12:38

Some versions, such as the New International Version, order this verse differently than the Greek text. In Greek it literally says:

And if in the second or even in the third watch of the night he comes and finds them ⌊watching⌋ thus, blessed are those ⌊servants⌋.

The Berean Standard Bible follows this order. Use a natural order in your language.

12:38a

Even if he comes in the second or third watch of the night: The phrase second or third watch of the night refers to two periods of guard duty that lasted from near midnight until some time before dawn. During this time it would be increasingly difficult for the servants to keep awake.

If you have natural expressions in your language to refer to periods of guard duty during the night, you may use them here. Otherwise, you may use more general expressions of time. For example:

during the middle of the night, or near dawn (New Revised Standard Version)
-or-
even if it is midnight or later (New Century Version)

12:38b

finds them alert: The Greek phrase that the Berean Standard Bible translates as finds them alert is literally “finds thus.” The word “thus” refers back to 12:37a, where it makes explicit that the servants were awake and waiting for the master. Other ways to translate this are:

ready (New International Version, New Jerusalem Bible)
-or-
still waiting (New Century Version)
-or-
awake (Revised English Bible)

In some languages it may not be natural to repeat so soon the exact information that was given in 12:37a. Consider whether there is a natural way to indicate that something is being deliberately repeated for emphasis. One way to do this in English is:

⌊Yes,⌋ it will ⌊indeed⌋ be good for those servants whom the master finds watching like that!

See below for a suggestion on reordering these verses.

General Comment on 12:37–38

In some languages it may be more natural to change the order of information in these verses. For example:

37a/38aThose servants will be truly happy/fortunate when their master sees that they have been watching alertly for his return. 38bThey will be happy even if he returns in the middle of the night or later yet. 37bI assure you that their master will change his clothes. 37cHe will then have his servants sit down and serve them a meal.

Notice that in this example the statements in 12:37a and 12:38a have been combined to avoid repetition. This is a good option if the repetition is not natural in your language.

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