54
Then Jesus said to the crowds, “As soon as you see a cloud rising in the west, you say, ‘A shower is coming,’ and that is what happens.
Berean Standard Bible · CC0
Greek — tap a word ↓
de Elegen kai tois ochlois Hotan eutheōs idēte tēn nephelēn anatellousan epi dysmōn legete hoti Ombros erchetai kai houtōs ginetai
Word by word20 · parsed
√ δέ — but, and, etcConjunction
√ ἔπω — to speak or say (by word or writing)VerbImperfect Indicative Active3rd Person Singular
legō / epō: to say (Imperfect) The imperfect “was saying” presents the words as ongoing address, not a single aside: a closing appeal, as Pulpit reads it, to a listening and largely unmoved multitude.
√ καί — and, also, even, so then, too, etcConjunction
kai: also Untranslated in the BSB; it signals the widening of the audience from disciples to crowds.
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleDative Masculine Plural
√ ὄχλος — a throng (as borne along)NounDative Masculine Plural
ochlos: crowd, throng Plural, “the crowds.” Luke has kept the vast crowd in view since 12:1 (“many thousands”). JFB calls this “a word of special warning to the thoughtless crowd, before dismissing them.”
√ ὅταν — whenever (implying hypothesis or more or less uncertainty)Conjunction
hotan: whenever Indefinite-general: every time it happens, you do this. It describes a settled habit of reading signs.
√ εὐθέως — directly, iAdverb
√ ὁράω — by extension, to attend toVerbAorist Subjunctive Active2nd Person Plural
horaō: to see (Aorist Subjunctive) The aorist subjunctive after hotan names the moment of seeing; recognition is instant. The contrast at v. 56 will be between that instant reading and a refusal to read.
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleAccusative Feminine Singular
√ νεφέλη — properly, cloudiness, iNounAccusative Feminine Singular
nephelē: cloud With the article: the known cloud. In Luke the cloud is also the vehicle of divine presence (9:34 to 35) and of the Son of Man’s coming (21:27); here it is only weather, which is the point: they read the ordinary cloud and miss the one standing before them.
√ ἀνατέλλω — to (cause to) ariseVerbPresent Participle ActiveAccusative Feminine Singular
anatellō: to rise, spring up (Present Participle) A relatively rare verb (in 9 verses). It is used of the sun rising (Matthew 5:45), of light dawning on those in darkness (Matthew 4:16), and of the Lord who “sprang from Judah” (Hebrews 7:14). Here it is the humble rising of a rain cloud; the canon uses the same verb for the arising of the Messiah the crowd fails to discern.
√ ἐπί — properly, meaning superimposition (of time, place, order, etcPreposition
√ δυσμή — the sun-set, iNounGenitive Feminine Plural
dysmē: setting (of the sun), west Rare (in 5 verses). Cambridge notes that in Hebrew the word for west and for sea is the same, since the Mediterranean lies west; the cloud from the sea is the rain-cloud of 1 Kings 18:44.
√ λέγω — properly, to "lay" forth, iVerbPresent Indicative Active2nd Person Plural
legō: to say (Present) Present: “you say,” your habitual forecast, spoken at once and with confidence.
√ ὅτι — demonstrative, that (sometimes redundant)Conjunction
√ ὄμβρος — a thunder stormNounNominative Masculine Singular
ombros: rainstorm, thunderstorm A hapax in the New Testament. A downpour, not a sprinkle; their confidence about a storm contrasts with their deafness to the storm of 12:49 to 53.
√ ἔρχομαι — to come or go (in a great variety of applications, literally and figuratively)VerbPresent Indicative Middle or Passive3rd Person Singular
erchomai: to come Present tense: “is coming,” already on its way. The same verb runs through the chapter for the coming of the Son of Man (12:40) and the master (12:36 to 37, 43).
√ καί — and, also, even, so then, too, etcConjunction
√ οὕτω — in this way (referring to what precedes or follows)Adverb
√ γίνομαι — to cause to be ("gen"-erate), iVerbPresent Indicative Middle or Passive3rd Person Singular
ginomai: to become, happen “And so it comes to be.” The forecast is verified by the event. Their reasoning from sign to outcome is sound; the fault Jesus exposes in v. 56 is not their logic but their will.