Luke 12:39 (YLT)

Passage

`And this know, that if the master of the house had known what hour the thief doth come, he would have watched, and would not have suffered his house to be broken through;

Nearby Context

Luke 12:37 `Happy those servants, whom the lord, having come, shall find watching; verily I say to you, that he will gird himself, and will cause them to recline (at meat), and having come near, will minister to them;

Luke 12:38 and if he may come in the second watch, and in the third watch he may come, and may find <FI>it<Fi> so, happy are those servants.

Luke 12:39 `And this know, that if the master of the house had known what hour the thief doth come, he would have watched, and would not have suffered his house to be broken through;

Luke 12:40 and ye, then, become ye ready, because at the hour ye think not, the Son of Man doth come.'

Luke 12:41 And Peter said to him, `Sir, unto us this simile dost thou speak, or also unto all?'

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "master", "house", "known", "hour", "thief", "doth", "come", and "watched". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "master" and "house", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 38's "and if he may come in the..." into verse 40's "and ye then become ye ready because...", so "master" and "house" belong inside that flow. In Luke context, the local focus is Christ, faith, and discipleship.

A plain takeaway is to answer the verse's own emphasis on "master" and "house" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.