Cambridge Greek Testament Commentary

Luke 12:58

ὡς γὰρ ὑπάγεις. ‘For as thou goest.’ Our translators omitted the ‘for’ probably because they could not see the connexion. It seems however to be this. ‘For this is your clear duty,—to reconcile yourselves with God, as you would with one whom you had alienated, before the otherwise inevitable consequences ensue.’ Euthymius therefore is mistaken in saying that the subject is here suddenly changed (ἐφ' ἕτερον μετέβη λόγον).

μετὰ τοῦ�. This is a parable. If you had wronged a man it would be obviously wise to avert the consequences of your wrongdoing before it became too late. Even so must you act towards God. To press the details is obviously false theology. “Theologia parabolica non est argumentativa.” Here again St Matthew quotes the parable in a slightly different connexion (Luke 5:25-26) to teach that love and forgiveness to man are an indispensable condition of forgiveness from God.

δὸς ἐργασίαν. A curious Latinism, da operam.

τῷ πράκτορι. ‘To the jailor,’ literally ‘the exactor.’ “God is here shadowed forth as at once the adversary, the judge, and the officer; the first by His holiness, the second by His justice, the third by His power.” Godet.

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Cambridge Greek Testament Commentary

Luke 12:58

Old Testament

New Testament