Luke 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 

Isa 62:5; Jer 32:41; Zep 3:17; Mt 24:45-47; Mt 25:20-23; Lu 12:43; Lu 21:36; Joh 12:26; Joh 13:4,5; 1Co 2:9; Php 1:21,23; 2Ti 4:7,8; 1Pe 5:1-4; 2Pe 1:11; 2Pe 3:14; Re 3:21; Re 7:17; Re 14:3,4; Re 14:13

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.