Luke 12


Luke 12 is the twelfth chapter of the Gospel of Luke in the New Testament of the Christian Bible. It records a number of teachings and parables told by Jesus Christ when "an innumerable multitude of people had gathered together", but addressed "first of all" to his disciples. The book containing this chapter is anonymous, but early Christian tradition uniformly affirmed that Luke composed this Gospel as well as the Acts of the Apostles.

Text

The original text was written in Koine Greek. This chapter is divided into 59 verses.

Textual witnesses

Some early manuscripts containing the text of this chapter are:
Scottish minister William Robertson Nicoll suggests this is "the largest crowd mentioned anywhere in the Gospels" but Jesus speaks "first of all" to his disciples, only turning to the multitude in verses 14-21, in response to a question from someone in the crowd, and again in verses 54-59. Peter asks whether the parable of the faithful servant is addressed solely to the disciples or to the wider multitude.
The Jerusalem Bible notes that an alternative reading would connect the word "first" with the succeeding statement: First of all, be on your guard.... Protestant commentator Heinrich Meyer likewise argues that "πρῶτον, before all, is to be taken with προσέχετε"; it does not belong to what precedes".
Nicoll calls this passage an "exhortation to fearless utterance".

Verse 2

This verse matches

Parable of the Rich Fool

Among the canonical gospels of the New Testament, this parable of Jesus appears only in Luke's Gospel. The parable reflects the foolishness of attaching too much importance to wealth. It is introduced by a member of the crowd listening to Jesus, who tries to enlist Jesus' help in a family financial dispute:
J. B. Lightfoot, Kuinoel, and others note and emphasise that he was "certainly no attendant of Jesus". Meyer observes that he was "a Jew on whom the endowments and authority of Jesus produced such an impression that he thought he might be able to make use of Him in the matter of his inheritance", but considers that "whether he was a younger brother who grudged to the first-born his double share of the inheritance... must be left in doubt".
An abbreviated version of the parable appears in the non-canonical Gospel of Thomas.
The parable has been depicted by artists such as Rembrandt, Jan Luyken, James Tissot, and David Teniers the Younger.

Do Not Worry

Seek the kingdom of God

Verse 31

Similarly in, with a slightly longer text: ''Seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.

Verse 34

Cross reference:
In the book "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows" by J. K. Rowling, it is written that the inscription on the tombstone of Ariana Dumbledore reads "Where your treasure is, there will your heart be also". This is taken from the King James Version of Luke 12:34 or, which are identical.

I came to bring fire to the earth

Verse 49

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges makes reference to an ‘unwritten saying’ of Christ, He who is near me is near the fire, which is recorded by Ignatius, Origen and Didymus.

Make peace with your adversary

The final verses of the chapter make use of an illustration based on a pecuniary claim heard before the magistrates' bench :

Verse 57