Matthew 24:23-38

24:23 Then if anyone says to you, ‘Look, here is the Christ!’ ¹  or ‘There he is!’ do not believe him. 24:24 For false messiahs ²  and false prophets will appear and perform great signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect. 24:25 Remember, ³  I have told you ahead of time. 24:26 So then, if someone ⁴  says to you, ‘Look, he is in the wilderness,’ ⁵  do not go out, or ‘Look, he is in the inner rooms,’ do not believe him. 24:27 For just like the lightning ⁶  comes from the east and flashes to the west, so the coming of the Son of Man will be. 24:28 Wherever the corpse is, there the vultures ⁷  will gather. ⁸ 

The Arrival of the Son of Man

24:29 “Immediately ⁹  after the suffering ¹⁰  of those days, the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light; the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of heaven will be shaken. ¹¹  24:30 Then ¹²  the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven, ¹³  and ¹⁴  all the tribes of the earth will mourn. They ¹⁵  will see the Son of Man arriving on the clouds of heaven ¹⁶  with power and great glory. 24:31 And he will send his angels with a loud trumpet blast, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven ¹⁷  to the other.

The Parable of the Fig Tree

24:32 “Learn ¹⁸  this parable from the fig tree: Whenever its branch becomes tender and puts out its leaves, you know that summer is near. 24:33 So also you, when you see all these things, know ¹⁹  that he is near, right at the door. 24:34 I tell you the truth, ²⁰  this generation ²¹  will not pass away until all these things take place. 24:35 Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away. ²² 

Be Ready!

24:36 “But as for that day and hour no one knows it – not even the angels in heaven ²³  – except the Father alone. 24:37 For just like the days of Noah ²⁴  were, so the coming of the Son of Man will be. 24:38 For in those days before the flood, people ²⁵  were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day Noah entered the ark.

[24:23]  ¹ tn Or “Messiah”; both “Christ” (Greek) and “Messiah” (Hebrew and Aramaic) mean “one who has been anointed.”

[24:24]  ² tn Or “false christs”; both “Christ” (Greek) and “Messiah” (Hebrew and Aramaic) mean “one who has been anointed.”

[24:25]  ³ tn Or “Pay attention!” Grk “Behold.”

[24:26]  ⁴ tn Grk “they say.” The third person plural is used here as an indefinite and translated “someone” (ExSyn 402).

[24:26]  ⁵ tn Or “in the desert.”

[24:27]  ⁵ sn The Son of Man’s coming in power will be sudden and obvious like lightning. No one will need to point it out.

[24:28]  ⁶ 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.

[24:28]  ⁷ tn Grk “will be gathered.” The passive construction has been translated as an active one in English.

[24:29]  ⁷ tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated.

[24:29]  ⁸ tn Traditionally, “tribulation.”

[24:29]  ⁹ sn An allusion to Isa 13:10, 34:4 (LXX); Joel 2:10. The heavens were seen as the abode of heavenly forces, so their shaking indicates distress in the spiritual realm. Although some take the powers as a reference to bodies in the heavens (like stars and planets, “the heavenly bodies,” NIV) this is not as likely.

[24:30]  ⁸ tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated.

[24:30]  ⁹ tn Or “in the sky”; the Greek word οὐρανός (ouranos) may be translated “sky” or “heaven,” depending on the context.

[24:30]  ¹⁰ tn Here τότε (tote, “then”) has not been translated to avoid redundancy in English.

[24:30]  ¹¹ tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated.

[24:30]  ¹² sn An allusion to Dan 7:13. Here is Jesus returning with full authority to judge.

[24:31]  ⁹ tn Or “of the sky”; the Greek word οὐρανός (ouranos) may be translated “sky” or “heaven,” depending on the context.

[24:32]  ¹⁰ tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated.

[24:33]  ¹¹ tn The verb γινώσκετε (ginwskete, “know”) can be parsed as either present indicative or present imperative. In this context the imperative fits better, since the movement is from analogy (trees and seasons) to the future (the signs of the coming of the kingdom) and since the emphasis is on preparation for this event.

[24:34]  ¹² tn Grk “Truly (ἀμήν, amhn), I say to you.”

[24:34]  ¹³ sn This is one of the hardest verses in the gospels to interpret. Various views exist for what generation means. (1) Some take it as meaning “race” and thus as an assurance that the Jewish race (nation) will not pass away. But it is very questionable that the Greek term γενεά (genea) can have this meaning. Two other options are possible. (2) Generation might mean “this type of generation” and refer to the generation of wicked humanity. Then the point is that humanity will not perish, because God will redeem it. Or (3) generation may refer to “the generation that sees the signs of the end” (v. 30), who will also see the end itself. In other words, once the movement to the return of Christ starts, all the events connected with it happen very quickly, in rapid succession.

[24:35]  ¹³ sn The words that Jesus predicts here will never pass away. They are more stable and lasting than creation itself. For this kind of image, see Isa 40:8; 55:10-11.

[24:36]  ¹⁴ tc ‡ Some important witnesses, including early Alexandrian and Western mss (א*^,2 B D Θ Ë¹³ pc it vg^mss Ir^lat Hier^mss), have the additional words οὐδὲ ὁ υἱός (oude Jo Juios, “nor the son”) here. Although the shorter reading (which lacks this phrase) is suspect in that it seems to soften the prophetic ignorance of Jesus, the final phrase (“except the Father alone”) already implies this. Further, the parallel in Mark 13:32 has οὐδὲ ὁ υἱός, with almost no witnesses lacking the expression. Hence, it is doubtful that the absence of “neither the Son” is due to the scribes. In keeping with Matthew’s general softening of Mark’s harsh statements throughout his Gospel, it is more likely that the absence of “neither the Son” is part of the original text of Matthew, being an intentional change on the part of the author. Further, this shorter reading is supported by the first corrector of א as well as L W ˹ 33 Ï vg sy co Hier^mss. Admittedly, the external evidence is not as impressive for the shorter reading, but it best explains the rise of the other reading (in particular, how does one account for virtually no mss excising οὐδὲ ὁ υἱός at Mark 13:32 if such an absence here is due to scribal alteration? Although scribes were hardly consistent, for such a theologically significant issue at least some consistency would be expected on the part of a few scribes). Nevertheless, NA²⁷ includes οὐδὲ ὁ υἱός here.

[24:37]  ¹⁵ sn Like the days of Noah, the time of the flood in Gen 6:5-8:22, the judgment will come as a surprise as people live their day to day lives.

[24:38]  ¹⁶ tn Grk “they,” but in an indefinite sense, “people.”