Luke 12:1-2

Fear God, Not People

12:1 Meanwhile, ¹  when many thousands of the crowd had gathered so that they were trampling on one another, Jesus ²  began to speak first to his disciples, “Be on your guard against ³  the yeast of the Pharisees, ⁴  which is hypocrisy. ⁵  12:2 Nothing is hidden ⁶  that will not be revealed, ⁷  and nothing is secret that will not be made known.

Luke 12:15

12:15 Then ⁸  he said to them, “Watch out and guard yourself from ⁹  all types of greed, ¹⁰  because one’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.”

[12:1]  ¹ tn The phrase ἐν οἷς (en Jois) can be translated “meanwhile.”

[12:1]  ² tn Grk “he”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[12:1]  ³ 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.

[12:1]  ⁴ sn See the note on Pharisees in 5:17.

[12:1]  ⁵ sn The pursuit of popularity can lead to hypocrisy, if one is not careful.

[12:2]  ⁶ tn Or “concealed.”

[12:2]  ⁷ 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.

[12:15]  ⁸ tn Here δέ (de) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the narrative.

[12:15]  ⁹ tn See L&N 13.154 for this use of the middle voice of φυλάσσω (fulassw) in this verse.

[12:15]  ¹⁰ tn Or “avarice,” “covetousness.” Note the warning covers more than money and gets at the root attitude – the strong desire to acquire more and more possessions and experiences.