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 17:8

17:8 Won’t ⁸  the master ⁹  instead say to him, ‘Get my dinner ready, and make yourself ready ¹⁰  to serve me while ¹¹  I eat and drink. Then ¹²  you may eat and drink’?

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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 question includes a Greek particle, οὐχί (ouci), that expects a positive reply. The slave is expected to prepare a meal before eating himself.

⁹ tn Grk “he”; the referent has been specified in the translation for clarity.

¹⁰ tn Grk “and gird yourself” (with an apron or towel, in preparation for service).

¹¹ tn BDAG 423 s.v. ἕως 2.b, “to denote contemporaneousness as long as, while… w. subjunctive… Lk 17:8.”

¹² tn Grk “after these things.”