Luke 12:38

12:38 Even if he comes in the second or third watch of the night ¹  and finds them alert, ²  blessed are those slaves! ³ 

Luke 15:4

15:4 “Which one ⁴  of you, if he has a hundred ⁵  sheep and loses one of them, would not leave the ninety-nine in the open pasture ⁶  and go look for ⁷  the one that is lost until he finds it? ⁸ 

Luke 15:8

15:8 “Or what woman, if she has ten silver coins ⁹  and loses ¹⁰  one of them, ¹¹  does not light a lamp, sweep ¹²  the house, and search thoroughly until she finds it?

[12:38]  ¹ sn The second or third watch of the night would be between 9 p.m. and 3 a.m. on a Roman schedule and 10 p.m. to 6 a.m. on a Jewish schedule. Luke uses the four-watch schedule of the Romans in Acts 12:4, so that is more probable here. Regardless of the precise times of the watches, however, it is clear that the late-night watches when a person is least alert are in view here.

[12:38]  ² tn Grk “finds (them) thus”; but this has been clarified in the translation by referring to the status (“alert”) mentioned in v. 37.

[12:38]  ³ tn Grk “blessed are they”; the referent (the watchful slaves, v. 37) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[15:4]  ⁴ tn Grk “What man.” The Greek word ἄνθρωπος (anqrwpo") is used here in a somewhat generic sense.

[15:4]  ⁵ sn This individual with a hundred sheep is a shepherd of modest means, as flocks often had up to two hundred head of sheep.

[15:4]  ⁶ tn Or “desert,” but here such a translation might suggest neglect of the 99 sheep left behind.

[15:4]  ⁷ tn Grk “go after,” but in contemporary English the idiom “to look for” is used to express this.

[15:4]  ⁸ sn Until he finds it. The parable pictures God’s pursuit of the sinner. On the image of Jesus as the Good Shepherd, see John 10:1-18.

[15:8]  ⁷ sn This silver coin is a drachma, equal to a denarius, that is, a day’s pay for the average laborer.

[15:8]  ⁸ tn Grk “What woman who has ten silver coins, if she loses.” The initial participle ἔχουσα (ecousa) has been translated as a finite verb parallel to ἀπολέσῃ (apolesh) in the conditional clause to improve the English style.

[15:8]  ⁹ tn Grk “one coin.”

[15:8]  ¹⁰ tn Grk “and sweep,” but καί (kai) has not been translated since English normally uses a coordinating conjunction only between the last two elements in a series of three or more.