Luke 12 is the 12th

chapter Chapter or Chapters may refer to: Books * Chapter (books), a main division of a piece of writing or document * Chapter book, a story book intended for intermediate readers, generally age 7–10 * Chapters (bookstore), Canadian big box bookstore ...

of the

Gospel of Luke The Gospel of Luke is the third of the New Testament's four canonical Gospels. It tells of the origins, Nativity of Jesus, birth, Ministry of Jesus, ministry, Crucifixion of Jesus, death, Resurrection of Jesus, resurrection, and Ascension of ...

in the

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of the

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. It records a number of teachings and

parables A parable is a succinct, didactic story, in prose or verse, that illustrates one or more instructive lessons or principles. It differs from a fable in that fables employ animals, plants, inanimate objects, or forces of nature as characters, whe ...

told by

Jesus Jesus (AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ, Jesus of Nazareth, and many Names and titles of Jesus in the New Testament, other names and titles, was a 1st-century Jewish preacher and religious leader. He is the Jesus in Chris ...

Christ Jesus ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ, Jesus of Nazareth, and many other names and titles, was a 1st-century Jewish preacher and religious leader. He is the Jesus in Christianity, central figure of Christianity, the M ...

when "an innumerable multitude of people had gathered together", but addressed "first of all" to his

disciples A disciple is a follower and student of a mentor, teacher, or other figure. It can refer to: Religion * Disciple (Christianity), a student of Jesus Christ * Twelve Apostles of Jesus, sometimes called the Twelve Disciples * Seventy disciples in t ...

.Halley, Henry H. ''Halley's Bible Handbook'': an Abbreviated Bible Commentary. 23rd edition. Zondervan Publishing House. 1962. The book containing this chapter is

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, but early Christian tradition uniformly affirmed that

Luke the Evangelist Luke the Evangelist was one of the Four Evangelists—the four traditionally ascribed authors of the canonical gospels. The Early Church Fathers ascribed to him authorship of both the Gospel of Luke and the Acts of the Apostles. Prominent figu ...

composed this

Gospel Gospel originally meant the Christianity, Christian message ("the gospel"), but in the second century Anno domino, AD the term (, from which the English word originated as a calque) came to be used also for the books in which the message w ...

as well as the

Acts of the Apostles The Acts of the Apostles (, ''Práxeis Apostólōn''; ) is the fifth book of the New Testament; it tells of the founding of the Christian Church and the spread of The gospel, its message to the Roman Empire. Acts and the Gospel of Luke make u ...

.Holman Illustrated Bible Handbook. Holman Bible Publishers, Nashville, Tennessee. 2012.

Text

The original text was written in

Koine Greek Koine Greek (, ), also variously known as Hellenistic Greek, common Attic, the Alexandrian dialect, Biblical Greek, Septuagint Greek or New Testament Greek, was the koiné language, common supra-regional form of Greek language, Greek spoken and ...

. Some early manuscripts containing the text of this chapter are: *

Papyrus 75 Papyrus 75 (formerly Papyrus Bodmer XIV– XV, now Hanna Papyrus 1), is an early Greek New Testament manuscript written on papyrus containing text from the Gospel of Luke 3:18–24:53, and John 1:1–15:8. It is designated by the siglum in the ...

(AD 175–225) *

Papyrus 45 Papyrus 45 (''P. Chester Beatty'' I) is an early Greek New Testament manuscript written on papyrus, and is one of the manuscripts comprising the Chester Beatty Papyri, a group of early Christian manuscripts discovered in the 1930s, and purchase ...

(~250) *

Codex Vaticanus The Codex Vaticanus ( The Vatican, Bibl. Vat., Vat. gr. 1209), is a manuscript of the Greek Bible, containing the majority of the Old Testament and the majority of the New Testament. It is designated by siglum B or 03 in the Gregory-Aland numb ...

(325–350) *

Codex Sinaiticus The Codex Sinaiticus (; Shelfmark: London, British Library, Add MS 43725), also called the Sinai Bible, is a fourth-century Christian manuscript of a Greek Bible, containing the majority of the Greek Old Testament, including the deuterocanonica ...

(330–360) *

Codex Bezae The Codex Bezae Cantabrigiensis is a bi-lingual Greek and Latin manuscript of the New Testament written in an uncial hand on parchment. It is designated by the siglum D or 05 in the Gregory-Aland numbering of New Testament manuscripts, and � ...

(~400) *

Codex Washingtonianus Codex Washingtonianus, Codex Washingtonensis, Codex Freerianus, also called the ''Washington Manuscript of the Gospels'', ''The Freer Gospel'' and ''The Freer Codex'', is a Greek uncial manuscript of the four Gospels, written on parchment. It is de ...

(~400) *

Codex Alexandrinus The Codex Alexandrinus (London, British Library, Royal MS 1. D. V-VIII) is a manuscript of the Greek Bible,The Greek Bible in this context refers to the Bible used by Greek-speaking Christians who lived in Egypt and elsewhere during the early ...

(400–440) *

Codex Ephraemi Rescriptus The Codex Ephraemi Rescriptus (Paris, National Library of France, Greek 9) is a manuscript of the Greek Bible, written on parchment. It is designated by the siglum C or 04 in the Biblical manuscript#Gregory-Aland, Gregory-Aland numbering of New ...

(~450; extant verses 1–3) This chapter is divided into 59 verses.

Hypocrisy and the fear of God

Scottish minister

William Robertson Nicoll Sir William Robertson Nicoll (10 October 18514 May 1923) was a Scottish Free Church of Scotland (1843-1900), Free Church minister (religion), minister, journalist, editor in chief, editor, and man of letters. Biography Nicoll was born in Lums ...

calls this passage (verses 1–12) an "exhortation to fearless utterance".Nicoll, W. R.
Expositor's Greek Testament
on Luke 12, accessed 19 June 2018

Henry Alford Henry Alford may refer to: *Henry Alford (theologian) (1810–1871), English churchman, theologian, poet and writer :* Alford's Law, his rule for Biblical interpretation * Henry Alford (police officer) (1816–1892), South Australian mounted policem ...

suggests that this discourse consists "for the most part of sayings repeated from other occasions".Alford, H.
Greek Testament Critical Exegetical Commentary - Alford
on Luke 12, accessed 10 January 2022

An innumerable multitude

:''In the meantime, when an innumerable multitude of people had gathered together so that they trampled one another, He began to say to His disciples first of all, "Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy".'' Nicoll suggests that this is "the largest crowd mentioned anywhere in the Gospels" but Jesus speaks "first of all" to his

, only turning to the multitude in verses 14–21, in response to a question from someone in the crowd, and again in verses 54–59.

Peter Peter may refer to: People * List of people named Peter, a list of people and fictional characters with the given name * Peter (given name) ** Saint Peter (died 60s), apostle of Jesus, leader of the early Christian Church * Peter (surname), a su ...

asks (at verse 41) whether the parable of the faithful servant is addressed solely to the disciples or to the wider multitude (παντας, ''pantas'': 'everyone'). The

Jerusalem Bible ''The Jerusalem Bible'' (JB or TJB) is an English translation of the Bible published in 1966 by Darton, Longman & Todd. As a Catholic Bible, it includes 73 books: the 39 books shared with the Hebrew Bible, along with the seven deuterocanonical ...

notes that an alternative reading would connect the word "first" with the succeeding statement: ''First of all, be on your guard ...'' (, ''proton prosechete eautois''). Protestant commentator

Heinrich Meyer Heinrich August Wilhelm Meyer (10 January 1800 – 21 June 1873) was a German Protestant divine. He wrote commentaries on the New Testament and published an edition of that book. Biography Meyer was born in Gotha. He studied theology at Jena, was ...

likewise argues that "πρῶτον, ''before all'', is to be taken with προσέχετε"; it does not belong to what precedes".Meyer, H. A. W. (1880)
Meyer's N T Commentary
on Luke 12, accessed 23 June 2018 The

Matthew Bible ''The Matthew Bible'', also known as ''Matthew's Version'', was first published in 1537 by John Rogers, under the pseudonym "Thomas Matthew". It combined the New Testament of William Tyndale, and as much of the Old Testament as he had been abl ...

(1537) and Ruth Magnusson Davis' New Matthew Bible translation (2016) pick up this reading: :''... he began and said to his disciples, "First of all, beware of the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy".''

Verse 2

:''For there is nothing covered that will not be revealed, nor hidden that will not be known.'' This verse matches : :''For nothing is secret that will not be revealed, nor anything hidden that will not be known and come to light.'' Eric Franklin suggests that, in particular, it is Pharisaic hypocrisy which will be revealed, while David Robert Palmer translates the initial words of this verse, οὐδὲν δέ, ''ouden de'', as "But there is nothing ...", arguing that "the particle δέ is meant to make a contrast here, between hypocrisy, in verse 1, and the disclosure of verse 2".

Verse 3

:''Therefore whatever you have spoken in the dark will be heard in the light, and what you have spoken in the ear in inner rooms will be proclaimed on the housetops.'' In

Matthew Matthew may refer to: * Matthew (given name) * Matthew (surname) * ''Matthew'' (album), a 2000 album by rapper Kool Keith * Matthew (elm cultivar), a cultivar of the Chinese Elm ''Ulmus parvifolia'' Christianity * Matthew the Apostle, one of ...

's wording, Jesus speaks in the darkness and exhorts his disciples subsequently to reveal what he has said ( Matthew 10:27). Luke's version has the disciples speaking in the darkness. Nicoll compares these versions:

Parable of the Rich Fool

Among the

canonical gospels Gospel originally meant the Christian message (" the gospel"), but in the second century AD the term (, from which the English word originated as a calque) came to be used also for the books in which the message was reported. In this sen ...

of the

, this parable of Jesus appears only in Luke's Gospel. The parable reflects the foolishness of attaching too much importance to wealth. It is introduced by a member of the crowd listening to Jesus, who tries to enlist Jesus' help in a family financial dispute:

Joel B. Green Joel B. Green (born May 7, 1956) is an American New Testament scholar, theologian, author, Associate Dean of the Center for Advanced Theological Study, and Professor of New Testament Interpretation at Fuller Theological Seminary in Pasadena, C ...

,
The Gospel of Luke
', Eerdmans, 1997, , pp. 487–491. :''One of the multitude said to him, "Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me.''

J. B. Lightfoot Joseph Barber Lightfoot (13 April 1828 – 21 December 1889), known as J. B. Lightfoot, was an English theologian and Bishop of Durham. Life Lightfoot was born in Liverpool, where his father John Jackson Lightfoot was an accountant. His m ...

, Kuinoel ( :de:Christian Gottlieb Kühnöl), and others note and emphasise that he was "certainly no attendant of Jesus". Meyer observes that he was "a Jew on whom the endowments and authority of Jesus produced such an impression that he thought he might be able to make use of Him in the matter of his

inheritance Inheritance is the practice of receiving private property, titles, debts, entitlements, privileges, rights, and obligations upon the death of an individual. The rules of inheritance differ among societies and have changed over time. Offi ...

", but considers that "whether he was a younger brother who grudged to the first-born his double share of the inheritance ... must be left in doubt". An abbreviated version of the parable appears in the

non-canonical The adjective canonical is applied in many contexts to mean 'according to the canon' the standard, rule or primary source that is accepted as authoritative for the body of knowledge or literature in that context. In mathematics, ''canonical exampl ...

Gospel of Thomas The Gospel of Thomas (also known as the Coptic Gospel of Thomas) is a non-canonical Logia, sayings gospel. It was discovered near Nag Hammadi, Egypt, in 1945 among a group of books known as the Nag Hammadi library. Scholars speculate the works ...

(Saying 63) with a longer version similar to Luke's in

Papyrus Oxyrhynchus 5575 Papyrus Oxyrhynchus 5575 (abbreviated as P. Oxy. 5575) is a second century papyrus fragment of multiple Gospels: Matthew, Luke, and Thomas. It is the oldest extant fragment from the Gospel of Thomas and comes from the era of Early Christianity bef ...

. The parable has been depicted by artists such as

Rembrandt Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn (; ; 15 July 1606 – 4 October 1669), mononymously known as Rembrandt was a Dutch Golden Age painter, printmaker, and Drawing, draughtsman. He is generally considered one of the greatest visual artists in ...

(illustrated),

Jan Luyken Johannes or Jan Luyken (16 April 1649 – 5 April 1712) was a Dutch poet, illustrator, and engraving, engraver.

James Tissot Jacques Joseph Tissot (; 15 October 1836 – 8 August 1902), better known as James Tissot ( , ), was a French painter, illustrator, and caricaturist. He was born to a drapery merchant and a milliner and decided to pursue a career in art at a y ...

, and

David Teniers the Younger David Teniers the Younger or David Teniers II (bapt. 15 December 1610 – 25 April 1690) was a Flemish Baroque painter, printmaker, draughtsman, miniaturist painter, staffage painter, copyist and art curator. He was an extremely versatile artist ...

Do not worry

Verse 29

: ''And seek not ye what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink, neither be ye of doubtful mind.''

Seek the kingdom of God

Verse 31

: ''But rather seek ye the kingdom of God; and all these things shall be added unto you.'' Similarly in Matthew 6:33, with a slightly longer text: ''Seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.''

Verse 34

:''For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.''

Parable of the faithful servant

A series of exhortations to watchfulness and Luke's version of the parable of the faithful servant are contained in verses 35–48. The "master" ( ὁ κύριος) is portrayed as being "away at a wedding", but "the main thought here only is that he is away at a feast, and will return".

I came to bring fire to the earth

Verse 49

:''"I came to bring fire to the earth, and how I wish it were already kindled!"'' F. W. Farrar, in the

Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges is a biblical commentary set published in 56 volumes by Cambridge University Press between 1878 and 1918. Many volumes went through multiple reprintings, while some volumes were also revised, usually by ...

, makes reference to an ‘unwritten saying’ of Christ, ''He who is near me is near the fire'', which is recorded by

Ignatius Ignatius is a male given name and a surname. Notable people with the name include: Given name Religious * Ignatius of Antioch (35–108), saint and martyr, Apostolic Father, early Christian bishop * Patriarch Ignatius of Constantinople, Ignati ...

Origen Origen of Alexandria (), also known as Origen Adamantius, was an Early Christianity, early Christian scholar, Asceticism#Christianity, ascetic, and Christian theology, theologian who was born and spent the first half of his career in Early cent ...

and Didymus.

Make peace with your adversary

The final verses of the chapter (verses 57–59) make use of an illustration based on a pecuniary claim heard before the magistrates' bench (, ''archonta'', a Lukan word also appearing four times in the Acts of the Apostles):

Verse 57

:''Even of yourselves, do you not judge what is right?'' NKJV

References

External links

* King James Bible - Wikisource
English Translation with Parallel Latin Vulgate''Online Bible'' at GospelHall.org
(ESV, KJV, Darby, American Standard Version,

Bible in Basic English The ''Bible In Basic English'' (also known as the ''BBE'') is a translation of the Bible into Basic English. The BBE was translated by Professor S. H. Hooke using the standard 850 Basic English words. 100 words that were helpful to understand ...

)
Multiple bible versions at ''Bible Gateway''
(NKJV, NIV, NRSV etc.) {{Gospel of Luke Gospel of Luke chapters

Text

Hypocrisy and the fear of God

An innumerable multitude

Verse 2

Verse 3

Parable of the Rich Fool

Do not worry

Verse 29

Seek the kingdom of God

Verse 31

Verse 34

Parable of the faithful servant

I came to bring fire to the earth

Verse 49

Make peace with your adversary

Verse 57

See also

References

External links