Tool Beta
The Ancient World Behind the Text
Pick a passage anywhere in the New Testament. See the customs and ideas a first reader knew without being told.
Luke 12:35-48, Slaves waiting up for the master
Jesus tells his followers to be dressed for action with lamps lit, like slaves waiting for their master to come home from a wedding, and asks what a slave left in charge will do if the master is delayed.
Luke 12:35-48, in every translation this tool compares.
Jesus tells his followers to stay dressed for work with their lamps lit, like household slaves awake for their master's return from a wedding, and says the master will reverse the roles and wait on the faithful ones himself. The Son of Man's arrival will be unannounced, like a burglar's. When Peter asks who the story is for, Jesus describes a steward left in charge, rewarded if he is found at his job, but punished hard if he abuses the other servants and drinks while his master is away.
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- {"u":"https:\/\/jayms.com\/bible-study-tools-2\/ancient-world-ideas\/betrothal-and-weddings\/","n":"Betrothal and the wedding feast","s":"A betrothal was a binding marriage contract made months before the couple lived together. The wedding that completed it was a week-long feast.","r":""}
- {"u":"https:\/\/jayms.com\/bible-study-tools-2\/ancient-world-ideas\/son-of-man\/","n":"The Son of Man","s":"Plain Aramaic for a human being, and also the figure in Daniel 7 who comes on the clouds and receives a kingdom. It is Jesus' favorite way of speaking about himself in the Gospels.","r":""}
- {"u":"https:\/\/jayms.com\/bible-study-tools-2\/ancient-world-ideas\/parables\/","n":"Parables and riddles","s":"Short stories that compared one thing to another. Jewish teachers used them to make a point plain, and without the point stated they worked as riddles.","r":""}
Tucked-up robes recall Israel ready to leave Egypt (Exodus 12:11; Keener and his notes). Wedding celebrations could run late into the night, and well-to-do houses kept slave porters at the door (Keener and his notes). Apart from one Roman festival that briefly turned the social order upside down, slaves always served masters and never the reverse (Keener's notes); Keener says plainly that "masters' serving slaves was unheard-of." Here the night is counted in the Jewish three watches, not the Roman four (Keener). A steward was a high-level slave who handed out the household's rations, and such slaves could outrank free peasants in power and pay (Keener and his notes; Blomberg). Stories of a master away and those left behind tempted were common, and cutting a man in pieces was a punishment Luke's readers would find horrifying (Keener and his notes); commentators differ on whether it is meant literally here (Strauss). Lighter punishment for sins of ignorance is found in the Dead Sea Scrolls, and the Wisdom of Solomon warns that "the lowliest may be pardoned in mercy, but the mighty will be mightily tested" (Strauss).
- NIV Cultural Backgrounds Study Bible, notes on Luke 12:35, 12:36, 12:37, 12:42, 12:45 and 12:46
- Craig S. Keener, The IVP Bible Background Commentary: New Testament, on Luke 12:35, 12:36, 12:37, 12:38, 12:42, 12:43-44, 12:45 and 12:46
- Craig L. Blomberg, Interpreting the Parables, 6.5 Faithful and Unfaithful Servants
- Mark L. Strauss, Luke, in Zondervan Illustrated Bible Backgrounds Commentary, ed. Clinton E. Arnold, on Luke 12:38, 12:39, 12:46, 12:47 and 12:48
