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 12:46

12:46 then the master of that slave will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour he does not foresee, and will cut him in two, ⁸  and assign him a place with the unfaithful. ⁹ 

Luke 16:3

16:3 Then ¹⁰  the manager said to himself, ‘What should I do, since my master is taking my position ¹¹  away from me? I’m not strong enough to dig, ¹²  and I’m too ashamed ¹³  to beg.

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¹ tn See the note on the word “slave” in 7:2.

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

³ tn Grk “Truly (ἀμήν, amhn), I say to you.”

⁴ tn See v. 35 (same verb).

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.

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

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.

⁸ tn The verb διχοτομέω (dicotomew) means to cut an object into two parts (L&N 19.19). This is an extremely severe punishment compared to the other two later punishments. To translate it simply as “punish” is too mild. If taken literally this servant is dismembered, although it is possible to view the stated punishment as hyperbole (L&N 38.12).

⁹ tn Or “unbelieving.” Here the translation employs the slightly more ambiguous “unfaithful,” which creates a link with the point of the parable – faithfulness versus unfaithfulness in servants. The example of this verse must be taken together with the examples of vv. 47-48 as part of a scale of reactions with the most disobedient response coming here. The fact that this servant is placed in a distinct group, unlike the one in vv. 47-48, also suggests ultimate exclusion. This is the hypocrite of Matt 24:51.

¹⁰ tn Here δέ (de) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events in the parable.

¹¹ tn Grk “the stewardship,” “the management.”

¹² tn Here “dig” could refer (1) to excavation (“dig ditches,” L&N 19.55) or (2) to agricultural labor (“work the soil,” L&N 43.3). In either case this was labor performed by the uneducated, so it would be an insult as a job for a manager.

¹³ tn Grk “I do not have strength to dig; I am ashamed to beg.”

sn To beg would represent a real lowering of status for the manager, because many of those whom he had formerly collected debts from, he would now be forced to beg from.