Luke Chapter 12 verse 13 Holy Bible
And one out of the multitude said unto him, Teacher, bid my brother divide the inheritance with me.
read chapter 12 in ASV
And one of the people said to him, Master, give an order to my brother to make division of the heritage with me.
read chapter 12 in BBE
And a person said to him out of the crowd, Teacher, speak to my brother to divide the inheritance with me.
read chapter 12 in DARBY
And one of the company said unto him, Master, speak to my brother, that he divide the inheritance with me.
read chapter 12 in KJV
read chapter 12 in WBT
One of the multitude said to him, "Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me."
read chapter 12 in WEB
And a certain one said to him, out of the multitude, `Teacher, say to my brother to divide with me the inheritance.'
read chapter 12 in YLT
Pulpit Commentary
Pulpit CommentaryVerse 13. - And one of the company said unto him, Master, speak to my brother, that he divide the inheritance with me. Apparently there was a pause here in the Lord's teaching. The Master was about to enter on a new subject, and at this juncture one of the crowd, waiting for such a break in the Master's discourse, came forward with a question. It was purely connected with his own selfish interests, He seems to have been a younger brother, discontented with the distribution of the family property, of which, most likely, in accordance with the usual Jewish practice, a double portion had been taken by the elder brother. This was likely enough the point which he submitted to the Lord. Such a reference to a scribe and rabbi of eminence was then not uncommon. Jesus, however, here, as on other occasions (see John 8:3-11), firmly refuses to interfere in secular matters. His work was of another and higher kind. The word he addresses to the questioner has in it a tinge of rebuke. The utter selfish worldliness of the man, who, after hearing the solemn and impressive words just spoken, could intrude such a question, comes strongly into view. Was not this poor unimpressionable Jew, so wrapped up in his own paltry concerns that he had no thought or care for loftier things, perhaps a specimen of most of the material upon whom the Lord had to work? Is he an unknown figure in our day and time?
Ellicott's Commentary
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers(13) And one of the company.--Better, one of the multitude. The request implied a recognition of our Lord's character as a scribe or Rabbi, but it was for the purpose of asking Him to assume that office in its purely secular aspect. As interpreters of the Law, the scribes were appealed to as advocates and arbitrators in questions of property or marriage. The precise nature of the case is not stated here, but the words of the petitioner suggest that he was a younger son, who, on his father's death, claimed from his elder brother more than the share which, according to the usual practice of a double portion for the first-born (2Kings 2:9), of right belonged to him, and expected apparently a full moiety.