Luke 12:40

Greek (Tischendorf 8th ed.)

English Translation

Therefore be ready also, for the Son of Man is coming in an hour that you don't expect him."

World English Bible · Public Domain

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ἕτοιμοι

hétoimos

G2092

“ready”

Adjective, Nominative, Plural, Masculine

Appears 17× in the Greek New Testament
First appears at Matthew 22:4

Full Thayer's Definition

Origin: from an old noun heteos (fitness)

TDNT: 13:44,3

1. prepare ready a. of things 1. ready at hand 2. opportune, seasonable b. of persons 1. ready prepared 1b c. to do something 1b d. to receive one coming

About this verse

These counts appear in no published source. They are computed here, from the morphology-tagged text and Lemma’s own curated glosses. What Lemma adds →

14: words
13: distinct lemmas
Gospels: section

Notable vocabulary

The rarest word here is ἕτοιμοι ready G2092 — appearing just 17 times in the whole Greek New Testament.

Shared distinctive vocabulary

ἕτοιμοι ready G2092 occurs in 17 verses of the Greek New Testament. Also found in:

Repetition

A word recurs within this verse:

ὁ the G3588 ×2

Cross-references

Topical passages linked to Luke 12:40 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge — connected by theme and wording, ordered by reader-vote popularity; previews shown in the World English Bible.

1 Thessalonians 5:6 so then let's not sleep, as the rest do, but let's watch and be sober.
Matthew 25:13 Watch therefore, for you don't know the day nor the hour in which the Son of Man is coming.
Matthew 24:44 Therefore also be ready, for in an hour that you don't expect, the Son of Man will come.
Romans 13:11 Do this, knowing the time, that it is already time for you to awaken out of sleep, for salvation is now nearer to us than when we first believed.
2 Peter 3:12–14 looking for and earnestly desiring the coming of the day of God, by reason of which the heavens being on fire will be dissolved, and the elements will melt with fervent heat?
Revelation 19:7 Let us rejoice and be exceedingly glad, and let us give the glory to him. For the marriage of the Lamb has come, and his wife has made herself ready."
Matthew 24:42 Watch therefore, for you don't know in what hour your Lord comes.
Mark 13:33–36 Watch, keep alert, and pray; for you don't know when the time is.

Luke 21:34–36 "So be careful, or your hearts will be loaded down with carousing, drunkenness, and cares of this life, and that day will come on you suddenly.
Romans 13:14 But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, for its lusts.

Cross-references courtesy of OpenBible.info (CC BY 4.0).

Where the printed editions differ

1 variant

Places in this verse where the major printed Greek editions disagree on the wording in a way that affects the translation — a comparison of editions, not a manuscript-by-manuscript collation. The editions are the modern critical texts (Nestlé-Aland 28/27, SBL, Westcott-Hort, Tregelles, Tyndale House) and the traditional texts behind the KJV (the Textus Receptus and the Byzantine/Majority text). It is not a claim about which reading is original.

Extra text

οὖν

“therefore”

In TRByz Not in NA28NA27TynSBLWHTreg

οὖν (oun) 'therefore' is only in traditional manuscripts (TR+Byz)

Textual data: Translators Amalgamated Greek New Testament (STEPBible TAGNT) · CC BY 4.0.

Commentary

Notes on Luke 12:40 from classic Christian and Jewish commentators (each source and its license shown beneath its notes). The classic Christian expositions comment on the surrounding passage and are grouped to its opening verse, so a note may address several verses; the Jewish commentaries on the Tanakh (Rashi and others) are per-verse, so they appear only where the commentator wrote on this verse.

Lemma curates 59 commentaries, every one of them public domain or Creative Commons licensed, each selected and text-cleaned for this edition rather than reprinted as found. About our sources →

Tyndale Open Study Notes

Tyndale Open Resources

12:40 the Son of Man will come: See “The Son of Man” Theme Note.

Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Geneva Bible (1599)

Geneva Bible translators

None have more need to watch, than they that have some degree of honor in the household of God.

Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain. Text via Bolls.life.

Adam Clarke's Commentary

Verse 40. Be ye therefore ready also] It is pretty evident that what is related here, from verse 35 to 49, Lu 12:35-49 was spoken by our Lord at another time. See Mt 24:42, &c., and the notes there.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

John Gill's Exposition

Then Peter said unto him, Lord,.... The Syriac, Persic, and Ethiopic versions read, "our Lord":

speakest thou this parable: of the master at the wedding, and his servants waiting for him, or of the housekeeper watching that his house be not broken up, or both:

unto us, or unto all? Peter was in doubt whether the above discourse was peculiarly directed to them, the apostles, as containing special instructions to them in the discharge of the ministerial work; or whether it was designed for all his disciples and followers, both in the present age, and in time to come, to the end of the world.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Trapp's Complete Commentary

John Trapp

40 Be ye therefore ready also: for the Son of man cometh at an hour when ye think not.

Ver. 40. Be ye therefore ready] See Mat 24:46; {See Trapp on "Mat 24:46"}

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Whedon's Commentary on the Bible

Daniel D. Whedon

40. Cometh… hour… think not—The language is now literal. The judgment day lies in the unknown future. It may be to-day; it may be myriads of years hence. We may be mistaken in placing it nearer than it is, or making it more distant. Even our interpretations of those prophecies which seem to us at the present time to indicate that the day is distant, may be wrong; for prophecy is designedly obscure, in accordance with the law that the future must be profoundly hid from mortal knowledge. But, on the other hand, near two thousand years have passed since these warnings of our Lord were given, and those were certainly mistaken who have, during every age from the apostles to the present day, fixed the time as to be in their own generation. On this very subject it is that the apostle warns us that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years. (See 2Pe_3:8.) This night of the master’s absence is to be measured by the chronology of eternity, by the arithmetic of infinity; for it is the eternal and infinite One that speaks. Yet it is plain from many scriptures that when the Lord does come it will be upon an unsuspecting world.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Scofield Reference Notes

C. I. Scofield

Son of man

(See Scofield "Mat 8:20").

The Scofield Reference Bible (1917 edition), notes by C. I. Scofield — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Lesson kit

Teaching starters — assembled from the data on this page, not authored interpretation. Every prompt links to the verse data it draws on. Edit before teaching.

Luke, in the Gospels, opens this verse with 14 words (13 distinct Greek lemmas). Its most distinctive word is hétoimos (“ready”). A historical commentator’s framing appears above. Read the whole chapter for the surrounding context.

Discussion questions

How does “ready” (hétoimos) shape what this verse is saying?
Matthew 22:4 shares the word «ready» with this verse. How do the two illuminate each other?
“the” occurs 2× in this one verse. What is the effect of the repetition?
These translations render this verse differently; the difference is in the English rendering, not the original. What questions does that raise?
Reading how Tyndale Open Study Notes and Geneva Bible (1599) read this verse, where do the two commentators agree and where do they part?

Things to notice

These translations choose different wording for 12 words in this verse.
“the” occurs 2× in this single verse.
13 distinct Greek lemmas span 14 words in this verse.