Luke 21:23

Luk 21:23. Ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς, on the earth [but Engl. Vers. in the land]) even outside of Judea. The same phrase occurs in Luk 21:25; but with greater force, Luk 21:35.[225] [The omission of the particle ἐν is favoured as well by the margin of both Editions, as also by the Germ. Vers.—E. B.[226]]—ἘΝ Τῷ ΛΑῷ ΤΟΎΤῼ, in the case of [‘upon’] this people) who have despised so great grace vouchsafed from heaven. [The introduction of the appellation ‘Israel’ is avoided in this case.—V. g.]

[225] “Upon the earth”—“On the face of the whole earth.” This makes Bengel’s interpretation of the words, Luk 21:23, more probable than that of Engl. Vers—E. and T.

[226] ABCDac Vulg. omit ἐν. Rec. Text has it, without any of the oldest authorities.—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_21:23-24. Comp. Mat_24:19 ff.; Mar_13:17 ff., to both of which Luke is related sometimes by abridgment, sometimes by more precise statements ex eventu.

Ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς] on the earth, without special definition (comp. Luk_5:24, Luk_18:8, Luk_21:25). The latter is then introduced in the second member (τῷ λαῷ τούτῳ) by καί (and especially); but μεγάλη belongs to both. On the divine ὀργή, which is punitively accomplished in such calamities, comp. 1Ma_1:64; 1Ma_2:49; 2Ma_5:17; Dan_8:19.

τῷ λ. τ.] dependent on ἔσται.

Luk_21:24. στόματι μαχαίρας] by the mouth of the sword, Heb_11:34. Thus frequently פִּי חֶרֶב, Gen_34:26; Deu_13:16, and elsewhere. Comp. Sir_28:18; Jdt_2:27; 1Ma_5:28. The sword is poetically (Hom. Il. xv. 389; Porson, ad Eurip. Or. 1279; Schaefer) represented as a biting animal (by its sharpness; hence μάχ. δίστομος, two-edged). Comp. πολέμου στόμα, Hom. Il. x. 8, xix. 313. The subject of πεσ. and αἰχμαλ. is: those who belong to this people.

αἰχμαλωτ.] According to Joseph. Bell. vi. 9. 2, ninety-seven thousand were taken prisoners, and, for the most part, dragged to Egypt and into the provinces.

Ἱερουσαλ.] when conquered and laid waste (Luk_21:20), in opposition to Paulus, who finds merely the besetting of the city by a hostile force here expressed.

ἔσται πατουμ. ὑπὸ ἐθνῶν] shall be trodden under foot of the Gentiles, a contemptuous ill-treatment; the holy city thus profaned is personified. Comp. Isa_10:6; 1Ma_3:45 (see Grimm, in loc.), 1Ma_4:60; Rev_11:2; Philo, In Flacc. p. 974 C; Soph. Ant. 741.

ἄχρις … ἐθνῶν] till the times of the Gentiles shall be fulfilled, i.e. till the time that the periods which are appointed to the Gentile nations for the completion of divine judgments (not the period of grace for the Gentiles, as Ebrard foists into the passage) shall have run out. Comp. Rev_11:2. Such times of the Gentiles are ended in the case in question by the Parousia (Luk_21:25 f., 27), which is to occur during the lifetime of the hearers (Luk_21:28); hence those καιροί are in no way to be regarded as of longer duration,[244] which Dorner, de orat. Ch. eschatolog. p. 73, ought not to have concluded from the plural, since it makes no difference with respect to duration whether a period of time is regarded as unity, or according to the plurality of its constituent parts. See, for example, 2Ti_3:1 comp. with Luk_4:3; 1Ti_4:1; Sir_39:31; 1Ma_4:59; 2Ma_12:30. In opposition to Schwegler, who likewise finds betrayed in the passage a knowledge of a long duration, and therein the late composition of the Gospel; see Franck in the Stud. u. Krit. 1855, p. 347 f. Hofmann, Schriftbew. II. 2, p. 643, erroneously dates the beginning of the καιροὶ ἐθνῶν not from the taking of Jerusalem, supposing, on the contrary, the meaning to be: till the time, in which the world belongs to the nations, shall be at an end, and the people of God shall receive the dominion. In answer to this, it may be said, on the one hand, that the thought of the dominion of the world (according to Dan_7:14; Dan_7:27) is a pure interpolation; on the other, that the καιροὶ ἐθνῶν would be the ΚΑΙΡΟΊ, which were familiar to all from the prophecies, and which had already begun to run their course, so that at the time of Jesus and long before they were regarded as in process of fulfilment. This is the reason for our having οἱ καιροί with the article (comp. Luk_19:44). Comp. on ΚΑΙΡΟΊ without the article, Tob_14:5; Act_3:20-21. By a perverse appeal to history, it has been explained as having reference to the fall of heathenism under Constantine (Clericus), and to the conversion[245] of the heathen-world (see in Wolf; also Dorner, l.c. p. 68). Comp. Lange, who suggests withal the thought of the Mohammedans.

[244] Non infertur hinc, templum cultumque umbratilem instauratum iri, Bengel. Comp. Calov. in loc., and our remark after Rom_11:27.

[245] Comp. Luthers gloss: till the heathens shall be converted to the faith, i.e. till the end of the world.

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 21:23 . οὐαὶ , etc.: as in parallels as far as ἡμέραις ; then follow words peculiar to Lk. concerning the ἀνάγκη and ὀργὴ . The use of the former word in the sense of distress is mainly Hellenistic; here and in St. Paul’s epistles. The latter word expresses the same idea as that in 1Th 2:16 .

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

By wrath, those things are meant, which God sendeth when he is displeased.

Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain. Text via Bolls.life.

woe unto--"alas for."

with child, &c.--from the greater suffering it would involve; as also "flight in winter, and on the sabbath," which they were to "pray" against (Mat 24:20), the one as more trying to the body, the other to the soul. "For then shall be tribulation such as was not since the beginning of the world, nor ever shall be"--language not unusual in the Old Testament for tremendous calamities, though of this it may perhaps be literally said, "And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved, but for the elect's sake those days shall be shortened" (Mat 24:21-22). But for this merciful "shortening," brought about by a remarkable concurrence of causes, the whole nation would have perished, in which there yet remained a remnant to be afterwards gathered out. Here in Matthew and Mark (Mat 24:24; Mar 13:22) are some particulars about "false Christs," who should, "if possible"--a precious clause--"deceive the very elect." (Compare Th2 2:9-11; Rev 13:13.)

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

(23) Great distress in the land.—Literally, great need, or necessity. The word, which St. Luke uses as an equivalent for “tribulation,” is not found in the other Gospels in this sense. It is, however, so used by St. Paul (1Co_7:26; 2Co_6:4; 2Co_12:10; 1Th_3:7).

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

23. woe unto them that are with child] The ‘woe’ is only an expression of pity for them because their flight would be retarded or rendered impossible.

great distress...and wrath] 1Th_2:16, “Wrath is come upon them to the uttermost.” Josephus says that, when there were no more to plunder or slay, after “incredible slaughter and miseries,” Titus ordered the city to be razed so completely as to look like a spot which had been never inhabited. B. J. vi. 10, vii. 1.

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.

And then shall they see the son of man,.... See Gill on Mat 24:30.

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Luke 21:28

luk 21:28

luk 21:28

luk 21:28And when these things begin to come to pass,.... When the first of these signs appears, or any one of them:

then look up and lift up your heads; be cheerful and pleasant; do not hang down your heads as bulrushes, but erect them, and put on a cheerful countenance, and look upwards, from whence your help comes; and look out wistfully and intently, for your salvation and deliverance:

for your redemption draweth nigh; not the redemption of their souls from sin, Satan, the law, the world, death, and hell; for that was to be obtained, and was obtained, before any of these signs took place; nor the redemption of their bodies at the last day, in the resurrection, called the day of redemption; for this respects something that was to be, in the present age and generation; see Luk 21:32 but the deliverance of the apostles and other Christians, from the persecutions of the Jews, which were very violent, and held till these times, and then they were freed from them: or by redemption is meant, the Redeemer, the son of man, who shall now come in power and glory, to destroy the Jews, and deliver his people; and so the Ethiopic version renders it, "for he draws nigh who shall save you".

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

23 But woe unto them that are with child, and to them that give suck, in those days! for there shall be great distress in the land, and wrath upon this people.

Ver. 23. See Mat 24:15-17.

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.

Josephus tells us, that in the wars which ended in the taking of Jerusalem, by the famine and the sword there perished one million one hundred thousand Jews, and ninety seven thousand were carried into captivity. Jerusalem ever since that time hath been

trodden down by the Gentiles, the Romans, Saracens, Franks, and is at this day trodden of the Turks.

Until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled. Some from this text think, that there shall be a time when the Jews shall repossess the city of Jerusalem. Whether any such thing can be from hence gathered, I doubt. Some here by the times of the Gentiles understand all that time between the destruction of Jerusalem and the end of the world. Others, the time when the gospel should be carried over all the world. But their opinion seemeth to me most probable, who interpret it of the time of God’s patience with the Gentiles. As the Jews have filled up their measure, and now the wrath of God is come upon them to the uttermost, so the Gentiles shall have their time also. The Romans have had their time, the Turks now have their time; but their glass is also running out, there will be a fulfilling of their time too, and whether then another sort of barbarians shall possess it, or the Jews or Christians shall recover it, time must interpret.

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

to them who are nursing

"to mothers who are nursing their babies"

there will be great distress upon the land

Possible meanings are 1) the people of the land will be distressed or 2) there will be physical disasters in the land.

wrath to this people

"there will be wrath to the people at that time." God will bring this wrath. AT: "this people will experience God's anger" or "God will be very angry and will punish this people" (See: Assumed Knowledge and Implicit Information)

They will fall by the edge of the sword

"They will be killed by the edge of the sword." Here "fall by the edge of the sword" represents being killed by enemy soldiers. AT: "Enemy soldiers will kill them" (See: Metonymy)

they will be led captive into all the nations

This can be stated in active form. AT: "their enemies will capture them and take them to other countries" (See: Active or Passive)

into all the nations

The word "all" is an exaggeration to emphasize that they will be led into many countries. AT: "into many other countries" (See: Hyperbole and Generalization)

Jerusalem will be trampled by the Gentiles

Possible meanings are 1) the Gentiles will conquer Jerusalem and occupy it or 2) the Gentiles will destroy the city of Jerusalem or 3) the Gentiles will destroy the people of Jerusalem. (See: Active or Passive)

trampled by the Gentiles

This metaphor speaks of Jerusalem as if the people of other nations was walking on it and crushing it down with their feet. This refers to domination. AT: "conquered by the Gentiles" or "destroyed by the other nations" (See: Metaphor)

the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled

This can be stated in active form. AT: "the period of the Gentiles has come to an end" (See: Active or Passive)

translationWords

woe

wrath

sword

captive

nation

Jerusalem

Gentile

fulfill

unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.

23. οὐαί. The ‘woe’ is only an expression of pity for them because their flight would be retarded or rendered impossible.

ἀνάγκη μεγάλη … καὶ ὀργή. 1Th 2:16, “Wrath is come upon them to the uttermost.” Josephus says that, when there were no more to plunder or slay, after “incredible slaughter and miseries,” Titus ordered the city to be razed so completely as to look like a spot which had been never inhabited. B. J. VI. 10, VII. 1.

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.

23.] ἐπὶ τ. γ., general; τῷ λ. τούτῳ, particular. The distress on all the earth is not so distinctly the result of the divine anger, as that which shall befall this nation.

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

23. οὐαὶ … ἡμέραις. Verbatim the same in all three. For ἀνάγκη Mt. and Mk. have θλίψις In Job 15:24 we have ἀνάγκη καὶ θλίψις: comp. Job 7:11, Job 18:14, Job 20:22. In class. Grk. ἀνάγκη rarely means “distress,” a meaning common in bibl. Grk. (1Co 7:26; 1Th 3:7; 2Co 6:4, 2Co 6:12:10; Psa 106:6, Psa 106:13, Psa 106:19, Psa 106:28; Ps. Son 5:8). See small print on ver. 25. The meaning of ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς is determined by τῷ λαῷ τούτῳ. The latter means the Jews, and therefore the former means Palestine (AV. RV.) and not the earth (Weiss). For the Divine ὀργή comp. 1 Mac. 1:64, Mal 1:2:49; Mal_2 Mac. 5:20; PS. Sol. 2:26, 17:14. The ὀργή is provoked by the people qui tantam gratiam cælestem spreverit (Beng.).

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

Distress [αναγκη] . Originally constraint, necessity; thence force or violence, and in the classical poets, distress, anguish.

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