Ezekiel 39:17-19

39:17 “As for you, son of man, this is what the sovereign Lord says: Tell every kind of bird and every wild beast: ‘Assemble and come! Gather from all around to my slaughter which I am going to make for you, a great slaughter on the mountains of Israel! You will eat flesh and drink blood. 39:18 You will eat the flesh of warriors and drink the blood of the princes of the earth – the rams, lambs, goats, and bulls, all of them fattened animals of Bashan. 39:19 You will eat fat until you are full, and drink blood until you are drunk, at my slaughter which I have made for you.

Matthew 24:28

24:28 Wherever the corpse is, there the vultures will gather.

Luke 17:37

17:37 Then the disciples said to him, “Where, 10  Lord?” He replied to them, “Where the dead body 11  is, there the vultures 12  will gather.” 13 


tn Or “sacrifice” (so also in the rest of this verse).

sn See Rev 19:17-18.

sn Eating the fat and drinking blood were God’s exclusive rights in Israelite sacrifices (Lev 3:17).

tn Or “sacrifice” (so also in the rest of this verse).

tn The same Greek term can refer to “eagles” or “vultures” (L&N 4.42; BDAG 22 s.v. ἀετός), but in this context it must mean vultures because the gruesome image is one of dead bodies being consumed by scavengers.

tn Grk “will be gathered.” The passive construction has been translated as an active one in English.

tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the narrative.

tn Grk “they”; the referent (the disciples, v. 22) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

tn Grk “answering, they said to him.” This is redundant in contemporary English and has been simplified in the translation.

10 sn The question “Where, Lord?” means, “Where will the judgment take place?”

11 tn Or “corpse.”

12 tn The same Greek term can refer to “eagles” or “vultures” (L&N 4.42; BDAG 22 s.v. ἀετός), but in this context it must mean vultures, because the gruesome image is one of dead bodies being consumed by scavengers.

13 tn Grk “will be gathered.” The passive construction has been translated as an active one in English.