Lukas 12:3

12:3 So then ¹  whatever you have said in the dark will be heard in the light, and what you have whispered ²  in private rooms ³  will be proclaimed from the housetops. ⁴ 

Lukas 11:35

11:35 Therefore see to it ⁵  that the light in you ⁶  is not darkness.

Lukas 12:38

12:38 Even if he comes in the second or third watch of the night ⁷  and finds them alert, ⁸  blessed are those slaves! ⁹ 

[12:3]  ¹ tn Or “because.” Understanding this verse as a result of v. 2 is a slightly better reading of the context. Knowing what is coming should impact our behavior now.

[12:3]  ² tn Grk “spoken in the ear,” an idiom. The contemporary expression is “whispered.”

[12:3]  ³ sn The term translated private rooms refers to the inner room of a house, normally without any windows opening outside, the most private location possible (BDAG 988 s.v. ταμεῖον 2).

[12:3]  ⁴ tn The expression “proclaimed from the housetops” is an idiom for proclaiming something publicly (L&N 7.51). Roofs of many first century Jewish houses in Judea and Galilee were flat and had access either from outside or from within the house. Something shouted from atop a house would be heard by everyone in the street below.

[11:35]  ⁵ tn This is a present imperative, calling for a constant watch (L&N 24.32; ExSyn 721).

[11:35]  ⁶ sn Here you is a singular pronoun, individualizing the application.

[12:38]  ⁷ 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.

[12:38]  ⁸ tn Grk “finds (them) thus”; but this has been clarified in the translation by referring to the status (“alert”) mentioned in v. 37.

[12:38]  ⁹ tn Grk “blessed are they”; the referent (the watchful slaves, v. 37) has been specified in the translation for clarity.