24:9 “Then they will hand you over to be persecuted and will kill you. You will be hated by all the nations 7 because of my name. 8 24:10 Then many will be led into sin, 9 and they will betray one another and hate one another. 24:11 And many false prophets will appear and deceive 10 many, 24:12 and because lawlessness will increase so much, the love of many will grow cold. 24:13 But the person who endures to the end will be saved. 11 24:14 And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached throughout the whole inhabited earth as a testimony to all the nations, 12 and then the end will come.
24:15 “So when you see the abomination of desolation 13 – spoken about by Daniel the prophet – standing in the holy place (let the reader understand), 24:16 then those in Judea must flee 14 to the mountains. 24:17 The one on the roof 15 must not come down 16 to take anything out of his house, 24:18 and the one in the field must not turn back to get his cloak. 24:19 Woe 17 to those who are pregnant and to those who are nursing their babies in those days! 24:20 Pray 18 that your flight may not be in winter or on a Sabbath. 24:21 For then there will be great suffering 19 unlike anything that has happened 20 from the beginning of the world until now, or ever will happen. 24:22 And if those days had not been cut short, no one would be saved. But for the sake of the elect those days will be cut short.
1 tn Or “Messiah”; both “Christ” (Greek) and “Messiah” (Hebrew and Aramaic) mean “one who has been anointed.”
2 tn Grk “it is not yet the end.”
3 tn For the translation “rise up in arms” see L&N 55.2.
4 sn See Isa 5:13-14; 13:6-16; Hag 2:6-7; Zech 14:4.
5 tc Most witnesses (C Θ 0102 Ë1,13 Ï) have “and plagues” (καὶ λοιμοί, kai loimoi) between “famines” (λιμοί, limoi) and “earthquakes” (σεισμοί, seismoi), while others have “plagues and famines and earthquakes” (L W 33 pc lat). The similarities between λιμοί and λοιμοί could explain how καὶ λοιμοί might have accidentally dropped out, but since the Lukan parallel has both terms (and W lat have the order λοιμοὶ καὶ λιμοί there too, as they do in Matthew), it seems more likely that scribes added the phrase here. The shorter reading does not enjoy overwhelming support ([א] B D 892 pc, as well as versional witnesses), but it is nevertheless significant; coupled with the internal evidence it should be given preference.
6 tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated.
7 tn Or “all the Gentiles” (the same Greek word may be translated “nations” or “Gentiles”).
8 sn See Matt 5:10-12; 1 Cor 1:25-31.
9 tn Or “many will fall away.” This could also refer to apostasy.
10 tn Or “and lead many astray.”
11 sn But the person who endures to the end will be saved. Jesus was not claiming here that salvation is by works. He was simply arguing that genuine faith evidences itself in persistence through even the worst of trials.
12 tn Or “all the Gentiles” (the same Greek word may be translated “nations” or “Gentiles”).
13 sn The reference to the abomination of desolation is an allusion to Dan 9:27. Though some have seen the fulfillment of Daniel’s prophecy in the actions of Antiochus IV (or a representative of his) in 167
14 sn Fleeing to the mountains is a key OT image: Gen 19:17; Judg 6:2; Isa 15:5; Jer 16:16; Zech 14:5.
15 sn On the roof. Most of the roofs in the NT were flat roofs made of pounded dirt, sometimes mixed with lime or stones, supported by heavy wooden beams. They generally had an easy means of access, either a sturdy wooden ladder or stone stairway, sometimes on the outside of the house.
16 sn The swiftness and devastation of the judgment will require a swift escape. There will be no time to come down from the roof and pick up anything from inside one’s home.
17 tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated.
18 tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated.
19 tn Traditionally, “great tribulation.”
20 sn Suffering unlike anything that has happened. Some refer this event to the destruction of Jerusalem in