Verse Lens · Expanded explanation
Luke 12:58 Explained in Context
Use this verse as a doorway into the larger passage—not as an isolated saying.
Verse 58. 58When thou goest with thine adversary to the magistrate, as thou art in the way, give diligence that thou mayest be delivered from him; lest he hale thee to the judge, and the judge deliver thee to the officer, and the officer cast thee into prison.
King James Version — public domain in the United States · Bible text and permissions
Quick Meaning
Luke 12:58 urges settlement before coercive judgment without hiding crimes or overriding survivor safety.
They can read clouds and wind, yet miss the present crisis
This verse is one part of that explanation in Luke 12:54–12:59. The complete section carries the connected meaning and how it should shape life.
Read It With
- Luke 12:54–12:59
Read Luke 12:58 with 12:54–12:59. In isolation, this contribution—urges settlement before coercive judgment without hiding crimes or overriding survivor safety—can be detached from its speaker, audience, scene or teaching sequence, and outcome. The complete unit establishes: Jesus contrasts weather reading with failure to interpret the present crisis, calls hearers to judge what is right, and urges settlement before a dispute reaches coercive judgment.
Follow the Context
- Identify the actors, setting, and initiating speech or action in Luke 12:54–12:59.
- Jesus contrasts weather reading with failure to interpret the present crisis, calls hearers to judge what is right, and urges settlement before a dispute reaches coercive judgment.
- Hold this material interpretive limit in view: The legal image urges urgent reconciliation under judgment but does not provide a universal rule for criminal cases, abuse, or situations where private settlement hides harm.
What This Verse Is Not Saying
This verse does not detach its specific contribution—urges settlement before coercive judgment without hiding crimes or overriding survivor safety—from the complete unit or override the unit's explicit boundary: The teaching does not require survivors to meet abusers privately, bypass courts, hide crime, or treat every disaster as a prophetic timetable.
What Remains True
Luke 12:58 urges settlement before coercive judgment without hiding crimes or overriding survivor safety. Read inside Luke 12:54–12:59, this contribution supports the unit's proportionate truth: Jesus contrasts weather reading with failure to interpret the present crisis, calls hearers to judge what is right, and urges settlement before a dispute reaches coercive judgment. Its use remains accountable to affected people and the unit's explicit boundary.
Continue in Context
Read the complete section for the connected explanation and how it should shape life. This verse is a doorway into that passage, not a saying that stands alone.
Read Luke 12:54–12:59 — Discern the Present and Seek SettlementSources used for this Verse Lens
How certain is this explanation? probable
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 12:54–12:59, 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, 12:54–12:59
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 12:54–12:59
Open source ↗