Luke 17:35

Greek (Tischendorf 8th ed.)

English Translation

There will be two grinding grain together. One will be taken, and the other will be left."

World English Bible · Public Domain

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ἀλήθουσαι

alḗthō

G229

“to grind”

Verb, Present, Active, Participle, Nominative, Plural, Feminine

Appears 2× in the Greek New Testament
First appears at Matthew 24:41

Full Thayer's Definition

Origin: from the same as G224

TDNT: None

1. to grind

About this verse

These counts appear in no published source. They are computed here, from the morphology-tagged text and Lemma’s own curated glosses. What Lemma adds →

13: words
11: distinct lemmas
Gospels: section

Notable vocabulary

The rarest word here is ἀλήθουσαι to grind G229 — appearing just 2 times in the whole Greek New Testament.

Shared distinctive vocabulary

ἀλήθουσαι to grind G229 occurs in 2 verses of the Greek New Testament. Also found in:

Matthew 24:41

Repetition

A word recurs within this verse:

τὸ the G3588 ×3

Cross-references

Topical passages linked to Luke 17:35 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge — connected by theme and wording, ordered by reader-vote popularity; previews shown in the World English Bible.

Matthew 24:41 two women grinding at the mill, one will be taken and one will be left.
Exodus 11:5 and all the firstborn in the land of Egypt shall die, from the firstborn of Pharaoh who sits on his throne, even to the firstborn of the maid-servant who is behind the mill; and all the firstborn of cattle.
Judges 16:21 The Philistines laid hold on him, and put out his eyes; and they brought him down to Gaza, and bound him with fetters of brass; and he did grind in the prison-house.

Cross-references courtesy of OpenBible.info (CC BY 4.0).

Commentary

Notes on Luke 17:35 from classic Christian and Jewish commentators (each source and its license shown beneath its notes). The classic Christian expositions comment on the surrounding passage and are grouped to its opening verse, so a note may address several verses; the Jewish commentaries on the Tanakh (Rashi and others) are per-verse, so they appear only where the commentator wrote on this verse.

Lemma curates 59 commentaries, every one of them public domain or Creative Commons licensed, each selected and text-cleaned for this edition rather than reprinted as found. About our sources →

Expositor's Greek Testament

ed. W. Robertson Nicoll

Luk 17:35 . ἀλήθουσαι ἐπὶ τὸ αὐτό , grinding at the same place; in the mill, Mt. Proximity the point emphasised in Lk. near each other, yet how remote their destinies!

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

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne

35. grinding together] as to this day in the use of the common handmills of the East.

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.

John Gill's Exposition

Two men shall be in the field,.... At work there, tilling the ground, or sowing the seed in it, or reaping the corn; which of them soever was the work of the field, at the time of Jerusalem's destruction:

the one shall be taken, and the other left: the circumstances attending these several, instances show, that they cannot be considered as expressive of the use and effect of the preaching of the Gospel, that being the savour of life unto life to some, and the savour of death unto death to others, some being effectually called by it, and others being left to die in their sins; since these men and women are said to be either in a bed asleep, or on a couch feasting, or grinding in a mill, or at work in the field, and so not in proper places, and at leisure to hear the Gospel preached. The whole verse is left out in the Ethiopic version, and in some Greek copies; though it is in the Syriac, Arabic, and Persic versions, and in the Complutensian edition, and in some ancient copies, as Beza observes.

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

Trapp's Complete Commentary

John Trapp

35 Two women shall be grinding together; the one shall be taken, and the other left.

Ver. 35. See Mat 24:40-41. {See Trapp on "Mat 24:40"} {See Trapp on "Mat 24:41"}

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.

Whedon's Commentary on the Bible

Daniel D. Whedon

35, 36. See notes on Mat_24:40-41.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Cambridge Greek Testament for Schools and Colleges

35. ἀλήθουσαι ἐπὶ τὸ αὐτό. As to this day in the use of the common handmills of the East.

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.

International Critical Commentary

35. This image presupposes day rather than night, and refers to a fact which is still of everyday occurrence in the East. Whether people be sleeping or working when the Lord comes, those who still cling to things earthly will be left without share in the Messianic joy. And in this matter “no man may deliver his brother”: ἔσται πλείστη καὶ ἀκριβὴς τῶν τρόπων ἡ δοκιμασία (Cyr.).

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

Lesson kit

Teaching starters — assembled from the data on this page, not authored interpretation. Every prompt links to the verse data it draws on. Edit before teaching.

Luke, in the Gospels, opens this verse with 13 words (11 distinct Greek lemmas). Its most distinctive word is alḗthō (“to grind”). A historical commentator’s framing appears above. Read the whole chapter for the surrounding context.

Discussion questions

How does “to grind” (alḗthō) shape what this verse is saying?
How does Matthew 24:41, which shares the word «to grind», read alongside this verse?
What does the repetition of “the” (3× in this one verse) do in this verse?
These translations render this verse differently; the difference is in the English rendering, not the original. What questions does that raise?
Compare how Expositor's Greek Testament and The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges read this verse. Where do they agree or differ?

Things to notice

These translations choose different wording for 7 words in this verse.
“the” occurs 3× in this single verse.
11 distinct Greek lemmas span 13 words in this verse.