Luke 21:18

21:18-19 But not a hair of your head will perish! This idiom signifies full protection (1 Sam 14:45; 2 Sam 14:11; 1 Kgs 1:52; Dan 3:27). It refers here to the disciples’ souls, because some would be martyred for their faith (Luke 21:16).

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

Luk 21:18. Θρὶξ, an hair) A proverbial expression.—οὐ μὴ ἀπόληται, shall not perish) namely, without the special providence of God,—without its reward,—before its time. Most of the apostles, or at least some of them, lived beyond the destruction of Jerusalem.

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

Luk_21:18-19. Comp. 1Sa_14:45; 2Sa_14:11; 1Ki_1:52; Act_27:34. But the meaning cannot be, ye shall remain unharmed in life and limb against which interpretation the preceding καὶ θανατ. ἐξ ὑμῶν, Luk_21:16, is decisive, since θανατ. cannot be taken, as by Volkmar, of mere danger of death; rather ἀπόληται is to be taken in a Messianic sense. Comp. the following κτήσεσθε τὰς ψυχὰς ὑμῶν. Hence: no hair of your head shall be subject to the everlasting ἀπώλεια, i.e. you shall not come by the slightest harm as to the Messianic salvation; but rather, Luk_21:19 : through your endurance (Mat_10:22; Mat_24:13; Mar_13:13), in these persecutions, ye shall gain your souls, whereby is denoted the acquisition of the Messianic salvation; the latter is regarded as the life, and the opposite as death. Comp. Luk_9:25, Luk_17:33, also ζημιοῦσθαι τὴν ψυχήν, Mar_8:36. The form of the expression θρὶξ ἐκ τ. κεφ. κ.τ.λ. has therefore a proverbial character (Mat_10:30), and is not to be taken in such a manner as that God would restore again every hair at the resurrection (Zeller in the Theol. Jahrb. 1851, p. 336; comp. his Apostelg. p. 18 f.). The omission of the verse in Marcion shows that at an early period there was already found therein a contradiction to Luk_21:16, as Gfrörer, Baur, Hilgenfeld, and others still find there. This apparent impropriety makes it the more improbable that Luk_21:18 should be a later addition (Wilke, Baur, Hilgenfeld), perhaps from Act_17:34.

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 21:18 , θρὶξ , etc., a hair of your head shall not perish = Mat 10:30 , where it is said: “your hairs are all numbered”. What! even in the case of those who die? Yes, Jesus would have His apostles live in this faith whatever betide; an optimistic creed, necessary to a heroic life.

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

not a hair . . . perish--He had just said (Luk 21:16) they should be put to death; showing that this precious promise is far above immunity from mere bodily harm, and furnishing a key to the right interpretation of the ninety-first Psalm, and such like. Matthew adds the following (Mat 24:12): "And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many," the many or, the most--the generality of professed disciples--"shall wax cold." But he that endureth to the end shall be saved. Sad illustrations of the effect of abounding iniquity in cooling the love of faithful disciples we have in the Epistle of James, written about this period referred to, and too frequently ever since (Heb 10:38-39; Rev 2:10). "And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness, and then shall the end come" (Mat 24:14). God never sends judgment without previous warning; and there can be no doubt that the Jews, already dispersed over most known countries, had nearly all heard the Gospel "as a witness," before the end of the Jewish state. The same principle was repeated and will repeat itself to the end.

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 18. But there shall not a hair of your head perish.] A proverbial expression for, Ye shall not suffer any essential injury. Every genuine Christian shall escape when this desolation comes upon the Jewish state.

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

(18) There shall not an hair of your head perish.—The promise does not meet us in this form in the parallel passages of the two other Gospels. A like promise meets us in Mat_10:30, Luk_12:7. The very same phrase occurs, however, almost as if it were a quotation from this Gospel, in St. Paul’s address to the sailors, in Act_27:34.

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

18. not a hair of your head] for they are “all numbered,” Mat_10:30. The previous verse (Luk_21:16) is of course sufficient to shew that the meaning is spiritual here, not literal as in Act_27:34.

shall...perish] i.e. not without the special Providence of God, nor without reward, nor before the due time. Bengel.

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.

For these be the days of vengeance,.... Of God's vengeance on the Jewish nation, for their rejection and crucifixion of the Messiah;

that all things which are written may be fulfilled; as in Moses and the prophets; see

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

15 For I will give you a mouth and wisdom, which all your adversaries shall not be able to gainsay nor resist.

16 And ye shall be betrayed both by parents, and brethren, and kinsfolks, and friends; and some of you shall they cause to be put to death.

17 And ye shall be hated of all men for my name’s sake.

18 But there shall not an hair of your head perish.

Ver. 18. See Mat 10:30; {See Trapp on "Mat 10:30"} See also for explication, 1Sa 14:45; 2Sa 14:11; Act 27:34.

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.

A hair of your head, &c. A hair shall not perish from the head of the disciples of Christ; because not only their most heroic actions, and their public confessions of his name, but even their passing thoughts shall be crowned with adequate rewards. (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).

It is a proverbial speech, signifying that they should have no hurt or damage by any thing which their enemies should do against them. When at the last you come to cast up your accounts, you shall find you have lost nothing, and your enemies shall also find that they have gained nothing.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

18. Shall not a hair… perish—Although their lives should be taken, (Luk_21:16,) yet not a drop of their blood should be shed in vain; not a hair should fail of its effect or go for naught.

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

But there shall not a hair of your head perish. Not, of course, to be understood literally; for comp. ver. 16. Bengel"s comment accurately paraphrases it: "Not a hair of your head shall perish without the special providence of God, nor without reward, nor before the due time." The words, too, had a general fulfillment; for the Christian community of Palestine, warned by this very discourse of the Lord"s, fled in time from the doomed city, and so escaped the extermination which overtook the Jewish people in the great war which ended in the fall of Jerusalem (A.D. 70).

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

Not a hair of your head - A proverbial expression, shall perish - Without the special providence of God. And then, not before the time, nor without a full reward.

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

18. θρίξ. The expression is proverbial, as in Act 27:34. No hair shall perish, for they are “all numbered,” Mat 10:30. The previous verse (17) is of course sufficient to shew that the meaning is spiritual here, not literal as in Act 27:34. No absolute or final harm could happen to them even when they were slain by these enemies. Marcion seems to have omitted the verse from the idle notion that it involved a contradiction.

οὐ μὴ ἀπόληται, i.e. not without the special Providence of God, nor without reward, nor before the due time. Bengel.

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.

18.] Not literally, but really true; not corporeally, but in that real and only life which the disciple of Christ possesses.

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

18. καὶ θρὶξ … οὐ μὴ ἀπόληται. Peculiar to Lk. This proverbial expression of great security must here be understood spiritually; for it has just been declared (ver. 16) that some will be put to death. “Your souls will be absolutely safe; your eternal welfare shall in nowise suffer” (Mey. Weiss, Nösg.). Joh 10:28 is in substance closely parallel. This is more satisfactory than to take it literally and supply sine præmio, ante tempus (Beng.); or supply from Mat 10:29 ἄνευ τοῦ πατρὸς ὑμῶν (Hahn). The proverb is used of physical preservation, Act 27:34; 1Sa 14:45; 2Sa 14:11; 1Ki 1:52.

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