21:34 “But be on your guard 4 so that your hearts are not weighed down with dissipation and drunkenness and the worries of this life, and that day close down upon you suddenly like a trap. 5
1 tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated.
2 tn Or “Be on guard.”
3 tn That is, “I am the Messiah.”
4 tn Grk “watch out for yourselves.”
sn Disciples are to watch out. If they are too absorbed into everyday life, they will stop watching and living faithfully.
5 sn Or like a thief, see Luke 12:39-40. The metaphor of a trap is a vivid one. Most modern English translations traditionally place the words “like a trap” at the end of v. 34, completing the metaphor. In the Greek text (and in the NRSV and REB) the words “like a trap” are placed at the beginning of v. 35. This does not affect the meaning.