Matthew 24:29-31

The Arrival of the Son of Man

24:29 “Immediately ¹  after the suffering ²  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. ³  24:30 Then ⁴  the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven, ⁵  and ⁶  all the tribes of the earth will mourn. They ⁷  will see the Son of Man arriving on the clouds of heaven ⁸  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 ⁹  to the other.

[24:29]  ¹ tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated.

[24:29]  ² tn Traditionally, “tribulation.”

[24:29]  ³ 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]  ⁴ tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated.

[24:30]  ⁵ tn Or “in the sky”; the Greek word οὐρανός (ouranos) may be translated “sky” or “heaven,” depending on the context.

[24:30]  ⁶ tn Here τότε (tote, “then”) has not been translated to avoid redundancy in English.

[24:30]  ⁷ tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated.

[24:30]  ⁸ 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.