housetops” is an idiom for proclaiming something publicly (L&N 7.51). Roofs of many first century Jewish houses in Judea and Galilee were flat and had access either from outside or from within the house. Something shouted from atop a house would be heard by everyone in the street below.
12. Luke 12:4 tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated.
13. Luke 12:4 sn Judaism had a similar exhortation in 4 Macc 13:14-15.
14. Luke 12:5 tn Grk “will show,” but in this reflective context such a demonstration is a warning or exhortation.
15. Luke 12:5 sn The actual performer of the killing is not here specified. It could be understood to be God (so NASB, NRSV) but it could simply emphasize that, after a killing has taken place, it is God who casts the person into hell.
16. Luke 12:5 tn The direct object (“you”) is understood.
17. Luke 12:5 sn The word translated hell is “Gehenna” (γέεννα, geenna), a Greek transliteration of the Hebrew words ge hinnom (“Valley of Hinnom”). This was the valley along the south side of Jerusalem. In OT times it was used for human sacrifices to the pagan god Molech (cf. Jer 7:31; 19:5-6; 32:35), and it came to be used as a place where human excrement and rubbish were disposed of and burned. In the intertestamental period, it came to be used symbolically as the place of divine punishment (cf. 1 En. 27:2; 90:26; 4 Ezra 7:36).
18. Luke 12:6 sn The pennies refer to the assarion, a small Roman copper coin. One of them was worth one sixteenth of a denarius or less than a half hour’s average wage. Sparrows were the cheapest thing sold in the market. The point of Jesus’ statement is that God knows about even the most financially insignificant things; see Isa 49:15.
19. Luke 12:6 sn This is a typical form of rabbinic argumentation, from the lesser to the greater: If God cares about the lesser thing (sparrows) how much more does he care about the greater thing (people).
20. Luke 12:7 sn This represents the second call by Jesus not to be afraid in the section (previously in v. 4). Since the previous reference was related to fear of persecution, it is probable that this one does as well. Once again the sparrows are mentioned and the argument is from lesser to greater (if God cares about individual hairs on the head and about sparrows, how much more does he care about people).
21. Luke 12:8 tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated.
22. Luke 12:8 tn Or “confesses.”
23. Luke 12:8 tn Although this is a generic reference and includes both males and females, in this context “men” has been retained because of the wordplay with the Son of Man and the contrast with the angels. The same is true of the occurrence of “men” in v. 9.
24. Luke 12:8 sn This acknowledgment will take place at the judgment. Of course, the Son of Man is a reference to Jesus as it has been throughout the Gospel. On Jesus and judgment, see 22:69; Acts 10:42-43; 17:31.
25. Luke 12:10 sn Blasphemy against the Holy Spirit probably refers to a total rejection of the testimony that the Spirit gives to Jesus and the plan of God. This is not so much a sin of the moment as of one’s entire life, an obstinate rejection of God’s message and testimony. Cf. Matt 12:31-32 and Mark 3:28-30.
26. Luke 12:10 tn Grk “it will not be forgiven the person who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit.”
27. Luke 12:11 sn The saying looks at persecution both from a Jewish context as the mention of synagogues suggests, and from a Gentile one as the reference to the rulers and the authorities suggests.sn See the note on synagogues in 4:15.
28. Luke 12:11 tn Grk “and the,” but καί (kai) has not been translated since English normally uses a coordinating conjunction only between the last two elements in a series of three or more.
29. Luke 12:11 tn Grk “about how or what you should say in your defense,” but this is redundant with the following clause, “or what you should say.”
30. Luke 12:12 tn Grk “in that very hour” (an idiom).
31. Luke 12:12 tn Grk “what it is necessary to say.”
32. Luke 12:13 tn Here δέ (de) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the narrative.
33. Luke 12:13 sn Tell my brother. In 1st century Jewish culture, a figure like a rabbi was often asked to mediate disputes, except that here mediation was not requested, but representation.
34. Luke 12:14 tn Grk “he”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
35. Luke 12:14 tn This term of address can be harsh or gentle depending on the context (BDAG 82 s.v. ἄνθρωπος 8). Here it is a rebuke.
36. Luke 12:14 tn The pronoun ὑμᾶς (humas) is plural, referring to both the man and his brother; thus the translation “you two.”