Unexpected Thief

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A householder might be surprised by a thief, but those who know the Son of Man is coming need not be caught unawares.

Matt. 24:43-44; Luke 12:39-40

(Huck 158, 225; Aland 203, 296; Crook 239, 338)[1]

וּדְעוּ זוֹ שֶׁאִילּוּ יָדַע בַּעַל הַבַּיִת בְּאֵי זוֹ שָׁעָה הַגַּנָּב בָּא לֹא הָיָה מַנִיחַ אוֹתוֹ לַחְתֹּר בֵּיתוֹ וְאַתֶּם הֱיוּ מְעוּתָּדִים שֶׁבְּשָׁעָה שֶׁאַתֶּם לֹא סְבוּרִים בַּר אֱנָשׁ בָּא

“But know this: if the householder had known in what hour the thief was coming, he would not have allowed him to break into his house. Also you, be prepared, because Bar Enash comes in an hour you do not expect.”[2]

Reconstruction

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Conclusion

In Unexpected Thief Jesus compared the disciples’ ignorance of the timing of the Son of Man’s coming to a householder whose house was burgled because he did not know when the thief would come. The householder was unprepared for the thief, but the disciples who know that the Son of Man is coming need not be caught unawares.


Click here to return to The Life of Yeshua: A Suggested Reconstruction main page. _______________________________________________________
This illustration from Walters manuscript W.626 depicts an exchange between the owner of a house and a thief who makes a hole in the wall to break in, while pretending that he is playing drums. Image courtesy of the Walters Art Museum.

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  • Joshua N. Tilton

    Joshua N. Tilton

    Joshua N. Tilton studied at Gordon College in Wenham, Massachusetts, where he earned a B.A. in Biblical and Theological Studies (2002). Joshua continued his studies at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary in South Hamilton, Massachusetts, where he obtained a Master of Divinity degree in 2005. After seminary…
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    David N. Bivin

    David N. Bivin
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    David N. Bivin is founder and editor of Jerusalem Perspective. A native of Cleveland, Oklahoma, U.S.A., Bivin has lived in Israel since 1963, when he came to Jerusalem on a Rotary Foundation Fellowship to do postgraduate work at the Hebrew University. He studied at the Hebrew…
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