Luke 12 - Introduction
CHAPTER 12. MISCELLANEOUS DISCOURSES.... [ Continue Reading ]
CHAPTER 12. MISCELLANEOUS DISCOURSES.... [ Continue Reading ]
_Exhortation to fearless utterance_, addressed to the disciples (_cf._ Matthew 10:17-33). ἐν οἷς, in these circumstances, _i.e._, while the assaults of the Pharisees and scribes on Jesus were going on (Luke 11:53). μυριάδων : a hyperbolical expression for an “innumerable multitude,” pointing, if the... [ Continue Reading ]
= Matthew 10:26, there connected with a counsel not to fear men addressed to persons whose vocation imposes the obligation to speak out. Here = dissimulation, concealment of your faith, is vain; the truth will out sooner or later.... [ Continue Reading ]
ἀνθʼ ὧν, either = _quare_, inferring the particular case following from the general statement going before, or = because, assigning a reason for that statement. This verse = Matthew 10:27, but altered. In Mt. it is Christ who speaks in the darkness, and whispers in the ear; in Lk. it is His disciple... [ Continue Reading ]
λέγω δὲ, introducing a very important statement, not a mere phrase of Lk.'s to help out the connection of thought (Ws [114], Mt.- Evang., 279). τοῖς φίλοις μου, not a mere conventional designation for an audience, but spoken with emphasis to distinguish disciples from hostile Pharisees = my comrades... [ Continue Reading ]
πέντε, five, for two farthings, two for one in Mt. (Matthew 10:29); one into the bargain when you buy a larger number. They hardly have a price at all! ἐπιλελησμένον, forgotten, for Mt.'s “falls not to the ground without”; the former more general and secondary, but the meaning plainer.... [ Continue Reading ]
ἠρίθμηνται, they remain numbered, once for all; number never forgotten, one would be missed.... [ Continue Reading ]
Another solemn declaration introduced by a λέγω δὲ = Matthew 10:32-33. ἔμπροσθεν τῶν ἀγγέλων τ. Θ.: in place of Mt.'s “before my Father in heaven”. In Luke 12:6 “God” takes the place of “your Father” in Mt. It seem as if the Christian circle to which Lk. belonged did not fully realise the significan... [ Continue Reading ]
πᾶς ὃς ἐρεῖ, etc.: the true historical setting of the _logion_ concerning blasphemy is doubtless that in Mt. (Matthew 12:31), and Mk. (Mark 3:28), where it appears as a solemn warning to the men who broached the theory of Beelzebub-derived power to cast out devils. Here it is a word of encouragement... [ Continue Reading ]
τὰς ἀρχὰς καὶ τὰς ἐξουσίας : a general reference to heathen tribunals in place of Mt.'s συνέδρια (Luke 10:17). “Synagogues,” representing Jewish tribunals, retained.... [ Continue Reading ]
τὸ Ἅγιον Πνεῦμα : their utterances always inspired by the Holy Ghost (hence to contradict their word blasphemy), and specially when they are on their _defence_.... [ Continue Reading ]
τις ἐκ τοῦ ὄχλου : the crowd now comes to the front, and becomes the audience for at least a few moments. εἰπὲ here takes after it the infinitive, instead of ἵνα with subjunctive. μερίσασθαι, to divide, presumably according to law, one-third to the younger, two-thirds to the elder (Deuteronomy 21:17... [ Continue Reading ]
_An interlude leading to a change of theme_, in Lk. only.... [ Continue Reading ]
ἄνθρωπε, man! discouraging, no sympathy with the object (_cf._ Romans 2:1; Romans 9:20). κριτὴν, a judge, deciding the right or equity of the case; μεριστὴν, an arbiter carrying out the judgment (here only in N.T.). The application was the less blameworthy that appeals to Rabbis for such purposes se... [ Continue Reading ]
_Parable of the rich fool_, simply a story embodying in concrete form the principle just enunciated: teaching the lesson of Psalms 49, and containing apparent echoes of Sir 11:17-3.... [ Continue Reading ]
εὐφόρησε, bore well; late and rare (here only in N.T.). Kypke gives examples from Josephus and Hippocrates. χώρα, estate, farm = ἀγρός (Luke 9:12), so in John 4:35.... [ Continue Reading ]
τὸν σῖτον (or τὰ γενήματα): may refer to the fruits (καρπούς, Luke 12:17) of the season, τὰ ἀγαθὰ to the accumulated possessions of bygone years.... [ Continue Reading ]
ἀναπαύου, etc., rest, eat, drink, be jolly: an epicurean _asyndeton_.... [ Continue Reading ]
εἶπε δὲ α., but God said to him, through conscience at the death hour (Euthy.). ἀπαιτοῦσι, they ask thy life = thy life is asked. τίνι ἔσται, whose? Not _thine_ at all events.... [ Continue Reading ]
εἰς Θεὸν πλουτῶν, rich with treasure laid up with God. Other interpretations are: rich in a way that pleases God, or rich _in honorem Dei_, for the advancement of God's glory. The last sense implies that the riches are literal, the first implies that they are spiritual.... [ Continue Reading ]
_Dissuasives against earthly care_ (Matthew 6:25-33). The disciples again become the audience.... [ Continue Reading ]
ψυχὴ and σῶμα are to be taken in the physical sense, the suggestion being that God has given us these the _greater_ things, and therefore may be expected to give us _food_ for the one and _raiment_ for the other, the _smaller_ things.... [ Continue Reading ]
κόρακας, the ravens, individualising, for Mt.'s πετεινὰ. ὁ Θεὸς for ὁ πατὴρ ὑμῶν in Mt.... [ Continue Reading ]
ἐλάχιστον : the application of this epithet to the act of adding a cubit ἐπὶ τὴν ἡλικίαν at first appears conclusive evidence that for Lk. at least ἡλικία must mean length of life: as to add a cubit to one's _stature_ is so great a thing that no one thinks of attempting it (Hahn, similarly Holtzmann... [ Continue Reading ]
μετεωρίζεσθε : a ἅπ. λεγ. in N.T. and variously rendered. The meaning that best suits the connection of thought is that which finds in the word the figure of a boat tempest-tossed, but that which is best supported by usage points rather to high-mindedness, vain thoughts. The Vulgate renders _nolite... [ Continue Reading ]
τ. ἔ. τοῦ κόσμου, the nations _of the world_; this addition is peculiar to Lk., the expression here only in N.T., but frequent with the Rabbis (Lightfoot, _ad loc._); meaning with them the peoples of the outside world as distinct from the Jews; here probably all (Jews included) but Christians. On th... [ Continue Reading ]
πλὴν, much rather (Schanz, Hahn). ζητεῖτε, etc.: In his version of this great word of Jesus Lk. omits πρῶτον and τὴν δικαιοσύνην, so that it takes this simple and absolute form: _seek His_ (the Father's) _kingdom_ : very probably the original form. As temporal things are added (προστεθήσεται) they d... [ Continue Reading ]
_The little flock_, in Lk. only. ποίμνιον (contracted from ποιμένιον), a flock (of sheep), a familiar designation of the body of believers in the apostolic age (Acts 20:28; 1 Peter 5:3); μικρὸν adds pathos. That Jesus applied this name to His disciples is very credible, though it may be that in the... [ Continue Reading ]
counsels a heroic mood for which apprehension as to future temporal want has become an impossibility, such want being now viewed as a means of ensuring the one object of desire, eternal riches. πωλήσατε, etc.: the special counsel to the man in quest of eternal life _generalised_ (_cf._ Luke 18:22).... [ Continue Reading ]
= Matthew 6:21, with σου turned into ὑμῶν.... [ Continue Reading ]
Luke 12:35-36 contain the germ of the parable of the _Ten Virgins_ (Matthew 25:1 f.). So De Wette, J. Weiss, Holtzmann, Schanz, etc. ὀσφύες περιεζωσμέναι, loins girt, for service. λύχνοι καιόμενοι, lamps burning, for reception of the master expected to return during the _night_. In the spiritual sph... [ Continue Reading ]
_Loins girt, lamps burning_. Connection with what goes before is not apparent, but there is a latent affinity which makes the introduction of this _logion_ here by Lk. or his source intelligible. The kingdom the _summum bonum_; all to be sacrificed for it; its coming (or the King's) to be eagerly wa... [ Continue Reading ]
ἀναλύσῃ, when (πότε = ὁπότε) he shall _return_; the figure is taken from sailors making the return voyage to the port whence they had sailed, Beza (_vide_ Philippians 1:23; 2 Timothy 4:6). ἐλθόντος καὶ κρούσαντος : the participles in the genitive absolute, though the subject to which they refer, αὐτ... [ Continue Reading ]
μακάριοι : here as always implying rare felicity the reward of heroic virtue. ἀμὴν : the Hebrew word retained here contrary to custom, introducing a startling thought, the inversion of the relation of master and servants, lord and slaves, through joy over their fidelity. For the other side of the pi... [ Continue Reading ]
ἐν τῇ δευτέρᾳ, etc., second and third watches named as the times at which men are most apt to be overtaken with sleep (Hahn), the night being probably supposed to consist of _four_ watches, and the first omitted as too early, and the last as too late for the return.... [ Continue Reading ]
_The thief_ (Matthew 24:43-44). A new figure is now employed to give pictorial embodiment to the counsel: be ever ready. The master returning from a wedding is replaced by a thief whose study it is to come to the house he means to plunder at an unexpected time. This _logion_ is reproduced by Lk. sub... [ Continue Reading ]
Peter's question reminds us of Mark 13:37 : “What I say unto you, I say unto all, watch”.... [ Continue Reading ]
_A question by Peter and a reply_ (Matthew 24:45-51). Some look on Peter's question as a literary device of the evangelist either to connect his material (Weiss in Meyer; x. 29, xi. 45 cited as similar instances), or to give what follows a special relation to the Apostles and to Peter as their head... [ Continue Reading ]
ὁ Κύριος, the Lord, in narrative. τίς ἄρα, etc.: in Mt. this is connected immediately with the thought in Luke 12:40, so that Peter's interpellation appears as an interruption of a continuous discourse. Some variations from Mt.'s text are noticeable in Lk.'s version: οἰκονόμος for δοῦλος, καταστήσει... [ Continue Reading ]
ἀληθῶς here, as usual, for ἀμὴν (Luke 12:37 an exception).... [ Continue Reading ]
ἐὰν δὲ : introducing supposition of an abuse of power, conceived possible even in the case of an apostle, of a Peter. Let no proud ecclesiastic therefore say, Is thy servant a dog? χρονίζει : a delayed παρουσία, a prominent thought in our Lord's later utterances. The delay may possibly be long enoug... [ Continue Reading ]
_Degrees of guilt and punishment_, in Lk. only, and serving as an apology for the severity of the punishment as described in Luke 12:46. That punishment presupposes anger. The statement now made is to the effect: penalty inflicted not as passion dictates but as principle demands. ὁ δοῦλος ὁ γνοὺς, e... [ Continue Reading ]
ὁ δὲ μὴ γνοὺς : the opposite case is that of one who does not _know_. What he would do if he did know is another question; but it is not to be gratuitously supposed that he would neglect his duty utterly, like the other, though he does commit minor faults. He is a lower servant in the house to whom... [ Continue Reading ]
πῦρ : the fire of a new faith, or religion, a burning enthusiasm in believers, creating fierce antagonism in unbelievers; deplorable but inevitable. βαλεῖν, used by Mt. in reference to peace and war, where Lk. has δοῦναι. τί θέλω εἰ, etc., how much I wish it were already kindled; τί = ὡς and εἰ afte... [ Continue Reading ]
_Not peace but division_ (Matthew 10:34-36). This section is introduced by no connecting particle. Yet there is a certain affinity of thought. Strict fidelity demanded under penalties, but fidelity not easy; times of fierce trial and conflict awaiting you. I forewarn you, that ye may be forearmed.... [ Continue Reading ]
βάπτισμα : before the fire can be effectually kindled there must come for the kindler His own baptism of blood, of which therefore Jesus naturally speaks here with emotion. πῶς συνέχομαι, how am I pressed on every side, either with fervent desire (Euthy., Theophy., De Wette, Schanz, etc.), or with f... [ Continue Reading ]
διαμερισμόν : instead of Mt.'s μάχαιραν, an abstract prosaic term for a concrete pictorial one; exactly descriptive of the fact, however, and avoiding possible misapprehension as to Christ's aim = Jesus not a patron of _war_.... [ Continue Reading ]
τρεῖς ἐπὶ δυσὶν, etc.: three against two and two against three; five in all, not six though three pairs are mentioned, mother and mother-in-law (μήτηρ and πενθερὰ) being the same person. This way of putting it is doubtless due to Lk. ἐπὶ with dative = _contra_, only here in N.T.; κατὰ with genitive... [ Continue Reading ]
_A final word to the crowd_ (_cf._ Matthew 16:2 f., Luke 5:25 f.). τοῖς ὄχλοις : in Mt. Jesus speaks to the Pharisees and Sadducees, in reply to their demand for a sign, which gives a more definite occasion. But the words might quite appropriately have been addressed to the people at large. The weat... [ Continue Reading ]
καύσων, the sirocco, a hot wind from the desert, blighting vegetation (James 1:11), equally a matter of course.... [ Continue Reading ]
ὑποκριταί seems too strong a term to apply to the people, and more appropriate to a Pharisaic or professional audience (Matthew 16:3). Raphel, after Erasmus Schmidt, translates _harioli_, weather prophets, citing a passage from Lucian in support of this sense. This is certainly one meaning of the wo... [ Continue Reading ]
ἀφʼ ἑαυτῶν, from or of yourselves (_sua sponte_, Palairet); without needing any one to tell you the right; implying that the persons addressed were destitute of the average moral insight (_cf._ Luke 21:30).... [ Continue Reading ]
ὡς γὰρ : introducing a legal scene from natural life to illustrate a similar situation in the moral world. It is implied that if they had the necessary moral discernment they would see that a judgment day was at hand, and understand that the duty of the hour was to come to terms with their adversary... [ Continue Reading ]
λεπτὸν, the half of a κοδράντης (Mt.'s word), making the necessity of full payment in order to release from prison still more emphatic.... [ Continue Reading ]