Mark 13:22

Mar_13:22

For false Christs.

False Christs

David George, e.g., who ultimately settled at Basle, where he died in 1556. He claimed, according to the account of Dr. Henry More, to be the true Christ, the dear Son of God, born not of the flesh, but of the Spirit. He was to restore the house of Israel, and re-erect the tabernacle of God, not by afflictions and death, as the other Messiah, but by that sweetness, love, and grace, which were given him of the Father. He had the power of the remission of sins; and had come to administer the last judgment. He averred that the Holy Scriptures: the sayings and testimonies of the prophets, of Christ, and of His apostles, do all point, if rightly understood, in their true mystery, to the glorious coming of David George, who is greater than the former Christ, as being born of the Spirit, and not of the flesh. This David George, says Dr. More, was a man of notable natural parts, of comely person, and a graceful presence. And he had many adherents, who believed in him. In our own day there are persons-out of asylums-who put forth corresponding claims. There is lying before the writer a Tract on the Second Advent fulfilled, in which it is said that the enrolling of the saints commenced on the anniversary of the last day of the Feast of Tabernacles of the year 1868, i.e., on the 9th of October, 1868. The following, it is added, is the declaration to be made and signed:-I believe Jesus of Nazareth to be the Messiah at His first coming, and the antitypical Paschal Lamb Who died for sin in allegory, and I believe John Cochran of Glasgow to be that Messiah at His second coming, and the antitypical High Priest who has taken away sin in reality.

False prophets

Lodowick Muggleton, e.g., who on the title page of his True Interpretation of the whole Book of the Revelation of St. John, describes himself as one of the two last commissioned witnesses and prophets of the only high, immortal, glorious God, Christ Jesus. Madame Antoinette Bourignon, before him, was a far nobler being, yet she declared to Christian de Cort, I am sent from God to bring light to the world, and to bear witness to the truth. He has sent me to tell that the last times are come; that the world is judged, and the sentence is irrevocable; that the plagues are begun, and will not cease till all evil be rooted out; and that Jesus Christ will come shortly to the earth to finish this, and then He will continue to reign with men of goodwill, who shall enjoy eternal peace. I am sent with a commission to declare all these things to men, to the end that peradventure some of them may be converted and repent, that they may reign with Jesus Christ in His glory. And again, she says, I am certainly sent from God to declare the truth of everything.

False prophets in Spain

There was great excitement in Madrid owing to the announcement that the world would come to an end on the 24th of June, 1886, that day being the conjunction of the festivals of St. John and of the Corpus Christi. The belief had taken such hold among the lower and superstitious classes of Madrid, that the fright was general, the prophecy having been printed and circulated in thousands. During the past two or three weeks many people have spent their days in fasting, prayer, and weeping, and yesterday the churches and confessionals were crowded with women. (Freeman.)

Danger from those coming in the name of Christ

In the frescoes of Signorelli we have The Teaching of Antichrist-no repulsive figure, but a grand personage in flowing robes, and with a noble countenance, which at a distance might easily be taken for the Saviour. To him the crowd are eagerly gathering and listening, and it is only when you draw close that you can discover in his harder and cynical expression, and from the evil spirit whispering in his ear, that it is not Christ. (Augustus J. C. Hare.)

Signs and Wonders.

Wonder-working impostors

Lying wonders (2Th_2:9) no doubt-wonders that serve a purpose of imposition, partly, it may be, on the wonder workers themselves, and partly on those whom they wish to attach to themselves. There are wonderful idiosyncrasies among men, that give scope for the performance of such wonders. In some natures-as in Valentine Greatrakes and Gassner (see Howitts History of the Supernatural), singular therapeutic energies instinctively well up and flow over. In others there is a singular power of something like second sight, or clairvoyance, turning fitfully its penetrative eye, now upon objects distant in space, and now upon objects distant in time-though in a way far removed from infallibility. This clairvoyant eye often takes cognizance of only frivolous realities, and seems blind to things of moment. Still its peculiarity is fitted-when once a willing and shadow fanaticism tries its hand at understanding it-to be a lying wonder. There are other remarkable endowments and instincts, which crop up at times in exceptional idiosyncrasies, and may give occasion either to self-delusion, or to deliberate artifice, or to a minglement of the two perversities. (J. Morison, D. D.)

The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Mar 13:22. Ἀποπλανᾶν, to seduce) by error [πλάνη, wandering] from the right path.

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

Mar 13:22 . ψευδόχριστοι , ψευδοπροφῆται , false Christs, and false prophets; again, as in Mar 13:6 , here as there without, not within, the Church; political Messiahs, in Mar 13:6 spoken of as the prime cause of all the calamities, here as at the last hour promising deliverance therefrom. πρὸς τὸ ἀποπλανᾷν , with a view to mislead; the compound verb occurs again in 1Ti 6:10 , in passive.

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

22. for false Christs and false prophets] Josephus tells us that false prophets and impostors prevailed on multitudes to follow them into the desert, promising there to display signs and wonders (comp. Act_21:38); and even at the last, when the Temple was in flames, numbers of all ages flocked thither from the city upon the proclamation of a false prophet, and of six thousand assembled there on this occasion, not one escaped the fire or the sword. But such imposture is to be still more signally realized with “signs and lying wonders” before the final coming of Christ (2Th_2:1-10).

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 in those days, after that tribulation,.... That is, after the destruction of the city and temple of Jerusalem, and the miseries and calamities attending it, in the times immediately following it; see Mat 24:29;

the sun shall be darkened: so the Shekinah, or glory of the divine majesty was withdrawn, and all the symbols of the divine presence were gone, when the temple was destroyed:

and the moon shall not give her light; the ceremonial law, which though abolished by the death of Christ, was observed by the Jews as long as the temple stood; but now ceased, particularly that principal branch of it, the daily sacrifice; See Gill on Mat 24:29.

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

22. [2957][2958][2959][2960] omit καί before τοὺς ἐκλεκτούς, from Mt. [2961] omits τοὑς.

[2957] Codex Sinaiticus. 4th cent. Discovered by Tischendorf in 1859 at the Monastery of St Katharine on Mount Sinai. Now at St Petersburg. The whole Gospel, ending at Mar 16:8. Photographic facsimile, 1911.

[2958] Codex Vaticanus. 4th cent., but perhaps a little later than א. In the Vatican Library almost since its foundation by Pope Nicolas V., and one of its greatest treasures. The whole Gospel, ending at Mar 16:8. Photographic facsimile, 1889.

[2959] Codex Bezae. 6th cent. Has a Latin translation (d) side by side with the Greek text, and the two do not quite always agree. Presented by Beza to the University Library of Cambridge in 1581. Remarkable for its frequent divergences from other texts. Contains Mark, except Mar 16:15-20, which has been added by a later hand. Photographic facsimile, 1899.

[2960] Codex Athous Laurae. 8th cent. Like N and Σ, it is written in silver letters on purple vellum. Contains Mar 9:5 to Mar 16:20, and, as in L, the shorter ending is inserted between Mar 16:8 and Mar 16:9. As in Δ, the text of Mark is specially good.

[2961] Codex Athous Laurae. 8th cent. Like N and Σ, it is written in silver letters on purple vellum. Contains Mar 9:5 to Mar 16:20, and, as in L, the shorter ending is inserted between Mar 16:8 and Mar 16:9. As in Δ, the text of Mark is specially good.

22. ψευδόχριστοι. We know of none at this time who claimed to be the Messiah, but the word seems to have been loosely used as meaning much the same as ἀντίχριστοι (1Jn 2:22; 1Jn 4:3; 2Jn 1:7).

ψευδοπροφῆται. Cf. Act 13:6; Rev 19:20; Didache 11. It was, of course, much easier to pretend to be a prophet (Deu 13:1) than to pretend to be the Messiah; and fanatics would have this delusion more easily than the other. See on 1Jn 4:1. Syr-Sin. has “prophets of lies.”

σημεῖα. Things, whether frequent or rare, which have a meaning beyond their own qualities.

τέρατα. Things which excite amazement or terror, but without necessarily having any meaning. Supernatural acts are often in N.T. called σημεῖα καὶ τέρατα, and often σημεῖα, esp. in Jn, but never σημεῖα alone. See on 2Co 12:12.

πρὀς τό ἀποπλανᾶν. “With a view to leading away from the right path.” In 2Ch 21:11 the verb is coupled with ἐκπορνεύω of leading into idolatry, and is used in Pro 8:21 of seduction by an adulteress. Cf. 1Ti 6:10.

εἰ δυνατόν. Cf. Mar 14:35; Rom 12:18. Si potest fieri (Vulg.).

τοὺς ἐκλεκτούς. See crit. note. “Even the elect” (A.V.) is right in Mt., but not here.

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.

22. ἐγερθήσονται γὰρ (δὲ) ψευδόχριστοι καὶ ψευδοπροφῆται,3 καὶ δώσουσι (ποιήσουσι) σημεῖα καὶ τέρατα,4 πρὸς τὸ ἀποπλανᾷν, εἰ δυνατόν, τοὺς ἐκλεκτούς—for (and) false Messiahs and false prophets will arise, and will give (do) signs and prodigies, in order to deceive, if possible, the elect.

δώσουσι belongs especially to σημεῖα, rather than τέρατα. A sign is something given in proof of one’s claim. τέρατα denotes miracles as wonders, abortive, unearthly, and portentous phenomena, and thus corresponds most exactly to our word miracles. πρὸς τὸ ἀποπλανᾷν5 may denote result, as well as object.6 But εἰ δυνατόν, if possible, points to the signification of object. ἐκλεκτούς, here and in v. 20, does not have its dogmatic sense, but the literary sense of choice or picked men seems to accord with the spirit of the passage. They are distinguished from the common crowd.

This manifestation of false Messiahs and prophets is to be distinguished from the one in v. 6, in the time before the end, being accompanied by these miracles and signs, so that the danger of deception is greater.

Tisch. reads δὲ, instead of γὰρ, at the beginning of the verse with א C, regarding γὰρ as copied from Mt., where it is the invariable reading. Also ποιήσουσιν, instead of δώσουσι, with D 13, 28, 69, 91, 124, 299, 346, two mss. Lat. Vet., for the same reason. Omit καὶ before τοὺς ἐκλεκτούς, Tisch. (Treg.) WH. RV. א BDgrk.

It is singular to see David George (1556), Lodowick Muggleton (1746), John Cochran (1868), enumerated among the Messiahs foretold in this prophecy. (Morison.) Whatever opinion is held as to the contents of the prophecy, whether it refers simply to the destruction of Jerusalem with whatever significance may be attached to that, or includes also the visible coming of the Lord and the final judgment, there is general consent now that the prophecy is restricted in time to that generation, v. 30. In general, the historical interpretation of prophecy is fairly settled.

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

Shall shew [δωσουσιν] . Lit., shall give. A few editors, however, read poihsousin, shall make or do.

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