Verse Lens · Concise explanation
Luke 12:39 Explained in Context
Use this verse as a doorway into the larger passage—not as an isolated saying.
Verse 39. 39And this know, that if the goodman of the house had known what hour the thief would come, he would have watched, and not have suffered his house to be broken through.
King James Version — public domain in the United States · Bible text and permissions
Quick Meaning
Luke 12:39 marks the selected action or claim in Luke 12:35–12:48 at Luke 12:39: “And this know, that if the goodman of the house had known what hour the thief would come, he would have watched, and not have suffered his house to be broken through”.
Read It With
- Luke 12:35–12:48
Read Luke 12:39 with 12:35–12:48. Luke 12:39 marks the selected action or claim in Luke 12:35–12:48 at Luke 12:39: “And this know, that if the goodman of the house had known what hour the thief would come, he would have watched, and not have suffered his house to be broken through”. The complete unit's controlling movement is: Ready servants await a returning master who astonishingly serves them; Peter asks the audience question, and the steward story distinguishes faithful provision, abusive delay, and accountability proportionate to knowledge.
Why This Verse Appears Here
Luke 12:39 marks the selected action or claim in Luke 12:35–12:48 at Luke 12:39: “And this know, that if the goodman of the house had known what hour the thief would come, he would have watched, and not have suffered his house to be broken through”. This selected detail moves Luke 12:35–12:48 from its initiating question or action toward the unit's response and prepares Luke's next movement.
What Remains True
Luke 12:39 marks the selected action or claim in Luke 12:35–12:48 at Luke 12:39: “And this know, that if the goodman of the house had known what hour the thief would come, he would have watched, and not have suffered his house to be broken through”. Read inside Luke 12:35–12:48, this contribution supports the unit's proportionate truth: Ready servants await a returning master who astonishingly serves them; Peter asks the audience question, and the steward story distinguishes faithful provision, abusive delay, and accountability proportionate to knowledge. Its use remains accountable to affected people and the unit's explicit boundary.
How It Can Shape Life
- When teaching Luke 12:39, explain this exact contribution inside Luke 12:35–12:48, identify the unit's source-controlled uncertainty, and refuse this misuse before proposing action: The parable does not authorize slavery, leader violence, abusive discipline, date-setting, or punishing people for knowledge they were denied.
Continue in Context
The full thought-unit study remains the final contextual authority for this Verse Lens.
Read Luke 12:35–12:48 — Watchful Servants Face Proportionate AccountabilitySources used for this Verse Lens
How certain is this explanation? strong
These are the sources used directly for this lens. Language, grammar, disagreements, and the complete source shelf remain attached to the full thought-unit research record.
Biblical text
King James (Authorized) Version — eng-kjv2006
eBible.org and CrossWire Bible Society
USFM archive eng-kjv2006_usfm.zip; source files dated 2026-08-19; downloaded 2026-08-24; archive SHA-256 aec1b3b26c622fd3d963d2bbac963016b9513246ffbfa20da00bb100372ea007; normalized corpus SHA-256 09aef51d90488aa7b9722b3fd9a93f4b25f6bf2064c5fd798fb39673c300ddf2.
Supports: Exact displayed KJV wording, verse order, paragraph metadata, supplied-word markup, and coverage.
Exact location: Luke 12:35–12:48, pinned eng-kjv2006 USFM-derived repository corpus
Open source ↗Greek textual evidence
The Greek New Testament: SBL Edition
Michael W. Holmes, editor; Society of Biblical Literature and Logos
Society of Biblical Literature and Logos Bible Software, 2010
Supports: Greek wording and sentence relations; the edition is not treated as a complete apparatus.
Exact location: Faithlife SBLGNT official repository, data/sblgnt/text/Luke.txt, 12:35–12:48
Open the Luke Greek text file ↗open translation and translator notes
NET Bible First Edition Notes: Luke
Biblical Studies Press
Biblical Studies Press, 2006
Supports: Verse-level translation, syntax, KJV-language clarification, historical notes, Synoptic parallels, and textual alternatives.
Exact location: NET Bible First Edition Luke PDF, exact tn/tc/sn entries attached to Luke 12:35–12:48
Open source ↗