Discovery BoxLuke 12:37 
Context12:37 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 12:43
Context12:43 Blessed is that slave 8 whom his master finds at work 9 when he returns.
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.”
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 See the note on the word “slave” in 7:2.
9 tn That is, doing his job, doing what he is supposed to be doing.
