Luke 12:37

12:37 Blessed are those slaves ¹  whom their master finds alert ²  when he returns! I tell you the truth, ³  he will dress himself to serve, ⁴  have them take their place at the table, ⁵  and will come ⁶  and wait on them! ⁷ 

Luke 13:4

13:4 Or those eighteen who were killed ⁸  when the tower in Siloam fell on them, ⁹  do you think they were worse offenders than all the others who live in Jerusalem? ¹⁰ 

[12:37]  ¹ tn See the note on the word “slave” in 7:2.

[12:37]  ² tn Or “watching”; Grk “awake,” but in context this is not just being awake but alert and looking out.

[12:37]  ³ tn Grk “Truly (ἀμήν, amhn), I say to you.”

[12:37]  ⁴ tn See v. 35 (same verb).

[12:37]  ⁵ tn Grk “have them recline at table,” as 1st century middle eastern meals were not eaten while sitting at a table, but while reclining on one’s side on the floor with the head closest to the low table and the feet farthest away.

[12:37]  ⁶ tn The participle παρελθών (parelqwn) has been translated as a finite verb due to requirements of contemporary English style.

[12:37]  ⁷ sn 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 15:18-27, although those instances merely foreshadow what is in view here.

[13:4]  ⁸ tn Grk “on whom the tower in Siloam fell and killed them.” This relative clause embedded in a prepositional phrase is complex in English and has been simplified to an adjectival and a temporal clause in the translation.

[13:4]  ⁹ sn Unlike the previous event, when the tower in Siloam fell on them, it was an accident of fate. It raised the question, however, “Was this a judgment?”

[13:4]  ¹⁰ map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.