Matius 24:23-28

24:23 Then if anyone says to you, ‘Look, here is the Christ!’ ¹  or ‘There he is!’ do not believe him. 24:24 For false messiahs ²  and false prophets will appear and perform great signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect. 24:25 Remember, ³  I have told you ahead of time. 24:26 So then, if someone ⁴  says to you, ‘Look, he is in the wilderness,’ ⁵  do not go out, or ‘Look, he is in the inner rooms,’ do not believe him. 24:27 For just like the lightning ⁶  comes from the east and flashes to the west, so the coming of the Son of Man will be. 24:28 Wherever the corpse is, there the vultures ⁷  will gather. ⁸ 

Matius 24:36-41

Be Ready!

24:36 “But as for that day and hour no one knows it – not even the angels in heaven ⁹  – except the Father alone. 24:37 For just like the days of Noah ¹⁰  were, so the coming of the Son of Man will be. 24:38 For in those days before the flood, people ¹¹  were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day Noah entered the ark. 24:39 And they knew nothing until the flood came and took them all away. ¹²  It will be the same at the coming of the Son of Man. ¹³  24:40 Then there will be two men in the field; one will be taken and one left. ¹⁴  24:41 There will be two women grinding grain with a mill; ¹⁵  one will be taken and one left.

[24:23]  ¹ tn Or “Messiah”; both “Christ” (Greek) and “Messiah” (Hebrew and Aramaic) mean “one who has been anointed.”

[24:23]  sn See the note on Christ in 1:16.

[24:24]  ² tn Or “false christs”; both “Christ” (Greek) and “Messiah” (Hebrew and Aramaic) mean “one who has been anointed.”

[24:25]  ³ tn Or “Pay attention!” Grk “Behold.”

[24:26]  ⁴ tn Grk “they say.” The third person plural is used here as an indefinite and translated “someone” (ExSyn 402).

[24:26]  ⁵ tn Or “in the desert.”

[24:27]  ⁶ sn The Son of Man’s coming in power will be sudden and obvious like lightning. No one will need to point it out.

[24:28]  ⁷ tn The same Greek term can refer to “eagles” or “vultures” (L&N 4.42; BDAG 22 s.v. ἀετός), but in this context it must mean vultures because the gruesome image is one of dead bodies being consumed by scavengers.

[24:28]  sn Jesus’ answer is that when the judgment comes, the scenes of death will be obvious and so will the location of the judgment. See also Luke 17:37.

[24:28]  ⁸ tn Grk “will be gathered.” The passive construction has been translated as an active one in English.

[24:36]  ⁹ tc ‡ Some important witnesses, including early Alexandrian and Western mss (א*^,2 B D Θ Ë¹³ pc it vg^mss Ir^lat Hier^mss), have the additional words οὐδὲ ὁ υἱός (oude Jo Juios, “nor the son”) here. Although the shorter reading (which lacks this phrase) is suspect in that it seems to soften the prophetic ignorance of Jesus, the final phrase (“except the Father alone”) already implies this. Further, the parallel in Mark 13:32 has οὐδὲ ὁ υἱός, with almost no witnesses lacking the expression. Hence, it is doubtful that the absence of “neither the Son” is due to the scribes. In keeping with Matthew’s general softening of Mark’s harsh statements throughout his Gospel, it is more likely that the absence of “neither the Son” is part of the original text of Matthew, being an intentional change on the part of the author. Further, this shorter reading is supported by the first corrector of א as well as L W ˹ 33 Ï vg sy co Hier^mss. Admittedly, the external evidence is not as impressive for the shorter reading, but it best explains the rise of the other reading (in particular, how does one account for virtually no mss excising οὐδὲ ὁ υἱός at Mark 13:32 if such an absence here is due to scribal alteration? Although scribes were hardly consistent, for such a theologically significant issue at least some consistency would be expected on the part of a few scribes). Nevertheless, NA²⁷ includes οὐδὲ ὁ υἱός here.

[24:37]  ¹⁰ sn Like the days of Noah, the time of the flood in Gen 6:5-8:22, the judgment will come as a surprise as people live their day to day lives.

[24:38]  ¹¹ tn Grk “they,” but in an indefinite sense, “people.”

[24:39]  ¹² sn Like the flood that came and took them all away, the coming judgment associated with the Son of Man will condemn many.

[24:39]  ¹³ tn Grk “So also will be the coming of the Son of Man.”

[24:40]  ¹⁴ sn There is debate among commentators and scholars over the phrase one will be taken and one left about whether one is taken for judgment or for salvation. If the imagery is patterned after the rescue of Noah from the flood, as some suggest, the ones taken are the saved (as Noah was) andthose left behind are judged. The imagery, however, is not directly tied to theidentification of the two groups. Its primary purposein context is topicture the sudden, surprisingseparation of the righteous and the judged (i.e., condemned) at the return of the Son of Man.

[24:41]  ¹⁵ tn According to L&N 46.16, this refers to a hand mill normally operated by two women.