Luke 12 - Indepthbible.org

2563 2564 2565person, who appointed me a judge or an executor of your estates?” 12.15 Then he said2561(...continued)969) The problem is still relevant in our modern world, where questions of inheritance, and thedivision of parental properties still trouble and divide families.2562Marshall comments that “The situation is that of a man whose elder brother refused togive him his share of their father’s inheritance...It was possible, and may even have beenconsidered desirable, for the heirs to a property to live together and so keep it intact...In this casethe younger brother apparently wanted to separate off his own share of the inheritance and beindependent. Such disputes were settled by appeal to rabbis on the basis of existing law...Thesituation is thus typically Palestinian.” (P. 522)The biblical texts involved are Deuteronomy 21:15-17; Numbers 27:1-11 and 36:7-9.See the Mishnaic tractate Baba Bathra 8:1-9:10. In this tractate, all sorts of conflicting situationsin cases of inheritance are discussed, as these biblical statements are taken to be the basicguide-lines, but do not resolve all of the arising problems. These are technical matters for judgesand arbiters or dividers to decide, but oftentimes only with great difficulty.The noun klhronomi,a, “inheritance,” occurs some 240 times in the Greek Bible, while theverb klhronoew, “to inherit,” occurs some 197 times, and the noun klhrono,moj, “heir,” occurssome 21 times. In the overall teaching of the Bible, the astounding offer of God to all people tobecome His “inheritors,” regardless of wealth or position in this life, is central. With such a richinheritance, all other earthly possessions pale in comparison.2563Fitzmyer calls this use of “O person” a “rebuking term, implying aloofness.” (2, p. 969)2564The phrase krith.n h' meristh,n, “a judge or a divider” is read by P75, Sinaiticus,Vaticanus, L, Uncial Manuscript 070, Families 1 and 13 of Minuscules, Minuscules 33, 579,700, 892, 1241, 2542, a few other Greek manuscripts and some manuscripts of the SahidicCoptic.It is changed to read dikasth.n h' meristh,n, “a judge (using a synonym for krith,n) or adivider,” by Alexandrinus, Q, W, Theta, Psi and the “Majority Text.”It is shortened to only the one word krith,n by Bezae.It is shortened to only the one word dikasth,n by Minuscule 28 and a few other Greekmanuscripts.Marcion read krith,n, but had the variant reading dikasth,n.These variant readings do not change the meaning of Luke.2565Gilmour notes that “Rabbis were experts on the civil regulations of the law as well as onits religious, ethical, cultic, and criminal ordinances. Jesus’ refusal to arbitrate in the dispute is(continued...)1241