Luke 12:38

Even if he comes in the second or third watch of the night ¹  and finds them alert, ²  blessed are those slaves! ³ 

Mt 25:6; 1Th 5:4,5

¹ sn The second or third watch of the night would be between 9 p.m. and 3 a.m. on a Roman schedule and 10 p.m. to 6 a.m. on a Jewish schedule. Luke uses the four-watch schedule of the Romans in Acts 12:4, so that is more probable here. Regardless of the precise times of the watches, however, it is clear that the late-night watches when a person is least alert are in view here.

² tn Grk “finds (them) thus”; but this has been clarified in the translation by referring to the status (“alert”) mentioned in v. 37.

³ tn Grk “blessed are they”; the referent (the watchful slaves, v. 37) has been specified in the translation for clarity.