Luke 21:11

Luk 21:11. Fearful sights and great signs shall there be from heaven — Of these, Josephus has given us a particular account, Bell., Luk 7:12. “There was a comet in the form of a fiery sword, which for a year together did hang over the city. Before the first revolt and war, the people being gathered together to the feast of unleavened bread, on the 8th of April, at the 9th hour of the night, there was as much light about the altar and temple as if it had been bright day. This remained half an hour. At the same festival, the inner gate of the temple on the east side, being of massy brass, which required at least twenty men to shut it, was seen at midnight to open of its own accord. Not long after the feast-days, on the 21st of May, before the sun set, were seen in the air chariots and armies in battle array, passing along in the clouds and investing the city. And upon the feast of pentecost, at night, the priests, going into the inner temple to attend their wonted service, said, they first felt the place to move and tremble: after that they heard a voice which said, Let us depart hence. But that which was most wonderful of all, one Jesus, the son of Ananus, of the common people, four years before the war began, when the city flourished in peace and riches, coming to the celebration of the feast of tabernacles at Jerusalem, suddenly began to cry out thus: A voice from the east, a voice from the west, a voice from the four winds, a voice against Jerusalem and the temple, a voice against men and women newly married, a voice against all this people. And thus crying, day and night, he went about all the streets of the city.” Josephus adds, “that he was scourged by some of the nobility, but, without speaking a word for himself, he persevered crying as before; that he was carried before Albinus, the Roman general, who caused him to be beaten till his bones appeared. But that he neither entreated nor wept, but, as well as he could, framing a weeping voice, he cried at every stroke, Wo, wo to Jerusalem:” that he went on thus crying, chiefly upon holydays, for the space of seven years and five months, till in the time of the siege, beholding what he had foretold, he ceased. And that then, once again going about the city, on the wall, “he cried with a loud voice, Wo, wo to the city, temple, and people; and lastly he said, Wo also to myself. Which words were no sooner uttered, than a stone thrown out of an engine smote him, and so he yielded up the ghost, lamenting them all.” See note on Isa 66:6.

Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

21:11 Cataclysmic events such as these are often associated with the judgment of God (1 Sam 14:15; Ps 18:7-8; Isa 2:19, 21; 5:25; 13:13; 24:18; 29:5-6; Jer 14:12; 21:6-7; Ezek 14:21; Amos 1:1) and the end of the age (Isa 24:18; 29:5-6; Ezek 38:19; Joel 2:10; Hag 2:6, 21; Zech 14:4; cp. Rev 6:12; 8:5; 11:13, 19; 16:18). • great miraculous signs from heaven: See study note on 21:25.

Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Luk 21:11. Φόβητρά τε καὶ σημεῖα, both fearful sights and signs) A Hendiadys.[222] These seem to have been in the lower region of the sky. Comp. with this, Luk 21:25, where greater signs are represented as about to follow. Not all prodigies are to be despised. See Josephus again.

[222] i.e. One idea expressed by two words; meaning fearful signs.—E. and T.

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

Luk_21:11. Ἀπʼ οὐρανοῦ belongs not only to σημεῖα (B, Lachmann: ἀπʼ οὐρανοῦ σημ.), but also to φόβητρα, because in the connection the latter needs some qualifying clause. μεγάλα belongs to both. Moreover, comp. with reference to this detail which Luke has here, 4 Esdr. Luk_5:4. On φόβητρα (terrific appearances), comp. Plat. Ax. p. 367 A; Lucian, Philop. 9; Isa_19:17. As to κατὰ τόπους, see on Mat_24:7.

Meyer — Critical and Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament — English translation by Peter Christie, edited by Frederick Crombie (T&T Clark, 1880) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Luk 21:11 . καὶ κατὰ τόπους : the καὶ thus placed ( [172] [173] [174] ) dissociates κ . τ . from σεισμοί and connects it with λοιμοὶ καὶ λιμοὶ : not earthquakes, but pestilences and famines here, there, everywhere. λ . καὶ λ ., a baleful conjunction common in speech and in fact. φόβητρα , terrifying phenomena, here only in N.T. (in Isa 19:17 , Sept [175] ). The τε connects the φόβητρα with the signs from heaven next mentioned. They are in fact the same thing ( ἕν διὰ δυοῖν , Bengel).

[172] Codex Sinaiticus (sæc. iv.), now at St. Petersburg, published in facsimile type by its discoverer, Tischendorf, in 1862.

[173] Codex Vaticanus (sæc. iv.), published in photographic facsimile in 1889 under the care of the Abbate Cozza-Luzi.

[174] Codex Regius--eighth century, represents an ancient text, and is often in agreement with א and B.

[175] Septuagint.

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

Verse 11. Fearful sights] What these were the reader will find in detail on Mt 24:7.

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

(11) Famines and pestilences.—The mention of the latter is, as far as the best MSS. are concerned, a feature peculiar to St. Luke. Others, however, give the same combination in Mat_24:7. The Greek nouns are all but identical in sound (limos = famine, and loimos = pestilence), and there is accordingly a kind of rhythmical emphasis of sound which cannot be reproduced in English.

Fearful sights.—The Greek word, literally things of terror, is peculiar to St. Luke. He omits here “the beginning of troubles.” or “travail-pangs,” which we find in St. Matthew and St. Mark.

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

11. earthquakes] Tac. Hist. I. 2. For such physical portents at great crises see Thuc. i. 23; Tac. Ann. xii. 43, 64, Hist. i. 56; Liv. xliii. 13, &c.

famines] Act_11:28. The original gives the common paronomasia (play on words) limoi kai loimoi.

pestilences] Josephus (B. J. vi. 9, § 3) mentions both pestilence and famine as the immediate preludes of the storming of Jerusalem. They were due, like the plague at Athens, to the vast masses of people— Passover pilgrims—who were at the time crowded in the city.

fearful sights] See Wis_17:1-21. The word phobetra, ‘terrors,’ occurs here alone. Among these would be the “Abomination of Desolation,” or “desolating wing of Abomination,” which seems best to correspond with the foul and murderous orgies of the Zealots which drove all worshippers in horror from the Temple (Jos. B. J. iv. 3, § 7, V. 6, § 1, &c.). Such too would be the rumour of monstrous births (id. vi. 5, § 3); the cry ‘woe, woe’ for seven and a half years of the peasant Jesus, son of Hanan; the voice and sound of departing guardian-angels (Tac. Hist. 13), and the sudden opening of the vast brazen Temple-gate which required twenty men to move it (Jos. ib.).

signs., from heaven] Josephus mentions a sword-shaped comet. Both Tacitus and Josephus mention the portent that

“Fierce fiery warriors fought upon the clouds,

In rank, and squadron, and right form of war;”

and Tacitus tells us how the blind multitude of Jews interpreted these signs in their own favour (Hist. v. 13).

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 before all these,.... Before all these things come to pass:

they shall lay their hands on you; as the high priest, the priests, and the captain of the temple did upon the apostles, Act 4:1

and persecute you; as upon the death of Stephen, Act 8:1

delivering you up to the synagogues; to be scourged there; or to the courts of judicature, the consistories of the Jews, their great sanhedrim; before these the apostles were brought, Act 4:6

and into prisons; as were all the apostles together, and Peter at another time separately, Act 4:3

being brought before kings and rulers, for my name's sake; for being called by his name, and calling upon it; for professing, and preaching his Gospel; See Gill on Mat 10:18.

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Terrors from heaven. Josephus, in his history of this war, in which Jerusalem was destroyed by Titus, (lib. vii. chap. 12) relates, at length, many of the prodigies which were the forerunners of the dreadful end of this unfortunate city. During a whole year a meteor, like a flaming sword, was seen impending over the city. There were likewise seen in the air, appearances of chariots and numerous armies, which pressed one upon another. On the night of Pentecost, the priests, after a confused noise, heard distinctly these words, "Let us go hence;" which are supposed to have been spoken by the angels, who had hitherto guarded and protected the holy city, but now were taking their leave of it. Josephus was in the Roman camp, before the city, during the siege, and an eye-witness of what passed on the occasion. (Haydock)

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).

Great earthquakes. These seem to have been very frequent during the period; we hear of them in Palestine, Italy, Greece, Asia Minor, Crete, Syria. Famines and pestilences. The Jewish and pagan historians of this time Josephus, Suetonius, Taecitus, and others enumerate several memorable instances of these scourges in this eventful time. Fearful sights and great signs. Among the former may be especially enumerated the foul and terrible scenes connected with the proceedings of the Zealots (see Josephus, Bell. Jud:," 4:3. v. 6. etc.). Among the great signs "would be the rumor of monstrous births; the cry, "Woe! woe!" for seven and a half years of the peasant Jesus, son of Hanan; the voice and sound of departing guardian-angels; and the sudden opening of the vast brazen temple gate which required twenty men to move it" (Farrar).

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

Fearful sights and signs from heaven - Of which Josephus gives a circumstantial account.

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

11. σεισμοί. Tac. Hist. I. 2. For such physical portents at great crises see Thuc. I. 23; Tac. Ann. XII. 43, 64, Hist. I. 56; Liv. XLIII. 13, &c.

λιμοί. Act 11:28. The original gives the common paronomasia λιμοὶ καὶ λοιμοί. (Comp. ἀσυνέτους, ἀσυνθέτους, Rom 1:29; Rom 1:31; Winer, p. 793.)

λοιμοί. Josephus (B. J. VI. 9, § 3) mentions both pestilence and famine as the immediate preludes of the storming of Jerusalem. They were due, like the plague at Athens, to the vast masses of people—Passover pilgrims—who were at the time crowded in the city.

φόβητρα. Terrors, Vulg[368] terrores: comp. Psa 88:15; Isa 19:17. See Wis 17:1-21; 2Es 5:6. The word occurs here alone in the N. T. Among these would be the “Abomination of Desolation,” or “desolating wing of Abomination,” which seems best to correspond with the foul and murderous orgies of the Zealots which drove all worshippers in horror from the Temple (Jos. B. J. IV. 3, § 7, Luk 21:6, § 1, &c.). Such too would be the rumour of monstrous births (id. VI. 5, § 3); the cry ‘woe, woe’ for seven and a half years of the peasant Jesus, son of Hanan; the voice and sound of departing guardian-angels (Tac. Hist. Luk 21:13), and the sudden opening of the vast brazen Temple-gate which required twenty men to move it (Jos. ib.).

[368] Vulg. Vulgate.

σημεῖα ἀπ’ οὐρανοῦ. Josephus mentions a sword-shaped comet. Both Tacitus and Josephus mention the portent that

“Fierce fiery warriors fought upon the clouds,

In rank, and squadron, and right form of war;”

and Tacitus tells us how the blind multitude of Jews interpreted these signs in their own favour (Hist. Luk 21:13).

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.

11.] ἀπʼ οὐρ. belongs to both φόβηθ. and σημ.: so does μεγάλα. φόβηθρα cannot stand alone, especially with τε καί.

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

11. After describing the general political disturbances which shall precede the end, Jesus mentions four disturbances of nature which shall also form a prelude: earthquakes, famines, pestilences, and terrible phenomena in the heaven. Lk. alone mentions the λοιμοί (elsewhere in a metaphorical sense: Act 24:5; Pro 21:24; Psa 1:1; Psa_1 Mac. 15:21). Lk. alone also mentions the φόβηθρά τε καὶ σημεῖα. On the prodigies which preceded the capture of Jerusalem see Jos. B. J. 6:5, 3; Tac. Hist. v. 13.

According to the better text (א B L, Aegyptt. Arm. Aeth.) κατὰ τόπους belongs to λοιμοὶ καὶ λιμοί, not (as in Mk.) to σεισμοὶ μεγάλοι (A D, Latt.).Syr-Sin. has “in divers places” with both. Many authorities (א A D L, de Boh.) have λιμοὶ κ. λοιμοί. For the paronomasia comp. ζωὴν καὶ πνοήν (Act 17:25); γινώσκεις ἃ ἀναγινώσκεις (Act 8:30); ἔμαθεν ἀφʼ ὦν ἔπαθεν (Heb 5:8); ὀναίμην in Ὀνήσιμος (Phm 1:20); τινὲς τῶν κλάδων ἐξεκλάσθησαν (Rom 11:17). Some Latin, Syriac, and Aethiopic authorities here insert et hiemes (tempestates), “probably from an extraneous source written or oral” (WH. 2. App. p. 63). Comp. the addition of καὶ ταραχαί in Mar 13:8. And as regards the terrors generally comp. 4 Esdr. v. 4-10.

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Earthquakes. See on Mt 13:8.

Famines and pestilences [λιμοι και λοιμοι] . Some texts reverse the order of the words. A paronomasia or combination of like - sounding words : limoi, loimoi. Especially common in Paul 's epistles.

Fearful sights [φοβητρα] . Only here in New Testament, and rare in classical Greek. In Septuagint, Isa 19:17. Not confined to sights, but fearful things. Rev., better, terrors. Used in medical language by Hippocrates, of fearful objects imagined by the sick.

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