The lord of that servant shall come in a day when he looketh not for him, and in an hour that he is not aware of,
| Word | Greek | Strong’s | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| The lord | κύριος kurios | G2962 | supreme in authority · noun — nominative singular masculine |
| of | δούλου doulou | G1401 | a slave (literal or figurative · noun — genitive singular masculine |
| that | ἐκείνου ekeinou | G1565 | that one (or (neuter) thing) · demonstrative pronoun — genitive singular masculine |
| servant | δοῦλος doûlos | G1401 | a slave (literal or figurative |
| shall come | ἥξει hēxei | G2240 | to arrive · verb — future active indicative, 3rd person singular |
| in | ἐν en | G1722 | "in · preposition |
| a day | ἡμέρᾳ hēmera | G2250 | day · noun — dative singular feminine |
| when | ᾗ hē | G3739 | the relatively (sometimes demonstrative) pronoun · relative pronoun — dative singular feminine |
| he looketh | προσδοκᾷ prosdoka | G4328 | to anticipate (in thought · verb — present active indicative, 3rd person singular |
| not | οὐ ou | G3756 | the absolute negative (compare G3361 (μή)) adverb · particle — negative |
| for | προσδοκάω prosdokáō | G4328 | to anticipate (in thought |
| and | καὶ kai | G2532 | and · conjunction |
| in | ἐν en | G1722 | "in · preposition |
| an hour | ὥρᾳ hōra | G5610 | an "hour" (literally or figuratively) · noun — dative singular feminine |
| that | ᾗ hē | G3739 | the relatively (sometimes demonstrative) pronoun · relative pronoun — dative singular feminine |
| he is | γινώσκει, ginōskei | G1097 | to "know" (absolutely) in a great variety of applicatio… · verb — present active indicative, 3rd person singular |
| not | οὐ ou | G3756 | the absolute negative (compare G3361 (μή)) adverb · particle — negative |
| aware of | γινώσκω ginṓskō | G1097 | to "know" (absolutely) in a great variety of applicatio… |
Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
The lord of that servant,.... Not by redemption and grace, but by creation and profession, shall come in a day when he looked not for him, and in an hour that he is not aware of: suddenly and unexpectedly: such was his coming in wrath and vengeance on the Jewish nation; and such is his coming oftentimes by death; and such will be his coming at the day of judgment.
Matthew 24:43-51 Matthew 24:43-51 Mark 13:34-37 Luke 12:35-50 43. But know this, that if the householder had known at what hour the thief would come, he would certainly have watched, and would not have permitted his house to be broken into. 44. Therefore, be you also ready; because the Son of man will come at an hour when you are not aware. 45. Who is the faithful and wise servant, whom his master hath appointed over his household, to give them food in due season? 46. Blessed is that servant, whom his master, when he cometh, shall find acting in this manner. 47. Verily I say to you, He will appoint him [165] over all his property. 48. But if that wicked servant shall say in his heart, My…
Read the whole note in the consoleThis parable and the three that follow (25:1-13, 14-30, 31-46) each dramatize the need for faithful obedience during the delay of Jesus’ second coming. 24:45 servant: It is possible that Jesus’ listeners would have thought of God’s special servants, the prophets and lawgivers; however, Jesus so frequently used servant figuratively that it is more likely a description of every disciple’s responsibility (see 10:24-25; 13:27-28; 18:23-35; 20:26).
Henry, Jamieson-Fausset-Brown, Clarke, Gill, Calvin and Keil & Delitzsch are in the public domain; Tyndale Open Study Notes © Tyndale House Publishers, CC BY-SA 4.0 — all from the Free Use Bible API (bible.helloao.org). Rashi: the Rosenbaum & Silbermann Pentateuch (public domain) and the Judaica Press and Metsudah Tanakh (CC BY), via Sefaria. Spurgeon's Treasury of David: public domain (lyteword's markdown edition, CC0).
The Lord of that servant shall come in a day when he looketh not for Him, is to rouse the stewards to watchfulness and carefulness.
(Verse 50, 51.) The lord of that servant will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour he does not know, and he will divide him and place his portion with the hypocrites. There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. This teaches that they should know when the lord is not expected, then he will come, and it warns the stewards of vigilance and diligence. Furthermore, when it says he will divide him, it does not mean that he will cut him with a sword; but rather, that he will separate him from the company of the saints and place his portion with the hypocrites; namely, with those who were in the field and grinding, yet were still abandoned. We often say that a hypocrite is one thing, and another thing to show: just as it seemed to be doing the same thing in the field and in the mill, that is, the man of the church, but the outcome of different wills appeared.
(Ep. 199 in fin.) Putting aside this wicked servant, who, there is no doubt, hates his Master's coming, let us set before our eyes these good servants, who anxiously expect their Lord's coming. One looks for His coming sooner, another later, the third confesses his ignorance of the matter. Let us see which is most agreeable to the Gospel. One says, Let us watch and pray, because the Lord will quickly come; another, Let us watch and pray, because this life is short and uncertain, though the Lord's coming may be distant; and the third, Let us watch, because this life is short and uncertain, and we know not the time when the Lord will come. What else does this man say than what we hear the Gospel say, Watch, because ye know not the hour in which the Lord shall come? All indeed, through longing for the kingdom, desire that that should be true which the first thinks, and if it should so come to pass, the second and third would rejoice with him; but if it should not come to pass, it were to be feared that the belief of its supporters might be shaken by the delay, and they might begin to think that the Lord's coming shall be, not remote, but never. He who believes with the second that the Lord's coming is distant will not be shaken in faith, but will receive an unlooked for joy. He who confesses his ignorance which of these is true, wishes for the one, is resigned to the other, but errs in neither, because he neither affirms or denies either.
The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).
Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).
