Luke 12:19-20

12:19 And I will say to myself, ¹  “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 ²  will be demanded back from ³  you, but who will get what you have prepared for yourself?’ ⁴ 

Luke 12:45

12:45 But if ⁵  that ⁶  slave should say to himself, ⁷  ‘My master is delayed ⁸  in returning,’ and he begins to beat ⁹  the other ¹⁰  slaves, both men and women, ¹¹  and to eat, drink, and get drunk,

[12:19]  ¹ tn Grk “to my soul,” which is repeated as a vocative in the following statement, but is left untranslated as redundant.

[12:20]  ² tn Grk “your soul,” but ψυχή (yuch) is frequently used of one’s physical life. It clearly has that meaning in this context.

[12:20]  ³ tn Or “required back.” This term, ἀπαιτέω (apaitew), has an economic feel to it and is often used of a debt being called in for repayment (BDAG 96 s.v. 1).

[12:20]  ⁴ tn Grk “the things you have prepared, whose will they be?” The words “for yourself” are not in the Greek text, but are implied.

[12:45]  ⁵ tn In the Greek text this is a third class condition that for all practical purposes is a hypothetical condition (note the translation of the following verb “should say”).

[12:45]  ⁶ tn The term “that” (ἐκεῖνος, ekeino") is used as a catchword to list out, in the form of a number of hypothetical circumstances, what the possible responses of “that” servant could be. He could be faithful (vv. 43-44) or totally unfaithful (vv. 45-46). He does not complete his master’s will with knowledge (v. 47) or from ignorance (v 48). These differences are indicated by the different levels of punishment in vv. 46-48.

[12:45]  ⁷ tn Grk “should say in his heart.”

[12:45]  ⁸ tn Or “is taking a long time.”

[12:45]  ⁹ sn The slave’s action in beginning to beat the other slaves was not only a failure to carry out what was commanded but involved doing the exact reverse.

[12:45]  ¹⁰ tn The word “other” is not in the Greek text, but is implied.

[12:45]  ¹¹ tn Grk “the menservants and the maidservants.” The term here, used in both masculine and feminine grammatical forms, is παῖς (pais), which can refer to a slave, but also to a slave who is a personal servant, and thus regarded kindly (L&N 87.77).