The punishment (Lk 12:46-12:46)

“The master

Of that slave

Will come

On a day

When he does not

Expect him,

At an hour

He does not know.

He will severely

Beat him.

He will put him

With the unfaithful.”

 

ἥξει ὁ κύριος τοῦ δούλου ἐκείνου ἐν ἡμέρᾳ ᾗ οὐ προσδοκᾷ καὶ ἐν ὥρᾳ ᾗ οὐ γινώσκει, καὶ διχοτομήσει αὐτὸν, καὶ τὸ μέρος αὐτοῦ μετὰ τῶν ἀπίστων θήσει.

 

Luke indicated that Jesus said that the master or lord of this slave would come (ἥξει ὁ κύριος τοῦ δούλου ἐκείνου) on a day (ἐν ἡμέρᾳ) when this slave did not expect him (ᾗ οὐ προσδοκᾷ), and at an unknown hour (καὶ ἐν ὥρᾳ ᾗ οὐ γινώσκει).  The lord would severely beat him (καὶ διχοτομήσει αὐτὸν) and put him with the unfaithful slaves (καὶ τὸ μέρος αὐτοῦ μετὰ τῶν ἀπίστων θήσει).  This parable about the wicked slave is similar to Matthew, chapter 24:50-51, perhaps indicating a Q source.  Matthew had Jesus say that the master of this slave came on a day when he was not expecting him, at an unknown hour (ἥξει ὁ κύριος τοῦ δούλου ἐκείνου ἐν ἡμέρᾳ ᾗ οὐ προσδοκᾷ καὶ ἐν ὥρᾳ ᾗ οὐ γινώσκει).  This master would beat him severely (καὶ διχοτομήσει αὐτὸν) and put him with the hypocrites (καὶ τὸ μέρος αὐτοῦ μετὰ τῶν ὑποκριτῶν θήσει), where there would be weeping (ἐκεῖ ἔσται ὁ κλαυθμὸς) and gnashing of teeth (καὶ ὁ βρυγμὸς τῶν ὀδόντων).  The non-vigilant slave would suffer disaster, not like the good slave.  Matthew added the elements about gnashing of teeth and mourning with weeping.  Would you be the good slave or the bad slave?

The blind leading the blind (Lk 6:39-6:39)

“Jesus also told them

A parable.

‘Can a blind person

Lead a blind person?

Will not both fall

Into a pit?’”

 

Εἶπεν δὲ καὶ παραβολὴν αὐτοῖς Μήτι δύναται τυφλὸς τυφλὸν ὁδηγεῖν; οὐχὶ ἀμφότεροι εἰς βόθυνον ἐμπεσοῦνται;

 

Something similar to this can be found in Matthew, chapter 15:14, when Jesus responded to his disciples about the Pharisees.  He said that these Pharisees were blind guides of blind people.  It was as if one blind person was guiding or leading another blind person, since both would fall into an open pit.  Here Luke said that Jesus was speaking more generically in a parable (Εἶπεν δὲ καὶ παραβολὴν αὐτοῖς), but the message was the same.  He asked can a blind person lead another blind person (Μήτι δύναται τυφλὸς τυφλὸν ὁδηγεῖν)?  Will not both of them fall into a pit (οὐχὶ ἀμφότεροι εἰς βόθυνον ἐμπεσοῦνται)?  Have you ever been a blind person leading other blind people to a disaster?

 

The wicked slave (Mt 24:48-24:51)

“But if that wicked slave

Says to himself.

‘My master is delayed.’

He begins to beat

His fellow slaves.

He eats

And drinks

With drunkards.

The master

Of that slave

Will come

On a day

When he does not expect him,

At an hour

That he does not know.

He will beat him severely

He will put him

With the hypocrites.

There will be weeping

And gnashing of teeth.”

 

ἐὰν δὲ εἴπῃ ὁ κακὸς δοῦλος ἐκεῖνος ἐν τῇ καρδίᾳ αὐτοῦ Χρονίζει μου ὁ κύριος,

καὶ ἄρξηται τύπτειν τοὺς συνδούλους αὐτοῦ, ἐσθίῃ δὲ καὶ πίνῃ μετὰ τῶν μεθυόντων,

ἥξει ὁ κύριος τοῦ δούλου ἐκείνου ἐν ἡμέρᾳ ᾗ οὐ προσδοκᾷ καὶ ἐν ὥρᾳ ᾗ οὐ γινώσκει,

καὶ διχοτομήσει αὐτὸν καὶ τὸ μέρος αὐτοῦ μετὰ τῶν ὑποκριτῶν θήσει· ἐκεῖ ἔσται ὁ κλαυθμὸς καὶ ὁ βρυγμὸς τῶν ὀδόντων.

 

This parable about the wicked slave is similar to Luke, chapter 12:44-47, with a little more elaboration in Luke, where the good slave became the wicked slave.  Jesus said that this wicked slave thought in his heart (ἐὰν δὲ εἴπῃ ὁ κακὸς δοῦλος ἐκεῖνος ἐν τῇ καρδίᾳ) that his master was delayed (Χρονίζει μου ὁ κύριος).  Then he began to beat up his fellow slaves (καὶ ἄρξηται τύπτειν τοὺς συνδούλους αὐτοῦ).  He ate and drank with the drunkards (ἐσθίῃ δὲ καὶ πίνῃ μετὰ τῶν μεθυόντων).  Then the master of this slave came on a day when he was not expecting him, at an unknown hour (ἥξει ὁ κύριος τοῦ δούλου ἐκείνου ἐν ἡμέρᾳ ᾗ οὐ προσδοκᾷ καὶ ἐν ὥρᾳ ᾗ οὐ γινώσκει).  This master would beat him severely (καὶ διχοτομήσει αὐτὸν) and put him with the hypocrites (καὶ τὸ μέρος αὐτοῦ μετὰ τῶν ὑποκριτῶν θήσει), where there would be weeping (ἐκεῖ ἔσται ὁ κλαυθμὸς) and gnashing of teeth (καὶ ὁ βρυγμὸς τῶν ὀδόντων).  The non-vigilant slave would suffer disaster, not like the good slave.

Against the small towns in Judah (Mic 1:10-1:12)

“Tell it not in Gath!

Weep not at all

In Beth-leaphrah!

Roll yourselves in the dust!

Inhabitants of Shaphir!

Pass on your way

In nakedness and shame!

The inhabitants of Zaanan

Do not come forth

From their town.

Beth-ezel is wailing.

They shall remove its support

From you.

The inhabitants of Maroth

Wait anxiously

For good.

Yet disaster has come down

From Yahweh

To the gates of Jerusalem.”

In a play on words, Micah wailed against 10 small Judean towns near where he lived.  One of the largest towns mentioned was the old Philistine town of Gath that King Uzziah (781-740 BCE) had conquered.  Micah used the same terminology as in 2 Samuel, chapter 1, about Gath, since there should be no weeping for that town.  Then Micah turned to 5 small towns that are difficult to determine where they were.  Beth-leaphrah literally means rolling around in dust.  Shaphir literally means the fair one.  Thus, the good-looking people of this town of Shaphir should keep going in their naked shame.  On the other hand, the people of Zaanan did not come out to fight from their town.  Beth-ezel was mourning and not supporting Yahweh.  The people of Maroth were waiting anxiously for something good to happen.  Yet Yahweh sent a disaster that went as far as the gates of Jerusalem.

Yahweh is the cause (Am 3:6-3:8)

“Is a trumpet

Blown in a city,

With the people not afraid?

Does disaster befall a city,

Unless Yahweh has done it?

Surely Yahweh God

Does nothing,

Without revealing

His secret

To his servants,

The prophets.

The lion has roared,

Who will not fear?

Yahweh God

Has spoken.

Who can but prophesy?”

It turns out that the cause of everything is Yahweh. If a trumpet blows in a city, the people are afraid. No disaster comes to a city, unless Yahweh had decided to make it happen. However, Yahweh God revealed his secrets to his servants, the prophets. When the lion roared, people were afraid. Thus, when Yahweh speaks, the prophets must prophesize.

Darius the Mede takes over (Dan 5:31-5:31)

“Darius,

The Mede,

Received

The kingdom.

He was about

Sixty-two years old.”

There is a lot of conjecture about this Darius, the Mede. The Medes joined with the Babylonians to overthrow the Assyrians. They came under Persian power around 550 BCE. Cyrus of Persia was the real power that conquered Babylon in 539 BCE. This Darius appears to be based on Darius I (522-486 BCE), the third Persian Emperor, not a contemporary of Cyrus or Daniel. Nevertheless, this was the end of the great Babylonian empire. Thus, ends the story of the great dinner party that finished in a disaster for the king, because he had dared to drink wine from the sacred vessels of the Jerusalem Temple.

The distress of everybody (Ezek 7:25-7:27)

“When anguish comes,

They will seek peace.

But there shall be none.

Disaster comes

Upon disaster.

Rumor follows

Rumor.

They shall keep

Seeking a vision

From the prophet.

Instruction shall perish

From the priest.

Counsel shall fail

From the elders.

The king mourns.

The prince shall be

Wrapped in despair.

The hands

Of the people

Of the land

Shall tremble.

According to their way,

I will deal with them.

According to their own judgments

I will judge them.

They shall know

That I am Yahweh.”

Yahweh concluded this oracle or vision to Ezekiel. In these times of trouble, they would seek peace, but there would be none. Disaster would come upon disaster. Rumor would follow rumor. They would keep looking for a vision from their prophets, but none would come. The priests would fail to instruct them. Counsel from the elders would fail. The king would mourn. The princes would be in despair. The hands of the land people would tremble. According to their ways, Yahweh would deal with them. According to their own judgments, Yahweh would judge them. They would know that Yahweh God was in charge. He was Yahweh.

The end has come (Ezek 7:5-7:7)

“Thus says Yahweh God!

‘Disaster after disaster!

See!

It comes!

An end has come!

The end has come!

It has awakened

Against you!

See!

It comes!

Your doom has

Come to you!

O inhabitant of the land!

The time has come!

The day is near!

The day of tumult!

This is not a day

Of reveling

On the mountains.’”

Yahweh continued with his message of doom to Ezekiel. The end time has come upon them with disaster after disaster. In case Ezekiel did not get the message, Yahweh repeated himself again and again. The end has come! They are doomed. The inhabitants of the land should realize that their time has come to an end because the end day is near. This day was full of tumult, not for reveling on the mountains.

Scatter Elam (Jer 49:36-49:38)

“‘I will bring upon Elam

The four winds,

From the four quarters

Of heaven.

I will scatter them

To all those winds.

There shall be

No nation to which

The exiles from Elam

Shall not come.

I will terrify Elam

Before their enemies,

Before those

Who seek their life.

I will bring disaster

Upon them.

With my fierce anger.’

Says Yahweh.

‘I will send the sword

After them,

Until I have consumed them.

I will set my throne

In Elam.

I will destroy their king

With their officials.’

Says Yahweh.”

Yahweh was going to cast the Elamites to the 4 winds from 4 different directions. They were going to be scattered to practically every country on the earth. They would be terrified before their enemies who wanted to kill them. There is no mention of a specific enemy, even though disaster would fall upon them. The sword would come upon them until all of them, with their king and his officials, were destroyed. Yahweh would then take their throne. This looks like a complete wipeout.

Protection of Baruch (Jer 45:4-45:5)

“Thus you shall say to him.

‘Thus says Yahweh!

I am going to break down,

What I have built.

I am plucking up

What I planted,

The whole land!

You!

Do you seek great things

For yourself!

Do not seek them!

I am going to bring disaster

Upon all flesh.’

Says Yahweh.

‘But I will give you

Your life

As a prize of war

In every place

To which you may go.’”

Yahweh, via Jeremiah, said that he was breaking down and plucking up from the sacred Promised Land that he had planted. He did not want Baruch to seek great things for himself. Yahweh was going to bring disaster on all humans. However, he was going to save Baruch. He was going to let him live, wherever he went, as a prize of war.