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Text -- Luke 12:1-40 (NET)
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Strongs On/Off
Context
Fear God, Not People
12:1 Meanwhile , when many thousands of the crowd had gathered so that they were trampling on one another , Jesus began to speak first to his disciples , “Be on your guard against the yeast of the Pharisees , which is hypocrisy .
12:2 Nothing is hidden that will not be revealed , and nothing is secret that will not be made known .
12:3 So then whatever you have said in the dark will be heard in the light , and what you have whispered in private rooms will be proclaimed from the housetops .
12:4 “I tell you , my friends , do not be afraid of those who kill the body , and after that have nothing more they can do .
12:5 But I will warn you whom you should fear : Fear the one who, after the killing , has authority to throw you into hell . Yes , I tell you , fear him !
12:6 Aren’t five sparrows sold for two pennies ? Yet not one of them is forgotten before God .
12:7 In fact , even the hairs on your head are all numbered . Do not be afraid ; you are more valuable than many sparrows .
12:8 “I tell you , whoever acknowledges me before men , the Son of Man will also acknowledge before God’s angels .
12:9 But the one who denies me before men will be denied before God’s angels .
12:10 And everyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven , but the person who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven .
12:11 But when they bring you before the synagogues , the rulers , and the authorities , do not worry about how you should make your defense or what you should say ,
12:12 for the Holy Spirit will teach you at that moment what you must say .”
The Parable of the Rich Landowner
12:13 Then someone from the crowd said to him , “Teacher , tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me .”
12:14 But Jesus said to him , “Man , who made me a judge or arbitrator between you two?”
12:15 Then he said to them , “Watch out and guard yourself from all types of greed , because one’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions .”
12:16 He then told them a parable : “The land of a certain rich man produced an abundant crop ,
12:17 so he thought to himself , ‘What should I do , for I have nowhere to store my crops ?’
12:18 Then he said , ‘I will do this : I will tear down my barns and build bigger ones , and there I will store all my grain and my goods .
12:19 And I will say to myself , “You have plenty of goods stored up for many years ; relax , eat , drink , celebrate !”’
12:20 But God said to him , ‘You fool ! This very night your life will be demanded back from you , but who will get what you have prepared for yourself?’
12:21 So it is with the one who stores up riches for himself , but is not rich toward God .”
Exhortation Not to Worry
12:22 Then Jesus said to his disciples , “Therefore I tell you , do not worry about your life , what you will eat , or about your body , what you will wear .
12:23 For there is more to life than food , and more to the body than clothing .
12:24 Consider the ravens : They do not sow or reap , they have no storeroom or barn , yet God feeds them . How much more valuable are you than the birds !
12:25 And which of you by worrying can add an hour to his life ?
12:26 So if you cannot cannot do such a very little thing as this, why do you worry about the rest ?
12:27 Consider how the flowers grow ; they do not work or spin . Yet I tell you , not even Solomon in all his glory was clothed like one of these !
12:28 And if this is how God clothes the wild grass , which is here today and tomorrow is tossed into the fire to heat the oven , how much more will he clothe you, you people of little faith !
12:29 So do not be overly concerned about what you will eat and what you will drink , and do not worry about such things.
12:30 For all the nations of the world pursue these things , and your Father knows that you need them .
12:31 Instead , pursue his kingdom , and these things will be given to you as well.
12:32 “Do not be afraid , little flock , for your Father is well pleased to give you the kingdom .
12:33 Sell your possessions and give to the poor . Provide yourselves purses that do not wear out – a treasure in heaven that never decreases , where no thief approaches and no moth destroys .
12:34 For where your treasure is , there your heart will be also .
Call to Faithful Stewardship
12:35 “Get dressed for service and keep your lamps burning ;
12:36 be like people waiting for their master to come back from the wedding celebration , so that when he comes and knocks they can immediately open the door for him .
12:37 Blessed are those slaves whom their master finds alert when he returns ! I tell you the truth , he will dress himself to serve , have them take their place at the table , and will come and wait on them !
12:38 Even if he comes in the second or third watch of the night and finds them alert, blessed are those slaves !
12:39 But understand this : If the owner of the house had known at what hour the thief was coming , he would not have let his house be broken into .
12:40 You also must be ready , because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him.”
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Names, People and Places, Dictionary Themes and Topics
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Names, People and Places:
Dictionary Themes and Topics:
Jesus, The Christ |
LUKE, THE GOSPEL OF |
WEALTH, WEALTHY |
Commandments |
JESUS CHRIST, 4D |
Faith |
Anxiety |
JESUS CHRIST, 4C1 |
Blessing |
Greed |
Rich, The |
God |
Watchfulness |
SONS OF GOD (NEW TESTAMENT) |
LAZARUS |
Adoni-zedec |
Servant |
Happiness |
Self-indulgence |
Minister |
more
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expand allCommentary -- Verse Notes / Footnotes
NET Notes -> Luk 12:1; Luk 12:1; Luk 12:1; Luk 12:1; Luk 12:1; Luk 12:2; Luk 12:2; Luk 12:3; Luk 12:3; Luk 12:3; Luk 12:3; Luk 12:4; Luk 12:4; Luk 12:5; Luk 12:5; Luk 12:5; Luk 12:5; Luk 12:6; Luk 12:7; Luk 12:8; Luk 12:8; Luk 12:8; Luk 12:8; Luk 12:10; Luk 12:10; Luk 12:11; Luk 12:11; Luk 12:11; Luk 12:11; Luk 12:12; Luk 12:12; Luk 12:13; Luk 12:13; Luk 12:14; Luk 12:14; Luk 12:14; Luk 12:15; Luk 12:15; Luk 12:15; Luk 12:16; Luk 12:16; Luk 12:16; Luk 12:17; Luk 12:17; Luk 12:17; Luk 12:18; Luk 12:18; Luk 12:19; Luk 12:20; Luk 12:20; Luk 12:20; Luk 12:21; Luk 12:22; Luk 12:22; Luk 12:22; Luk 12:22; Luk 12:22; Luk 12:22; Luk 12:24; Luk 12:24; Luk 12:25; Luk 12:25; Luk 12:26; Luk 12:26; Luk 12:27; Luk 12:27; Luk 12:28; Luk 12:28; Luk 12:28; Luk 12:28; Luk 12:28; Luk 12:28; Luk 12:29; Luk 12:29; Luk 12:29; Luk 12:30; Luk 12:31; Luk 12:31; Luk 12:31; Luk 12:32; Luk 12:33; Luk 12:33; Luk 12:33; Luk 12:33; Luk 12:33; Luk 12:34; Luk 12:35; Luk 12:35; Luk 12:36; Luk 12:36; Luk 12:37; Luk 12:37; Luk 12:37; Luk 12:37; Luk 12:37; Luk 12:37; Luk 12:37; Luk 12:38; Luk 12:38; Luk 12:38; Luk 12:39; Luk 12:39; Luk 12:40
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NET Notes: Luk 12:2 I.e., be revealed by God. The passive voice verbs here (“be revealed,” be made known”) see the revelation as coming from God. The te...
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NET Notes: Luk 12:3 The expression “proclaimed from the housetops” is an idiom for proclaiming something publicly (L&N 7.51). Roofs of many first century ...
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NET Notes: Luk 12:5 The word translated hell is “Gehenna” (γέεννα, geenna), a Greek transliteration of the Hebrew words ge hinno...
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NET Notes: Luk 12:6 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 avera...
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NET Notes: Luk 12:7 Do not be afraid. One should respect and show reverence to God (v. 5), but need not fear his tender care.
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NET Notes: Luk 12:8 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 ...
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NET Notes: Luk 12:10 Grk “it will not be forgiven the person who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit.”
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NET Notes: Luk 12:11 Grk “about how or what you should say in your defense,” but this is redundant with the following clause, “or what you should say....
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NET Notes: Luk 12:13 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 requeste...
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NET Notes: Luk 12:14 The pronoun ὑμᾶς (Jumas) is plural, referring to both the man and his brother; thus the translation “you two.”
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NET Notes: Luk 12:15 Or “avarice,” “covetousness.” Note the warning covers more than money and gets at the root attitude – the strong desire ...
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NET Notes: Luk 12:17 I have nowhere to store my crops. The thinking here is prudent in terms of recognizing the problem. The issue in the parable will be the rich man̵...
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NET Notes: Luk 12:18 Note how often the first person pronoun is present in these verses. The farmer is totally self absorbed.
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NET Notes: Luk 12:19 Grk “to my soul,” which is repeated as a vocative in the following statement, but is left untranslated as redundant.
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NET Notes: Luk 12:20 Grk “the things you have prepared, whose will they be?” The words “for yourself” are not in the Greek text, but are implied.
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NET Notes: Luk 12:21 It is selfishness that is rebuked here, in the accumulation of riches for himself. Recall the emphasis on the first person pronouns throughout the par...
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NET Notes: Luk 12:22 Some mss (B 070 Ë13 33 1424 al) supply the pronoun ὑμῶν (Jumwn, “your”) here, although the witnesses for the om...
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NET Notes: Luk 12:24 Or “God gives them food to eat.” L&N 23.6 has both “to provide food for” and “to give food to someone to eat.”
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NET Notes: Luk 12:25 Or “a cubit to his height.” A cubit (πῆχυς, phcu") can measure length (normally about 45 cm or 18 inches) o...
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NET Notes: Luk 12:27 Traditionally, “toil.” Although it might be argued that “work hard” would be a more precise translation of κοπ&...
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NET Notes: Luk 12:28 The phrase how much more is a typical form of rabbinic argumentation, from the lesser to the greater. If God cares for the little things, surely he wi...
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NET Notes: Luk 12:29 The words “about such things” have been supplied to qualify the meaning; the phrase relates to obtaining food and drink mentioned in the p...
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NET Notes: Luk 12:31 His (that is, God’s) kingdom is a major theme of Jesus. It is a realm in which Jesus rules and to which those who trust him belong. See Luke 6:2...
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NET Notes: Luk 12:33 The term σής (shs) refers to moths in general. It is specifically the larvae of moths that destroy clothing by eating holes in it (L&a...
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NET Notes: Luk 12:34 Seeking heavenly treasure means serving others and honoring God by doing so; see Luke 6:35-36.
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NET Notes: Luk 12:37 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...
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NET Notes: Luk 12:38 Grk “blessed are they”; the referent (the watchful slaves, v. 37) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
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NET Notes: Luk 12:39 Most mss (א1 A B L Q W Θ Ψ 070 Ë1,13 33 Ï lat syp,h sams bo) read “he would have watched and not let” here, but ...
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