What Does Luke 12:39 Mean in the King James?
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 analysis reads the King James wording.
King James Version The King James Version, first published in 1611. Selah Verse shows the standard text.
THE KEY
The verb translated “suffered” also names release and forgiveness, so the breach begins at what the keeper allows to pass.
THE MEANING
You do not know the hour of the breach, so readiness cannot depend on seeing danger approach. The verse places the opening in what the householder allows: an unwatched house can be broken into.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
The belief that readiness begins only when danger becomes visible is undone: this image locates the decisive opening before the thief arrives.
THE ROOT
ἀφῆκεν
aphēken
GROWS FROM
ἀφίημι (ἀπό + ἵημι)
To send away, let go, or leave; in context, to allow or permit.
Here “suffered” carries its sense of permitting: the keeper lets the breach through. The same Greek verb family can describe releasing a debt as forgiveness, joining an open gate and a let-go under one seed.
ALSO GROWS
forgiveness: Release, remission, or forgiveness.
ἄφεσις
This noun from the same word family shows how release becomes forgiveness; the verse uses the verb’s sense of allowing or leaving.
left: Having left or let go.
ἀφέντες
In Matthew 4:20, the same verb family describes leaving nets behind; here it describes what the keeper allows to happen to the house.
THE PATTERN
An unknown hour makes ongoing watchfulness the difference between a guarded house and an opening for loss.
A prudent man foreseeth the evil, and hideth himself; but the simple pass on, and are punished.But know this, that if the goodman of the house had known in what watch the thief would come, he would have watched, and would not have suffered his house to be broken up.Therefore let us not sleep, as do others; but let us watch and be sober.THE THREAD
And forgive us our sins; for we also forgive every one that is indebted to us. And lead us not into temptation; but deliver us from evil.The Greek verb translated “suffered” here belongs to the same word family translated “forgive” in Luke 11:4. In both verses, the language turns on what is released or let go.
Read the SDV Bible.
Every verse has a Deep Dive in the app.
The iPhone Bible app with the Selah Decoded Version.
Does something in this reading look wrong? Tell us