St Luke 12:32-40
The treasure of the kingdom
12:32 “Do not be afraid, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom.
12:33 Sell your possessions and give alms. Make purses for yourselves that do not wear out, an unfailing treasure in heaven, where no thief comes near and no moth destroys.
12:34 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
12:35 “Be dressed for action and have your lamps lit;
12:36 be like those who are waiting for their master to return from the wedding banquet, so that they may open the door for him as soon as he comes and knocks.
12:37 Blessed are those slaves whom the master finds alert when he comes; truly I tell you, he will fasten his belt and have them sit down to eat, and he will come and serve them.
12:38 If he comes during the middle of the night or near dawn and finds them so, blessed are those slaves.
12:39 “But know 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, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.”
[32] Μὴ φοβοῦ τὸ μικρὸν ποίμνιον· ὅτι εὐδόκησεν ὁ πατὴρ ὑμῶν δοῦναι ὑμῖν τὴν βασιλείαν.
[33] πωλήσατε τὰ ὑπάρχοντα ὑμῶν καὶ δότε ἐλεημοσύνην. ποιήσατε ἑαυτοῖς βαλλάντια μὴ παλαιούμενα, θησαυρὸν ἀνέκλειπτον ἐν τοῖς οὐρανοῖς, ὅπου κλέπτης οὐκ ἐγγίζει οὐδὲ σὴς διαφθείρει·
[34] ὅπου γάρ ἐστιν ὁ θησαυρὸς ὑμῶν, ἐκεῖ καὶ ἡ καρδία ὑμῶν ἔσται.
[35] ῎Εστωσαν ὑμῶν αἱ ὀσφύες περιεζωσμέναι καὶ οἱ λύχνοι καιόμενοι·
[36] καὶ ὑμεῖς ὅμοιοι ἀνθρώποις προσδεχομένοις τὸν κύριον ἑαυτῶν, πότε ἀναλύσει ἐκ τῶν γάμων, ἵνα ἐλθόντος καὶ κρούσαντος εὐθέως ἀνοίξωσιν αὐτῷ.
[37] μακάριοι οἱ δοῦλοι ἐκεῖνοι, οὓς ἐλθὼν ὁ κύριος εὑρήσει γρηγοροῦντας. ἀμὴν λέγω ὑμῖν ὅτι περιζώσεται καὶ ἀνακλινεῖ αὐτούς, καὶ παρελθὼν διακονήσει αὐτοῖς.
[38] καὶ ἐὰν ἔλθῃ ἐν τῇ δευτέρᾳ φυλακῇ καὶ ἐν τῇ τρίτῃ φυλακῇ ἔλθῃ καὶ εὕρῃ οὕτω, μακάριοί εἰσιν οἱ δοῦλοι ἐκεῖνοι.
[39] τοῦτο δὲ γινώσκετε ὅτι εἰ ᾔδει ὁ οἰκοδεσπότης ποίᾳ ὥρᾳ ὁ κλέπτης ἔρχεται, ἐγρηγόρησεν ἂν καὶ οὐκ ἂν ἀφῆκε διορυγῆναι τὸν οἶκον αὐτοῦ.
[40] καὶ ὑμεῖς οὖν γίνεσθε ἕτοιμοι· ὅτι ᾗ ὥρᾳ οὐ δοκεῖτε ὁ υἱὸς τοῦ ἀνθρώπου ἔρχεται.
Comments
Rhetorically and grammatically, Jesus brings out the eager expectation, and the certainty, of his return.
[32] τὸ μικρὸν ποίμνιον: the noun ποίμνιον (‘flock esp. of sheep’: cl. Gk, see LSJ s.v. I) is used in a fig. sense here. It is modified by the adj. μικρὸν (‘little, small’), and takes an article here (τὸ). The noun is in the nomin. case, which in Attic (i.e., cl. Gk) and the NT can serve as a vocative (Blass-Debr.-Funk, par. 147, pp. 81 f.).
[33] πωλήσατε: 2nd pers. pl.. aor. imperat., πωλέω, ‘I sell’ (cl. Gk: LSJ s.v. 1; synonyms: πέρνημι, πιπράσκω).
[36] προσδεχομένοις: προσδέχομαι, ‘I await, expect’ (already in Homer: LSJ s.v. III); also in LXX (‘look forward to’, c. acc.: Muraoka s.v., 5). The servants are eager for the return of their master.
ἀναλύσει: 3rd pers. sg., fut., ἀναλύω, ‘I return to the point of origin’, a koine meaning found already in LXX (Muraoka s.v., 3).
ἐκ τῶν γάμων: genit. pl.; γάμοι (‘weddings’) in cl. Gk, as here, can mean ‘wedding banquet’.
[38] ἐὰν ἔλθῃ ἐν τῇ δευτέρᾳ φυλακῇ καὶ ἐν τῇ τρίτῃ φυλακῇ ἔλθῃ: lit., ‘if he comes at the second watch and at the third watch if he comes’ is a chiasmus (or chiaston), a crosswise arrangement, an inversion of parallel phrases (AB ~ BA). Here this rhetorical device emphasises the idea of the master’s return.
[40] ἔρχεται: ‘is coming/ comes’ (ὅτι ᾗ ὥρᾳ οὐ δοκεῖτε ὁ υἱὸς τοῦ ἀνθρώπου ἔρχεται, lit., ‘for at what time you do not expect that the Son of Man is coming’, i.e. ‘you do not expect at what time…’). ‘Is coming’ is a prophetic pres., as also in v. 39, ποίᾳ ὥρᾳ ὁ κλέπτης ἔρχεται, lit., ‘at what time the thief is coming’. Such a present expresses futurity as an absolute certainty (I have discussed this in other comments.)
Insights into Biblical Greek Grammar and Syntax 