Lukas 12:4-7

12:4 “I ¹  tell you, my friends, do not be afraid of those who kill the body, ²  and after that have nothing more they can do. 12:5 But I will warn ³  you whom you should fear: Fear the one who, after the killing, ⁴  has authority to throw you ⁵  into hell. ⁶  Yes, I tell you, fear him! 12:6 Aren’t five sparrows sold for two pennies? ⁷  Yet not one of them is forgotten before God. 12:7 In fact, even the hairs on your head are all numbered. Do not be afraid; ⁸  you are more valuable than many sparrows.

Lukas 21:12-19

21:12 But before all this, ⁹  they will seize ¹⁰  you and persecute you, handing you over to the synagogues ¹¹  and prisons. You ¹²  will be brought before kings and governors because of my name. 21:13 This will be a time for you to serve as witnesses. ¹³  21:14 Therefore be resolved ¹⁴  not to rehearse ¹⁵  ahead of time how to make your defense. 21:15 For I will give you the words ¹⁶  along with the wisdom ¹⁷  that none of your adversaries will be able to withstand or contradict. 21:16 You will be betrayed even by parents, ¹⁸  brothers, relatives, ¹⁹  and friends, and they will have some of you put to death. 21:17 You will be hated by everyone because of my name. ²⁰  21:18 Yet ²¹  not a hair of your head will perish. ²²  21:19 By your endurance ²³  you will gain ²⁴  your lives. ²⁵ 

[12:4]  ¹ tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated.

[12:4]  ² sn Judaism had a similar exhortation in 4 Macc 13:14-15.

[12:5]  ³ tn Grk “will show,” but in this reflective context such a demonstration is a warning or exhortation.

[12:5]  ⁴ sn The actual performer of the killing is not here specified. It could be understood to be God (so NASB, NRSV) but it could simply emphasize that, after a killing has taken place, it is God who casts the person into hell.

[12:5]  ⁵ tn The direct object (“you”) is understood.

[12:5]  ⁶ sn The word translated hell is “Gehenna” (γέεννα, geenna), a Greek transliteration of the Hebrew words ge hinnom (“Valley of Hinnom”). This was the valley along the south side of Jerusalem. In OT times it was used for human sacrifices to the pagan god Molech (cf. Jer 7:31; 19:5-6; 32:35), and it came to be used as a place where human excrement and rubbish were disposed of and burned. In the intertestamental period, it came to be used symbolically as the place of divine punishment (cf. 1 En. 27:2, 90:26; 4 Ezra 7:36).

[12:6]  ⁷ sn The pennies refer to the assarion, a small Roman copper coin. One of them was worth one sixteenth of a denarius or less than a half hour’s average wage. Sparrows were the cheapest thing sold in the market. God knows about even the most financially insignificant things; see Isa 49:15.

[12:7]  ⁸ sn Do not be afraid. One should respect and show reverence to God (v. 5), but need not fear his tender care.

[21:12]  ⁹ sn But before all this. Another note of timing is present, this one especially important in understanding the sequence in the discourse. Before the things noted in vv. 8-11 are the events of vv. 12-19.

[21:12]  ¹⁰ tn Grk “will lay their hands on you.”

[21:12]  ¹¹ sn Some of the persecution is of Jewish origin (the synagogues). Some fulfillment of this can be seen in Acts. See the note on synagogues in 4:15.

[21:12]  ¹² tn Because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, a new sentence was started here in the translation.

[21:13]  ¹³ tn Grk “This will turn out to you for [a] testimony.”

[21:14]  ¹⁴ tn Grk “determine in your hearts.”

[21:14]  ¹⁵ tn This term could refer to rehearsing a speech or a dance. On its syntax, see BDF §392.2.

[21:15]  ¹⁶ tn Grk “a mouth.” It is a metonymy and refers to the reply the Lord will give to them.

[21:15]  ¹⁷ tn Grk “and wisdom.”

[21:16]  ¹⁸ sn To confess Christ might well mean rejection by one’s own family, even by parents.

[21:16]  ¹⁹ tn Grk “and brothers and relatives,” but καί (kai) has not been translated twice here since English normally uses a coordinating conjunction only between the last two elements in a series of three or more.

[21:17]  ²⁰ sn See Luke 6:22, 27; 1 Cor 1:25-31.

[21:18]  ²¹ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “yet” to indicate the contrast present in this context.

[21:18]  ²² sn Given v. 16, the expression not a hair of your head will perish must be taken figuratively and refer to living ultimately in the presence of God.

[21:19]  ²³ sn By your endurance is a call to remain faithful, because trusting in Jesus is the means to life.

[21:19]  ²⁴ tc Some important Greek witnesses plus the majority of mss (א D L W Ψ Ë¹ Ï) read the aorist imperative κτήσασθε (kthsasqe) here, though some mss (A B Θ Ë¹³ 33 pc lat sa) read the future indicative κτήσεσθε (kthsesqe). A decision is difficult because the evidence is so evenly balanced, but the aorist imperative is the harder reading and better explains the rise of the other. J. A. Fitzmyer assesses the translation options this way: “In English one has to use something similar [i.e., a future indicative], even if one follows the [aorist imperative]” (Luke [AB], 2:1341); in the same vein, although this translation follows the aorist imperative, because of English requirements it has been translated as though it were a future indicative.

[21:19]  ²⁵ tn Grk “your souls,” but ψυχή (yuch) is frequently used of one’s physical life. In light of v. 16 that does not seem to be the case here. The entire phrase could be taken as an idiom meaning “you will save yourselves” (L&N 21.20), or (as in v. 18) this could refer to living ultimately in the presence of God.