Luke 17:24

Luk 17:24. Ἡ ἀστράπτουσα, that flasheth) i.e. whilst it is in the act of flashing. It cannot be pointed out.—τῆς ὑπʼ οὐρανὸν) Often the expression, the earth ἡ ὑπʼ οὐρανὸν, which is beneath heaven, occurs in the LXX. Version, in Job and elsewhere.—οὓτως, so) most rapidly, and most widely.—τῇ ἡμέρᾳ, in His day) viz. the last day: Mat 26:64.

Bengel's Gnomon of the New Testament — English translation (T&T Clark, Edinburgh, 1860) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Luk 17:24 . ἐκ τῆς , χώρας understood, so also χώραν after εἰς τὴν = from this quarter under heaven to that. Here again Mt.’s version is the more graphic and original = from east to west.

The Expositor's Greek Testament, edited by W. Robertson Nicoll (1897–1910) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

as lightning . . . so . . . the Son of man--that is it will be as manifest. The Lord speaks here of His coming and manifestation in a prophetically indefinite manner, and in these preparatory words blends into one the distinctive epochs [STIER]. When the whole polity of the Jews, civil and ecclesiastical alike, was broken up at once, and its continuance rendered impossible by the destruction of Jerusalem, it became as manifest to all as the lightning of heaven that the kingdom of God had ceased to exist in its old, and had entered on a new and perfectly different form. So it may be again, ere its final and greatest change at the personal coming of Christ, and of which the words in their highest sense are alone true.

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Verse 24. As the lightning, that lighteneth] See this particularly explained, Mt 24:27-28.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

(24) For as the lightning.—See Note on Mat_24:27. There is, however, a noticeable variation in the form; the two “parts under heaven” taking the place of the “east” and the “west,” and the “day of the Son of Man” taking the place of the more formal “coming,” or parousia, which, as far as the Gospels are concerned, occurs only in St. Matthew. There is also, perhaps, more pictorial vividness in the two words, “lighteneth,” “shineth,” than in St. Matthew’s “cometh out,” and “appeareth,” which is probably the right rendering of the word there translated “shineth.” In any case, the words in St. Matthew are less vivid in their force.

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

24. as the lightning, that lighteneth] bright, swift, sudden, universal, irresistible.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

But first must he suffer many things,.... By cruel mockings, spitting, buffeting, scourging, and, at last, death itself; all which must be, and were before his day came, or he entered into his glory, or came in it:

and be rejected of this generation; as the Messiah, and be treated with the utmost scorn and contempt, and in the most base and ignominious manner: being put to the death of the cross, and hanged upon the accursed tree: all which were necessary, "must" be; on account of the purposes and decrees of God; the covenant engagements of Christ; the predictions of the prophets of the Old Testament, and his own; and the salvation of his people.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

24 For as the lightning, that lighteneth out of the one part under heaven, shineth unto the other part under heaven; so shall also the Son of man be in his day.

Ver. 24. For as the lightning] q.d. From mine ascension, and so forwards, you are not to look for me again till I come to judgment; and then I come on a sudden. Many devices there are in the minds of some, to think that Jesus Christ shall come from heaven again, and reign here upon earth a thousand years. But they are, saith a good divine, but the mistakes of some high expressions in Scripture, which describe the judgments poured out upon God’s enemies, in making a way to the Jews’ conversion, by the pattern of the last judgment. (Mr Cotton upon the Seven Vials.)

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

For as lightning, &c. See Matthew xxiv. 27. (Witham) --- Christ here alludes to the glory with which he shall appear when he shall come to judge the world, surrounded by his angels, &c. when he will appear like lightning, that shall penetrate the inmost recesses of our souls, and shall suffer no crime, not even the slightest thought of our souls, to pass unnoticed. This is the time when he will manifest his glory, and not on his entry into Jerusalem, as the disciples imagined: for he informs them, that he will then have to suffer a cruel death. (Ven. Bede)

George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).

For as the lightning, that lighteneth out of the one part under heaven, shineth unto the other part under heaven; so shall also the Son of man be in his day. "Yes," went on the Master, "let not delusive expectations interrupt you or turn you aside out of the narrow way of patient faith, for my" coming will, like the lightning, be sudden, cud will gleam forth on every side. There will be no possibility of mistake then. "

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

So shall also the Son of man be - So swift, so wide, shall his appearing be: In his day - The last day.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.

24. ὥσπερ γὰρ ἡ ἀστραπή. Bright, swift, sudden, universal, irresistible.

ἐκ τῆς … εἰς τήν. Understand χώρας, χώραν. Comp. ἐξ ἐναντίας, Mar 15:39.

Cambridge Greek Testament for Schools and Colleges (Cambridge University Press, 1896; 21 vols, various authors incl. Carr, Maclear, Plummer, Farrar, Lumby, Moule, M. R. James, Simcox) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

24. ἐκ τῆς … εἰς τὴν …] Supply χώρας … χώραν.

Henry Alford, The Greek Testament (1849–1861) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

24. ὥσπερ γὰρ ἡ ἀστραπή . As sudden, and as universally visible. None will foresee it, and all will see it at once; so that no report respecting it can have any value. Non ejus ergo venturi tempus aut locus potest a mortalibus observari, qui fulguris instar omnibus coruscus videlicet et repentinus adveniet (Bede). See on 2:8, 11:46, 23:46 for Lk’s fondness for cognate words. The wording here is almost identical with Mat 24:27.

The art. before ἀστράπτουσα is probably an insertion; om. א B L C G. Without it translate, “when it lightens.” For fulgur e has choruscatio and d has scoruscus. In what follows we again have an amphibolous expression (9:17, 18, 27, 57, 10:18, etc.); but ἐκ τῆς … ὑπʼ οὐρανόν should be taken with λάμπει rather than with ἀστράπτουσα. For the ellipse of χώρα after ἡ ὑπʼ οὐρανόν or ἡ ὑπὸ τὸν οὐρανόν comp. Deu 25:9; Job 1:7, Job 2:2, Job 18:4, Job 34:13, Job 38:18, Job 42:15. The words ἐν τῇ ἡμέρᾳ αὐτοῦ after ἀνθρώπου are of doubtful authority: om. B D, a b c d e i Aeth., while I has in adventu suo (comp. Mat 24:27): om. filius hominis in die sua ff2. Syr-Sin. has ‘so shall be the day of the Son of Man.”

International Critical Commentary — older volumes (1896–1929), various authors — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Lighteneth [αστραπτουσα] . Only here and ch. 24:4.

Marvin R. Vincent, Word Studies in the New Testament (1887–1900) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.