Discovery BoxLuke 12:51-57 
Context12:51 Do you think I have come to bring peace on earth? No, I tell you, but rather division! 1 12:52 For from now on 2 there will be five in one household divided, three against two and two against three. 12:53 They will be divided, 3 father against son and son against father, mother against daughter and daughter against mother, mother-in-law against her daughter-in-law and daughter-in-law against mother-in-law.”
12:54 Jesus 4 also said to the crowds, “When you see a cloud rising in the west, 5 you say at once, ‘A rainstorm 6 is coming,’ and it does. 12:55 And when you see the south wind 7 blowing, you say, ‘There will be scorching heat,’ and there is. 12:56 You hypocrites! 8 You know how to interpret the appearance of the earth and the sky, but how can you not know how 9 to interpret the present time?
12:57 “And 10 why don’t you judge for yourselves what is right?
1 tn Or “hostility.” This term pictures dissension and hostility (BDAG 234 s.v. διαμερισμός).
2 sn From now on is a popular phrase in Luke: 1:48; 5:10; 22:18, 69; see Mic 7:6.
3 tn There is dispute whether this phrase belongs to the end of v. 52 or begins v. 53. Given the shift of object, a connection to v. 53 is slightly preferred.
4 tn Grk “He”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity. Here καί (kai) has been translated as “also” and δέ (de) has not been translated.
5 sn A cloud rising in the west refers to moisture coming from the Mediterranean Sea.
6 tn The term ὄμβρος (ombro") refers to heavy rain, such as in a thunderstorm (L&N 14.12).
7 sn The south wind comes from the desert, and thus brings scorching heat.
8 sn In Luke, the term hypocrites occurs here, in 6:42, and in 13:15.
9 tc Most
10 tn Jesus calls for some personal reflection. However, this unit probably does connect to the previous one – thus the translation of δέ (de) here as “And” – to make a good spiritual assessment, thus calling for application to the spiritual, rather than personal, realm.
