Matthew 24:27-30

24:27 For just like the lightning ¹  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 ²  will gather. ³ 

The Arrival of the Son of Man

24:29 “Immediately ⁴  after the suffering ⁵  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. ⁶  24:30 Then ⁷  the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven, ⁸  and ⁹  all the tribes of the earth will mourn. They ¹⁰  will see the Son of Man arriving on the clouds of heaven ¹¹  with power and great glory.

[24:27]  ¹ 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]  ² 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]  ³ tn Grk “will be gathered.” The passive construction has been translated as an active one in English.

[24:29]  ⁴ tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated.

[24:29]  ⁵ tn Traditionally, “tribulation.”

[24:29]  ⁶ 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]  ⁷ tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated.

[24:30]  ⁸ tn Or “in the sky”; the Greek word οὐρανός (ouranos) may be translated “sky” or “heaven,” depending on the context.

[24:30]  ⁹ tn Here τότε (tote, “then”) has not been translated to avoid redundancy in English.

[24:30]  ¹⁰ tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated.

[24:30]  ¹¹ sn An allusion to Dan 7:13. Here is Jesus returning with full authority to judge.