Luke 12:46

46 then the master will come back one day when the servant does not expect him and at a time he does not know. The master will cut him in pieces and make him share the fate of the disobedient.

Luke 12:46 Meaning and Commentary

Luke 12:46

The Lord of that servant will come in a day when he
looketh not for him
For, not coming as was expected, he gives over looking, and concludes he will not come at all; in which he will find himself mistaken, for he will come in the very day which is appointed, though men know not of it, and do not look for it:

and at an hour when he is not aware;
for as neither the day, nor hour of Christ's coming are known to any man, it becomes men to look for it every day and hour, lest it come upon them unawares; as it will, on such evil servants before described, with whom it will go ill, as follows:

and will cut him in sunder, and appoint him his portion with
unbelievers;
whose portion is the lake which burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death, ( Revelation 21:8 ) and by these are meant, not only the Heathens, who never heard of Christ; nor the Jews only, who disbelieved the Messiah, and rejected him when he came; but all deists and atheists, who deny revelation; even all unbelievers of, and scoffers at the coming of Christ, and who put away the evil day far from them; compare with this ( Job 20:29 ) (See Gill on Matthew 24:50), (See Gill on Matthew 24:51).

Luke 12:46 In-Context

44 Indeed, I tell you, the master will put that servant in charge of all his property.
45 But if that servant says to himself that his master is taking a long time to come back and if he begins to beat the other servants, both the men and the women, and eats and drinks and gets drunk,
46 then the master will come back one day when the servant does not expect him and at a time he does not know. The master will cut him in pieces and make him share the fate of the disobedient.
47 "The servant who knows what his master wants him to do, but does not get himself ready and do it, will be punished with a heavy whipping.
48 But the servant who does not know what his master wants, and yet does something for which he deserves a whipping, will be punished with a light whipping. Much is required from the person to whom much is given; much more is required from the person to whom much more is given.

Footnotes 1

  • [a]. cut him in pieces; [or] throw him out.
Scripture taken from the Good News Translation - Second Edition, Copyright 1992 by American Bible Society. Used by Permission.