Matthewchapter 24
51 verses · Matthew, by tradition · AD 50 to 65 · The Gospels
So when you see standing in the holy place ‘the abomination of desolation,’ described by the prophet Daniel (let the reader understand),
Introduction
Matthew, by tradition, The Gospels, Matthew Overview.
Matthew wrote for Jewish believers who either still saw the temple standing or remembered its fall as a fresh and terrible loss. This chapter opens the fifth and last of the long discourses around which Matthew builds his Gospel. Jesus speaks privately to His disciples on the Mount of Olives, facing the temple across the valley. They ask two questions, one about the temple and one about the end of the age, and the answer holds both. Listen for the plain instructions about what to do and what to ignore, and for the pictures of a thief and a household servant. The chapter teaches readiness more than timetables.
Context
- Who
- Jewish readers for whom the temple was either still standing or a fresh, terrible memory
- What
- Jesus' answer to His disciples about the destruction of the temple, the signs before His coming, and how to watch for it.
- Where
- The Mount of Olives, looking west across the Kidron valley at the temple in Jerusalem.
- When
- The last week before the crucifixion, in AD 30 or AD 33, looking ahead to the burning of the temple by Rome in AD 70.
- Why
- To prepare the disciples for the fall of Jerusalem and the long wait for His return, so that they would neither panic nor be deceived.
Historical context
The disciples' admiration was not naive. Herod's temple platform was one of the engineering marvels of the ancient world, and some of its foundation blocks weigh well over a hundred tons; several are still visible in the western wall today. Josephus describes the sanctuary as covered in gold that blinded anyone looking at it in the morning sun. Saying not one stone would be left on another was a statement no one present could have taken calmly.
Show the rest of the historical context, 3 more paragraphs
It happened. In AD 70, after a long siege, Roman legions under Titus took the city, burned the sanctuary, and levelled the buildings. Josephus, who watched it, wrote the account.
The abomination Jesus names had a precedent everyone knew. In the second century BC Antiochus IV had desecrated the altar and sacrificed a pig on it, provoking the Maccabean revolt. Within living memory of Matthew's readers, the emperor Caligula had ordered his own statue erected in the sanctuary around AD 40, and the province came close to open war before his death cancelled it.
The flight instructions assume that world's practicalities. Houses had flat roofs reached by an outside stair, so you could go down and away without entering; winter meant the wadis running full and the roads impassable; and travelling on a Sabbath meant either breaking the day or being stranded, since custom limited a Sabbath journey to about two thirds of a mile. The early historian Eusebius records that the Jerusalem believers, warned by an oracle before the war, left the city for Pella beyond the Jordan before the siege closed. It is a late report, nothing in the New Testament or in Josephus mentions it, and historians still argue over whether it happened. But it is the earliest Christian memory of what the church did when the armies came.
Significance
To the first readers this chapter had immediate, practical force. It told them what to do when the armies came: get out, do not go back for the cloak, do not chase after anyone claiming to be the Messiah in the desert.
Show the rest of the significance, 1 more paragraph
It also protected them from panic. Wars, famines, and false prophets are the beginning, not the end. And the end, when it comes, needs no rumour to announce it, it will be as unmistakable as lightning across the whole sky.
The heads below are this chapter's scenes. The numbered points under each are its verses.
Not One Stone Left: the Beginning of Sorrows
Matthew 24:1-2
point out its buildings: As Jesus left the temple, the disciples pointed out its buildings. Herod's expansion was faced with white stone blocks, some over forty feet long by the record of Josephus. Barnes records that Titus burned the sanctuary in AD 70, against his own order to spare it.
Matthew 24:1
“And Jesus went out - He was going over to the Mount of Olives, Mat 24:3. The buildings of the temple - The temple itself, with the surrounding courts, porches, and other edifices. See the notes at Mat 21:12. Mark says that they particularly pointed out the “stones” of the temple, as well as the buildings. “In that temple,” says Josephus, the Jewish historian, “were several stones which were 45 cubits in length, 5 in height, and 6 in breadth;” that is, more than 70 feet long, 10 wide, and 8 high.”
2 more voices on this verseWhat preachers and commentators have said about this verse, in their own words.
Matthew 24:1
“And Jesus went out, and departed from the temple,.... He not only went out of it for that time, but took his final leave of it, never to return more to it; having foretold its desolation, which he, in part, by so doing, immediately fulfilled: this the disciples observing, and being intent on the outward splendour, and worldly grandeur of it, were concerned that so beautiful a structure should be deserted; and almost thought it incredible, that so strong, and firm a building could be destroyed.”
Matthew 24:1
“Woe unto them when I depart, Hos. ix. It was now time to groan out their Ichabod, The glory is departed, their defence is departed. Three days after this, the veil of the temple was rent; when Christ left it, all became common and unclean; but Christ departed not till they drove him away; did not reject them, till they first rejected him.”
Matthew Henry · Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
not one stone here: Wesley records that Titus later had even the foundations dug up, and the place was ploughed. Clarke notes that some manuscripts read the question as a call to look. Every stone of the temple came down.
Matthew 24:2
“There shall not be left one stone upon another - This was most punctually fulfilled; for after the temple was burnt, Titus, the Roman general, ordered the very foundations of it to be dug up; after which the ground on which it stood was ploughed up by Turnus Rufus.”
John Wesley · Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament (1755)evangelical
1 more voice on this verse
Matthew 24:2
“See ye not all these things? - The common text, and many manuscripts, have ου βλεπετε, Do ye not see, or consider? But the negative particle is omitted by several excellent manuscripts, by the Coptic, Sahidic, Armenian, Ethiopic, Slavonic, Vulgate, and Itala versions, and by some of the primitive fathers, who all read it thus, see, or consider all these things.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
the sign of Your coming: The Mount of Olives is where Ezekiel saw the glory of the Lord depart the city (Ezekiel 11:23). It is where Zechariah sets the Lord's feet on the day he fights for Jerusalem (Zechariah 14:4). Sitting there, Jesus receives from the disciples one question in three parts.
Matthew 24:3
“And as he sat upon the Mount of Olives,.... Which was on the east of the city of Jerusalem (a), "over against the temple", as Mark says, and where he could sit and take a full view of it; for the wall on the east side was lower than any other, and that for this reason; that when the high priest burnt the red heifer on this mount, as he did, and sprinkled the blood, he might have a view of the gate of the temple.”
Matthew 24:4-5
that no one deceives you: Jesus opens his answer with a warning, "See to it that no one deceives you," before he names any sign. The danger he names is a claimed identity, since many will come in his name and say, "I am the Christ". Josephus records such figures before AD 70.
Matthew 24:4
“Take heed that no man deceive you - The world is full of deceivers, and it is only by taking heed to the counsel of Christ that even his followers can escape being ruined by them. From this to Mat 24:31, our Lord mentions the signs which should precede his coming. The First sign is false Christs.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
many will come in My name: Jerome names Simon the Samaritan of Acts 8 as one of these, a man who claimed to be a great power of God. Adam Clarke adds the Egyptian of Acts 21:38, who led thirty thousand men into the desert. Each borrowed a title belonging to Christ.
Matthew 24:5
“For many shall come in my name - 1. Josephus says, (War, b. ii. c. 13), that there were many who, pretending to Divine inspiration, deceived the people, leading out numbers of them to the desert, pretending that God would there show them the signs of liberty, meaning redemption from the Roman power: and that an Egyptian false prophet led 30,000 men into the desert, who were almost all cut off by Felix. See Act 21:38. It was a just judgment for God to deliver up that people into the hands of false Christs who had rejected the true one.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
Matthew 24:6-8
wars and rumors of wars: Jesus names wars and rumors of wars, famines and earthquakes. At once he tells the disciples not to be alarmed, because "the end is still to come". He calls these "the beginning of birth pains," the Greek odin naming a woman's labor pains, which grow stronger toward a delivery.
Matthew 24:6
“And ye shall hear of wars and rumours of wars,.... This is the second sign of the destruction of Jerusalem: it is observable that this, and some of the following signs, are given by the Jews, as signs of the Messiah's coming; whereas they were forerunners of their ruin, for the rejection of him who was already come.”
1 more voice on this verse
Matthew 24:6
“The next signs given by our Lord are wars and rumors of wars, etc. - These may be seen in Josephus, Ant. b. xviii. c. 9; War, b. ii. c. 10; especially as to the rumors of wars, when Caligula ordered his statue to be set up in the temple of God, which the Jews having refused, had every reason to expect a war with the Romans, and were in such consternation on the occasion that they even neglected to till their land.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
Nation will rise against nation: Barnes sees nation rise against nation before the temple would fall. At Caesarea the Jews and Syrians went to war over the city, and twenty thousand Jews were killed. War then spread through Judea, and even Italy saw civil war between Otho and Vitellius.
Matthew 24:7
“Nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom - At Caesarea the Jews and Syrians contended about the right to the city, and twenty thousand of the Jews were slain. At this blow the whole nation of the Jews was exasperated, and carried war and desolation through the Syrian cities and villages. Sedition and civil war spread throughout Judea; Italy was also thrown into civil war by the contests between Otho and Vitellius for the crown.”
the beginning of birth pains: Clarke pictures all Judea as a mother in labor, with these first pains small beside the deadly birth of the siege. Jerome reads the same pains as the conception of the Antichrist's coming, still short of its birth. The worst was still to come.
Matthew 24:8
“These all are the beginnings of sorrows, is better understood of pains of labour, as it were the conception of the coming of Antichrist, and not of the birth.”
Jerome · written before 420 · Catena Aurea by Aquinaspatristic
1 more voice on this verse
Matthew 24:8
“All these are the beginning of sorrows - Ωδινων, travailing pains. The whole land of Judea is represented under the notion of a woman in grievous travail; but our Lord intimates, that all that had already been mentioned were only the first pangs and throes, and nothing in comparison of that hard and death-bringing labor, which should afterwards take place.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
Matthew 24:9-10
deliver you over to be persecuted: Jesus turns to the disciples' own suffering, since they will be delivered over to death and "hated by all nations because of My name". Acts supplies the early history in Stephen, James the son of Zebedee, and Paul's repeated arrests. Verse 10 describes a fracture inside the company of disciples.
Matthew 24:9
“To be afflicted - By persecution, imprisonment, scourging, etc. “They shall deliver you up to councils” (Mark). To the great council, or Sanhedrin - for this is the word in the original. See the notes at Mat 5:22. This was fulfilled when Peter and John were brought before the council, Act 4:5-7. Mark further adds Mar 13:9 that they should be delivered to synagogues and to prisons to be beaten, and should be brought before rulers and kings for his name’s sake. All this was remarkably fulfilled.”
many will fall away: Clarke finds the verse fulfilled under Nero, in the persecution Tacitus describes at Rome. A few Christians were seized first, and on their word a great many others were put to death. Betrayal did the persecutor's work.
Matthew 24:10
“Then shall many be offended, and shall betray one another - To illustrate this point, one sentence out of Tacitus (Annal. l. xv). will be sufficient, who, speaking of the persecution under Nero, says, At first several were seized, who confessed, and then by Their Discovery a great multitude of others were convicted and executed.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
Matthew 24:11-13
many false prophets will arise: The false prophets of verse 11 stand beside the false Christs of verse 5, and they "mislead many". Verse 12 gives a moral cause, since the multiplication of wickedness makes the love of most grow cold. Against this stands "the one who perseveres to the end," who "will be saved."
Matthew 24:11
“And many false prophets - Many men pretending to be prophets or foretellers of future events. This refers not to the false “Messiahs” of which he had spoken Mat 24:5, but to prophets who should appear during the siege of the city. Of them Josephus says: “The tyrannical zealots who ruled the city suborned “many false prophets” to declare that aid would be given to the people from heaven. This was done to prevent them from attempting to desert, and to inspire confidence in God.” - “Jewish Wars,” b. 6 chapter 5, section 2, 3.”
1 more voice on this verse
Matthew 24:11
“The fact that there are such men confessing themselves to be Christians, and admitting the crucified Jesus to be both Lord and Christ, yet not teaching His doctrines, but those of the spirits of error, causes us who are disciples of the true and pure doctrine of Jesus Christ, to be more faithful and stedfast in the hope announced by Him. For what things He predicted would take place in His name, these we do see being actually accomplished in our sight.”
Justin Martyr · written before 165 · Dialogue with Trypho, Chapter XXXVpatristic
love of most will grow cold: Clarke reads verses 10 to 12 as three stages of one fall: many desert the faith, false prophets corrupt it, and most grow cold. He sees the cooling already at work in Galatia and in the churches of 2 Timothy 1:15. Jerome notes that love still remains in the apostles.
Matthew 24:12
“The love of many shall wax cold - By reason of these trials and persecutions from without, and those apostasies and false prophets from within, the love of many to Christ and his doctrine, and to one another, shall grow cold. Some openly deserting the faith, as Mat 24:10; others corrupting it, as Mat 24:11; and others growing indifferent about it, Mat 24:12. Even at this early period there seems to have been a very considerable defection in several Christian Churches; see Gal 3:1-4; 2Th 3:1, etc.; 2Ti 1:15.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
perseveres to the end: The one who perseveres stands against the many who fall away, betray, hate and grow cold. Tertullian joins the verse to Luke 21:19 and to a psalm that promises the patient endurance of the just will never perish. Henry reads the end as each believer's last day.
Matthew 24:13
“He that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved - The word “end,” here, has by some been thought to mean the destruction of Jerusalem, or the end of the Jewish economy, and the meaning has been supposed to be “he that perseveres in bearing these persecutions to the end of the wars shall be safe.”
2 more voices on this verse
Matthew 24:13
“Perseverance wins the crown, through free grace, and shall wear it. They shall be saved: perhaps they may be delivered out of their troubles, and comfortably survive them in this world; but it is eternal salvation that is here intended. They that endure to the end of their days, shall then receive the end of their faith and hope, even the salvation of their souls, 1 Pet. i.”
Matthew Henry · Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
Matthew 24:13
“But "by patience," says He, "ye shall yourselves be saved." Of this very patience the Psalm says, "The patient endurance of the just shall not perish for ever; " because it is said in another Psalm, "Precious (in the sight of the Lord) is the death of the just"-arising, no doubt, out of their patient endurance, so that Zechariah declares: "A crown shall be to them that endure.”
Tertullian · written before 220 · Against Marcion Book IVpatristic
gospel of the kingdom: The phrase "all nations" ties this verse to the commission that closes the book at 28:19. Paul told the Colossians the gospel had already gone into all the world (Colossians 1:6, 23). The verse sets the end after this preaching: "and then the end will come."
Matthew 24:14
“And this Gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world - But, notwithstanding these persecutions, there should be a universal publication of the glad tidings of the kingdom, for a testimony to all nations. God would have the iniquity of the Jews published every where, before the heavy stroke of his judgments should fall upon them; that all mankind, as it were, might be brought as witnesses against their cruelty and obstinacy in crucifying and rejecting the Lord Jesus. In all the world, εν ολη τη οικουμενη.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
1 more voice on this verse
Matthew 24:14
“Better is the face of a corrupt degenerate church than none at all. Within forty years after Christ's death, the sound of the gospel was gone forth to the ends of the earth, Rom. x. St. Paul fully preached the gospel from Jerusalem, and round about unto Illyricum; and the other apostles were not idle.”
Matthew Henry · Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
The Abomination and the Great Tribulation
Jesus takes the phrase "the abomination of desolation" from "the prophet Daniel," pointing back to Daniel 9:27, 11:31 and 12:11. The sign is something seen "standing in the holy place". The words "let the reader understand" are Matthew's own aside, sending the reader to Daniel's text.
Matthew 24:15
“That, Let him that readeth understand, is said to call us to the mystic understanding of the place. What we read in Daniel is this; And in the midst of the week the sacrifice and the oblation shall be taken away, and in the temple shall be the abomination of desolations until the consummation of the time, and consummation shall be given upon the desolate. (Dan. 9:27. sec. LXX.)”
Jerome · written before 420 · Catena Aurea by Aquinaspatristic
3 more voices on this verse
Matthew 24:15
“The abomination of desolation - This is a Hebrew expression, meaning an abominable or hateful destroyer. The Gentiles were all held in abomination by the Jews, Act 10:28. The abomination of desolation means the Roman army, and is so explained by Luk 21:20. The Roman army is further called the “abomination” on account of the images of the emperor, and the eagles, carried in front of the legions, and regarded by the Romans with divine honors. Spoken of by Daniel the prophet - Dan 9:26-27; Dan 11:31; Dan 12:11, see the notes at those passages.”
Matthew 24:15
“They might likewise from thence gather the time of it--soon after the cutting off of Messiah the prince; the sin that procured it--their rejecting him, and the certainty of it-- it is a desolation determined. As Christ by his precepts confirmed the law, so by his predictions he confirmed the prophecies of the Old Testament, and it will be of good use to compare both together.”
Matthew Henry · Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
Matthew 24:15
“One main subject of this part of our Lord’s prophecy is the taking of Jerusalem by the Romans. That great event took place about forty years after the words we have now read were spoken. A full account of it is to be found in the writings of the historian Josephus. Those writings are the best comment on our Lord’s words; they are a striking proof of the accuracy of every title of his predictions.”
J.C. Ryle · Expository Thoughts on the Gospels: Matthew (1856)Reformed Evangelical
Cross references
Matthew 24:15
- QuotingDaniel 9:27And he will confirm a covenant with many for one week, but in the middle of the week he will put an end to sacrifice and offering. And on the wing of the temple will come the abomination that causes desolation, until the decreed destruction is poured out upon him.”
'the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet'
Matthew 24:16-20
flee to the mountains: The sign calls for flight at once. Eusebius records the Jerusalem believers escaping across the Jordan to Pella before Rome's armies sealed the city. Gill and Lightfoot note that rabbinic law fixed the Sabbath limit at about two thousand cubits, a distance that would hinder a Sabbath flight.
Matthew 24:16
“Then let them which be in Judea flee into the mountains - This counsel was remembered and wisely followed by the Christians afterwards. Eusebius and Epiphanius say, that at this juncture, after Cestius Gallus had raised the siege, and Vespasian was approaching with his army, all who believed in Christ left Jerusalem and fled to Pella, and other places beyond the river Jordan; and so they all marvellously escaped the general shipwreck of their country: not one of them perished. See on Mat 24:13 (note).”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
Let no one on the housetop: Houses in Judea had flat roofs, and Gill notes people went up on the housetop to pray, to rest and to preach. A stair ran down the outside wall, so a man could come down without going into his house. Barnes reads it as a call to flee at once.
Matthew 24:17
“Let him which is on the housetop,.... Who should be there either for his devotion or recreation; for the houses of the Jews were built with flat roofs and battlements about them, which they made use of both for diversion and pleasure, and for private meditation and prayer, for social conversation, and sometimes for public preaching; see Mat 10:27 not come down to take anything out of his house: that is, let him not come down in the inner way, but by the stairs, or ladder, on the outside of the house, which was usual.”
1 more voice on this verse
Matthew 24:17
“Him which is on the house-top - The roofs of the houses in Eastern countries were made flat, so that they were favorable places for walking and retirement. See the notes at Mat 9:1-8. The meaning here is, that He who should be on the house-top when this calamity came upon the city “should flee without delay;” He should not even take time to secure any article of apparel from his house. So sudden would be the calamity, that by attempting to do this He would endanger his life.”
return for his cloak: Gill notes that men worked the field with the outer cloak laid aside; even that cloak was to be left. Clarke gives the reason for the haste. Once the Roman army sat down before Jerusalem, every way of flight would be shut until the city was broken.
Matthew 24:18
“Neither let him which is in the field return back - Because when once the army of the Romans sits down before the city, there shall be no more any possibility of escape, as they shall never remove till Jerusalem be destroyed.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
pregnant and nursing mothers!: The woe is a lament for the mothers least able to flee; Clarke notes that they could neither run nor keep alive through the siege. He cites Josephus on houses full of women and children killed by famine. Hunger drove mothers to take food from their own children.
Matthew 24:19
“And wo unto them (alas! for them) that are with child, etc. - For such persons are not in a condition to make their escape; neither can they bear the miseries of the siege. Josephus says the houses were full of women and children that perished by the famine; and that the mothers snatched the food even out of their own children’s mouths. See War, b. v. c.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
Pray that your flight: Adam Clarke lists what winter would cost the fugitives: hard weather, bad roads, short days and long nights. Jerome adds that the cold would keep them from hiding in the mountains and deserts. On a Sabbath, in his reading, flight broke the Law.
Matthew 24:20
“But pray ye that your flight be not in the winter - For the hardness of the season, the badness of the roads, the shortness of the days, and the length of the nights, will all be great impediments to your flight. Rabbi Tanchum observes, “that the favor of God was particularly manifested in the destruction of the first temple, in not obliging the Jews to go out in the winter, but in the summer.” See the place in Lightfoot.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
Matthew 24:21-22
great tribulation: Jesus names a distress "unmatched from the beginning of the world until now, and never to be seen again". Josephus's account of the siege records famine driving mothers to terrible acts and corpses past counting. Verse 22 sets mercy inside the judgment, since those days will be cut short.
Matthew 24:21
“There shall be great tribulation - The word “tribulation” means calamity or “suffering.” Luke Luk 21:24 has specified in what this tribulation would consist: “They shall fall by the edge of the sword, and shall be led away captive into all nations, and Jerusalem shall be trodden down of the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles shall be fulfilled.” That is, until the time allotted for the Gentiles “to do it” shall be fully accomplished, or as long as God is pleased to suffer them to do it.”
those days will be cut short: Clarke cites Josephus, who counted eleven hundred thousand killed in the siege, besides those killed in other places. Had the Romans kept on, the whole nation would have perished. For the sake of the elect means for the Jews in Clarke's reading, and above all for the Christians among them.
Matthew 24:22
“Except those days should be shortened - Josephus computes the number of those who perished in the siege at eleven hundred thousand, besides those who were slain in other places, War, b. vi. c. 9; and if the Romans had gone on destroying in this manner, the whole nation of the Jews would, in a short time, have been entirely extirpated; but, for the sake of the elect, the Jews, that they might not be utterly destroyed, and for the Christians particularly, the days were shortened.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
Matthew 24:23-26
Verses 23 to 26 return to the warning of verse 5, with false Christs and false prophets able to "perform great signs and wonders". The claims that he is "in the wilderness" or "in the inner rooms" name two false expectations. The next verses answer both with a public appearing.
Matthew 24:23
“We believe that the true Christ is at the right hand of God, and that his spiritual presence is where two or three are gathered together in his name; believe not those therefore who would draw you off from a Christ in heaven, by telling you he is any where on earth; or draw you off from the catholic church on earth, by telling you he is here, or he is there; believe it not.”
Matthew Henry · Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
false Christs and false prophets: The verse sets false Christs beside false prophets, and Gill notes that each false Christ had his false prophet, as Rabbi Akiba stood behind Barcochab. The signs they perform are great enough to deceive "even the elect, if that were possible."
Matthew 24:24
“False Christs - Persons claiming to be the Messiah. False prophets - Persons claiming to be “the prophet” spoken of by Moses Deu 18:15; or persons pretending to declare the way of deliverance from the Romans, and calling the people to follow them. See Mat 24:5. Shall show great signs and wonders - That is, shall pretend to work miracles. They will so nearly resemble prophets in their miraculous power as to render it difficult to detect the imposture.”
1 more voice on this verse
Matthew 24:24
“For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets,.... Such as the above mentioned: these false Christs had their false prophets, who endeavoured to persuade the people to believe them to be the Messiah, as Barcochab had Akiba, who applied many prophecies to him.”
I have told you in advance: Mark sets a call to take heed beside these words, at Mark 13:23. Barnes gives the reason: disciples told in advance could keep watch and be ready for the calamities. Ryle calls Josephus the best comment on these words.
Matthew 24:25
“Behold, I have told you before - Mark adds Mar 13:23, “take ye heed.” The reason why he told them before was that they might be on their guard, and be prepared for those calamities.”
Clarke notes that the Lord told in advance the very places these false Christs would use. Josephus records men who led many people into the wilderness, promising great signs and wonders from God. Origen reads the wilderness as secret writings.
Matthew 24:26
“Or, when they allege secret and before unpublished Scriptures, in proof of their lie, they seem to say, Lo, the word of truth is in the desert. But when they produce canonical Scripture in which all Christians agree, they seem to say, Lo, the word of truth is in the chambers. Or wishing to point out such discourses as are altogether without Scripture, He said, If they shall say to you, Lo, he is in the secret chambers, believe it not. Truth is like the lightning that cometh out of the east, and shineth even unto the west.”
Origen of Alexandria · written before 253 · Catena Aurea by Aquinaspatristic
1 more voice on this verse
Matthew 24:26
“If they shall say unto you, Behold, he is in the desert - Is it not worthy of remark that our Lord not only foretold the appearance of these impostors, but also the manner and circumstances of their conduct? Some he mentions as appearing in the desert. Josephus says, Ant. b. xx. c. 7, and War, book ii. c. 13: That many impostors and cheats persuaded the people to follow them to the desert, promising to show them signs and wonders done by the providence of God, is well attested.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
Matthew 24:27-28
lightning comes from the east: The lightning answers the claims of the wilderness and the inner rooms. The coming of the Son of Man will be as public and sudden as lightning across the whole sky. Verse 28 is a proverb of certainty, with judgment finding its object as surely as vultures find a carcass.
Matthew 24:27
“For as the lightning cometh out of the east ... - This is not designed to denote the quarter from which he would come, but the manner. He does not mean to affirm that the “Son of man” will come from the “east,” but that he will come in a rapid and unexpected manner, like the lightning.”
Wherever there is a carcass: Jerome says vultures and eagles sense a carcass even across the seas and gather to it. Clarke takes the carcass as the nation, dead in its sins and under judgment. Roman fury, he adds, would find the people in every place.
Matthew 24:28
“For wheresoever the carcass is - Πτωμα, the dead carcass. The Jewish nation, which was morally and judicially dead. There will the eagles - The Roman armies, called so partly from their strength and fierceness, and partly from the figure of these animals which was always wrought on their ensigns, or even in brass, placed on the tops of their ensign-staves. It is remarkable that the Roman fury pursued these wretched men wheresoever they were found. They were a dead carcass doomed to be devoured; and the Roman eagles were the commissioned devourers.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
The Sign of the Son of Man; the Lesson of the Fig Tree
After the tribulation the sun and moon go dark, the stars fall and the powers of the heavens are shaken. It uses language drawn from Isaiah 13:10 and Joel 2:31, which Peter cited at Pentecost. Isaiah used the same words of the sky for the fall of one empire, Babylon.
Matthew 24:29
“Immediately after the tribulation of those days - That is, immediately after these tribulations, events will occur that “may be properly represented” by the darkening of the sun and moon, and by the stars falling from heaven. The word rendered “immediately” - εὐθέως eutheōs - means, properly, “straightway, immediately,” Mat 8:3; Mat 13:5; Mar 1:31; Act 12:10; then “shortly,” 3Jn 1:14. This is the meaning here.”
2 more voices on this verse
Matthew 24:29
“We are invited to flock to Christ's passion wheresoever in Scripture it is read of, that through it we may be able to come to God's word. These things, therefore, shall not come to pass by any diminution of light, for in another place we read that the light of the sun shall be sevenfold; but by comparison with real light, all things shall seem dim. By the powers of heaven, we understand the bands of the Angels.”
Jerome · written before 420 · Catena Aurea by Aquinaspatristic
Matthew 24:29
“In this part of our Lord’s prophecy he describes his own second coming to judge the world. This, at all events, seems the natural meaning of the passage: to take any lower view appears to be a violent straining of Scripture language. If the solemn words here used mean nothing more than the coming of the Roman armies to Jerusalem, we may explain away anything in the Bible.”
J.C. Ryle · Expository Thoughts on the Gospels: Matthew (1856)Reformed Evangelical
Cross references
Matthew 24:29
- QuotingIsaiah 13:10“For the stars of heaven and their constellations will not give their light. The rising sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light.”
'the sun shall be darkened' (Olivet Discourse cosmic imagery)
Matthew 24:30-31
the sign of the Son: The coming on the clouds draws on Daniel 7:13, and the mourning of "all the tribes of the earth" echoes Zechariah 12:10. The angels sent "with a loud trumpet call" gather His elect from the four winds, answering the scattering of verses 9 to 13.
Matthew 24:30
“Then shall appear the sign of the Son of man - The plain meaning of this is, that the destruction of Jerusalem will be such a remarkable instance of Divine vengeance, such a signal manifestation of Christ’s power and glory, that all the Jewish tribes shall mourn, and many will, in consequence of this manifestation of God, be led to acknowledge Christ and his religion. By της γης, of the land, in the text, is evidently meant here, as in several other places, the land of Judea and its tribes, either its then inhabitants, or the Jewish people wherever found.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
Cross references
Matthew 24:30
a loud trumpet call: Barnes notes that the word angels means messengers. Gill reads them as men, preachers sent to the Gentiles to gather the elect once the church was broken up. Ryle reads the passage as the coming of the Son of Man, and calls any lower view a straining of the words.
Matthew 24:31
“And he shall send his angels,.... Not the angels, i.e. ministering spirits, so called, not from their nature, but their office, as being sent forth by God and Christ; but men angels, or messengers, the ministers and preachers of the Gospel, whom Christ would call, qualify, and send forth into all the world of the Gentiles, to preach his Gospel, and plant churches there still more, when that at Jerusalem was broken up and dissolved.”
1 more voice on this verse
Matthew 24:31
“And he shall send his angels - “Angels” signify, literally, “messengers,” Luk 7:24; Luk 9:52. The word is often applied to inanimate objects, or to anything that God employs to rescue his people from danger Psa 104:4; but it most commonly refers to the race of intelligent beings more exalted than man, who are employed often in the work of man’s rescue from ruin, and aiding his salvation, Heb 1:14. In either of these senses it might here refer to deliverance granted to his people in the calamities of Jerusalem.”
Matthew 24:32-33
lesson from the fig tree: The fig tree gives a lesson: when its branches grow tender and put out leaves, summer is near. No one needs to be told the date. When the disciples see all these things, they will know "He is near, right at the door," by watching the signs instead of calculating.
Matthew 24:32
“Learn a parable of the fig-tree - That is, These signs which I have given you will be as infallible a proof of the approaching ruin of the Jewish state as the budding of the trees is a proof of the coming summer.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
right at the door: The Greek names no subject, so versions read He or it. Barnes reads the near thing first as the fall of the city, and then as the last redemption at the day of judgment. Ryle reads this part of the discourse as the coming of the Son of Man.
Matthew 24:33
“So likewise ye ... - In the same manner, when you see what I have predicted the “signs” around Jerusalem - then know that its destruction is at hand, Is near - Luke says Luk 21:28, “your redemption draweth nigh, and Luk 21:31 the kingdom of God is nigh at hand.” Your deliverance from the dangers that threaten the city approaches, and the kingdom of God will be set up in the earth; or your everlasting redemption from sin and death will come at the day of judgment, and his eternal kingdom will be established in the heavens.”
this generation will not pass: Jesus says that "this generation will not pass away until all these things have happened". The Greek genea in ordinary use means the people living at one time, and it can mean a race or a nation. The church has argued since its earliest centuries which sense the verse carries.
Matthew 24:34
“This generation shall not pass - Η γενεα αυτη, this race; i.e. the Jews shall not cease from being a distinct people, till all the counsels of God relative to them and the Gentiles be fulfilled.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
Heaven and earth will pass away: Jesus sets his own speech above the created order: "Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will never pass away". The prophets before him claimed lasting force for the word given them to speak, and here he claims it for his own words.
Matthew 24:35
“Heaven and earth shall pass away ... - You may sooner expect to see the heaven and earth pass away and return to nothing, than my words to fail.”
4 more voices on this verse
Matthew 24:35
"Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away." For nothing in the nature of corporeal things is more enduring than heaven and earth, and nothing in nature passes as quickly as speech. For words, as long as they are incomplete, are not words; but when they have been completed, they no longer exist at all, because they cannot be completed except by passing away. Therefore he says: "Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away."
Gregory the Dialogist · written before 604 · Forty Gospel Homilies, Homily 1patristic
Matthew 24:35
“The heaven which shall pass away is not the starry but the atmospheric heaven which of old was destroyed by the deluge.”
Rabanus Maurus · written before 856 · Catena Aurea by Aquinaspatristic
Matthew 24:35
“And He adds, Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away, to confirm their faith in what has gone before; as though He had said, it is easier to destroy things solid and immovable, than that aught should fail of my words. The heaven and the earth shall pass away by a change, not by annihilation; for how should the sun be darkened, and the moon not give her light, if earth and heaven in which these are should be no more?”
Jerome · written before 420 · Catena Aurea by Aquinaspatristic
Matthew 24:35
“But when all these shall have been fulfilled, then not the earth only but the heavens also shall pass away; that is, not only the men whose life is earthy, and who are therefore called the earth, but also they whose conversation is in heaven, and who are therefore called the heaven; these shall pass away to things to come, that they may come to better things.”
Origen of Alexandria · written before 253 · Catena Aurea by Aquinaspatristic
No One Knows the Day: Watch and Be Ready
No one knows about that day: Jesus closes the question of timing. "No one knows about that day or hour, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father". The church has read the words "nor the Son" in two ways, and one of them draws on the self-emptying in Philippians 2.
Matthew 24:36
“But of that day and hour - Ωρα, here, is translated season by many eminent critics, and is used in this sense by both sacred and profane authors. As the day was not known, in which Jerusalem should be invested by the Romans, therefore our Lord advised his disciples to pray that it might not be on a Sabbath; and as the season was not known, therefore they were to pray that it might not be in the winter; Mat 24:20. See on Mar 13:32 (note).”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
1 more voice on this verse
Matthew 24:36
“There are verses in this passage which are often much misapplied. “The coming of the Son of Man” is frequently spoken of as being the same thing as death; the texts which describe the uncertainty of his coming are used in epitaphs, and thought suitable to the tomb. But there is no solid ground for such an application of this passage. Death is one thing, and the coming of the Son of Man is quite another. The subject of these verses is not death, but the second advent of Jesus Christ. Let us remember this.”
J.C. Ryle · Expository Thoughts on the Gospels: Matthew (1856)Reformed Evangelical
Matthew 24:37-39
in the days of Noah: Jesus compares his coming to the days of Noah. The likeness lies in ordinary life, with people "eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, up to the day Noah entered the ark". The stress falls on people who "were oblivious, until the flood came and swept them all away."
Matthew 24:37
“Noe - The Greek way of writing “Noah.” See Gen. 6–9. The coming of the Son of man would be as it was in the days of Noah: 1. In its being sudden and unexpected, the “precise time” not being made known, though the “general” indications had been given. 2. The world would be found as it was then.”
1 more voice on this verse
Matthew 24:37
“It is asked here, how it was said above, Nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, &c. when here only tokens of peace are spoken of as what shall be then? We must suppose, that after the wars and the other miseries which shall waste the human race, shall follow a short peace, offering rest and quiet to approve the faith of the believers.”
Jerome · written before 420 · Catena Aurea by Aquinaspatristic
eating and drinking, marrying: Jerome asks how the wars of verse 7 fit these days of eating and marriage. He answers that a short peace will follow the wars to test the faithful. Gill places these days in the last century or two before the flood; the people were living ordinary life.
Matthew 24:38
“For as in the days that were before the flood,.... Not all the days before the flood, from the creation of the world; but those immediately preceding it, a century or two before it: they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage: not that these civil actions of life were criminal in themselves, had care been taken that they were not abused.”
they were oblivious: Origen applies the warning to each man's death, which comes on a day and hour no one knows. Ryle, who saw such words used in epitaphs, holds that the verse concerns the coming of the Son of Man. Death, he writes, is one thing and the coming another.
Matthew 24:39
All who listen to the depths of the gospel and live it so completely that none of it remains veiled from them care very little about whether the end of the world will come suddenly and all at once or gradually and little by little. Instead, they bear in mind only that each individual's end or death will arrive on a day and hour unknown to him and that upon each one of us "the day of the Lord will come like a thief."
Origen of Alexandria · written before 253 · Commentary on Matthew 56patristic
1 more voice on this verse
Matthew 24:39
“The angel that delivered this prophecy to Daniel, stirred him up to know and understand, Dan. ix. And we must not despair of understanding even dark prophecies; the great New-Testament prophecy is called a revelation, not a secret.”
Matthew Henry · Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
Matthew 24:40-41
Two men will be in: Two men work in the field and two women grind at the mill, and in each pair "one will be taken and the other left". The text leaves the destination of the one taken unnamed. The flood swept people away, and Paul describes a catching up at 1 Thessalonians 4:17.
Matthew 24:40
“Then shall two men - two women - one shall be taken, and the other left - The meaning seems to be, that so general should these calamities be, that no two persons, wheresoever found, or about whatsoever employed, should be both able to effect their escape; and that captivity and the sword should have a complete triumph over this unhappy people. Two women shall be grinding - Women alone are still employed in grinding the corn in the east; and it is only when despatch is required, or the uppermost millstone is heavy, that a second woman is added.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
Two women will be grinding: The Greek has only a feminine form for grinding, and Gill notes that translators rightly supply women, whose work it was. Barnes describes the hand mill, with two women seated face to face, turning the upper stone between them. The work was left to the lowest servants.
Matthew 24:41
“The two grinding together we may understand either of the Synagogue and the Church, which seem to grind together in the Law, and to make of the same Scriptures meal of the commandments of God; or of other heresies, which out of both or one Testament, seem to grind meal of their own doctrines.”
Jerome · written before 420 · Catena Aurea by Aquinaspatristic
Therefore keep watch: The discourse draws its practical conclusion into one command: "Therefore keep watch, because you do not know the day on which your Lord will come". The command falls on the same disciples who asked for a sign at verse 3, and the answer they receive is a posture of watching.
Matthew 24:42
“Watch therefore - Be always on your guard, that you may not be taken unawares, and that you may be properly prepared to meet God in the way either of judgment or mercy, whensoever he may come. This advice the followers of Christ took, and therefore they escaped; the miserable Jews rejected it, and were destroyed. Let us learn wisdom by the things which they suffered.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
Matthew 24:43-44
If the homeowner had known: Jesus draws a homely picture, a homeowner who would have kept watch had he known "in which watch of the night the thief was coming". He applies it directly, since "the Son of Man will come at an hour you do not expect," and so readiness must be constant.
Matthew 24:43
“But know this ... - If a man knew the hour, or “about the hour,” when a robber would come, he would be ready for him. So you know not the exact hour, but you know it is near, when the Son of man will come. He will come suddenly, as a thief comes, without giving previous warning, 1Th 5:2; 2Pe 3:10; Rev 3:3; Rev 16:15. “Goodman.” See the notes at Mat 20:11. Thief - A robber. A thief, with us, means one who takes goods without doing violence - secretly, silently.”
you also must be ready: Gregory the Dialogist taught that the Lord hid the final hour so that it would be watched for at every hour. Readiness means daily preparation for the coming Judge. Luke adds a charge to pray always, and Albert Barnes reads its goal as standing approved before the Son of Man.
Matthew 24:44
“Be ye also ready - Luke Luk 21:36 says that he charged them to pray always, that they might be accounted worthy to escape those things - the judgments coming upon the wicked - and to stand before the Son of man - that is, to stand there approved by him, or to be admitted to his favor.”
1 more voice on this verse
Matthew 24:44
“Our Lord willed that the final hour be unknown to us so that it might always be regarded with suspicion, so that since we cannot foresee it, we might prepare ourselves for it without ceasing. Therefore, my brothers, fix the eyes of your mind upon the condition of your mortality; prepare yourselves for the coming Judge through daily weeping and lamentation. And since certain death awaits all, do not think about the uncertain provision of temporal life. Let not the care of earthly things weigh you down.”
Gregory the Dialogist · written before 604 · Forty Gospel Homilies, Homily 13patristic
Matthew 24:45-47
the faithful and wise servant: The picture turns from watching to working, with a servant put in charge of the household. Blessing falls on the servant "whose master finds him doing so when he returns," so faithfulness is measured in ordinary duty. The reward, charge over "all his possessions," exceeds the task first given.
Matthew 24:45
“Who then is a faithful and wise servant,.... The Vulgate Latin adds, "do you think?" and is a question put to the disciples, which they might apply to themselves: in Luk 12:42, it is spoken in answer to a question of Peter's, in relation to the above exhortation, whether it was spoken to them, or to all; and by this answer, it looks as if it was more especially designed for them, though it may be applied to other.”
2 more voices on this verse
Matthew 24:45
“This passage is, in fact, “a parable,” though it is not expressly so called. The design is to show that his disciples should act as if they were each moment expecting his return. This he illustrates by the conduct of a servant who did not expect his master soon to return, who acted with great impropriety, and who was accordingly punished. Mat 24:45 Who, then, is a faithful and wise servant ... - By the conduct of a faithful and wise servant Jesus intends to denote a faithful Christian, a servant of God, or a teacher of religion.”
Matthew 24:45
“Or, he that makes progress in the faith, though he is not yet perfect in it, is ordinarily called faithful, and he who has natural quickness of intellect is called prudent. And whoever observes will find many faithful, and zealous in their belief, but not at the same time prudent; for God hath chosen the foolish things of the world. (1 Cor. 1:27.) Others again he will see who are quick and prudent but of weak faith; for the union of faith and prudence in the same man is most rare.”
Origen of Alexandria · written before 253 · Catena Aurea by Aquinaspatristic
Blessed is that servant: John Gill names three comings the verse can fit. The Lord may come in judgment, as on Jerusalem, at a servant's death, or at the day of judgment. In each case the servant is found ruling the household well and giving wholesome food at the right time.
Matthew 24:46
"Blessed is the servant whom the Lord will find so doing when he comes." A great promise is extended to the Lord's faithful and wise stewards. It is like the promise he made to those to whom he said, "Take authority over five cities" or "take authority over ten cities." For to be made the head "over all his possessions" is nothing other than to be made an "heir of God and coheir with Christ" and to reign with Christ.
Origen of Alexandria · written before 253 · Commentary on Matthew 62patristic
1 more voice on this verse
Matthew 24:46
“Blessed is that servant whom his Lord, when he cometh,.... Whether in a way of judgment, as against Jerusalem; or at death, when he comes to remove him out of time, into eternity; or at the day of judgment, when he, the righteous judge, will give the crown of righteousness to him: shall find so doing; acting the faithful and wise part, ruling the household of God well; giving to all wholesome food, a proper portion of it, and that in the right time.”
all his possessions: Origen sets this promise beside the ten cities and five cities of Luke 19. He reads charge over all the master's goods as a share in the inheritance of Christ. The faithful and wise servant becomes an heir of God with Christ, as in Romans 8:17.
Matthew 24:47
“That he may reign with Christ, to whom the Father has committed all that is His. And as the son of a good father set over all that is his, He shall communicate of His dignity and glory to His faithful and wise stewards, that they also may be above the whole creation.”
Origen of Alexandria · written before 253 · Catena Aurea by Aquinaspatristic
1 more voice on this verse
Matthew 24:47
“He shall make him ruler over all his goods - O heavenly privilege of a faithful minister of Christ! He shall receive from God a power to dispense all the blessings of the new covenant; and his word shall ever be accompanied with the demonstration of the Holy Ghost to the hearts of all that hear it. Much of a preacher’s usefulness may be lost by his unfaithfulness.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
Matthew 24:48-51
that servant is wicked: A wicked servant says, "My master will be away a long time," and the delay becomes his license to beat his fellow servants. The master comes on a day he does not expect, so the delay he counted on becomes the surprise that judges him.
Matthew 24:48
“But, and if that evil servant - Here are three characters of a bad minister. 1. He has little or no faith in the speedy coming of Christ, either to punish for wickedness, or to pardon and sanctify those who believe. It may be, he does not outwardly profess this, but he says it in his heart, and God searches his heart, and knows that he professes to teach what he does not believe. 2. He governs with an absolute dominion, oppressing his colleagues and doing violence to the followers of Christ. And shall begin to smite, etc.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
beat his fellow servants: Origen applies the verse to church leaders: a bishop who rules by force as a harsh master sins against God. So does one who eats and drinks with drunkards while the poor go without food. The men he beats are fellow servants; one master will judge them all.
Matthew 24:49
“And every Bishop, who ministers not as a fellow servant, but rules by might as a master, and often an harsh one, sins against God; also if he does not cherish the needy, but feasts with the drunken, and is continually slumbering because his Lord cometh not till after long time.”
Origen of Alexandria · written before 253 · Catena Aurea by Aquinaspatristic
a day he does not expect: Clarke reads three punishments in verses 50 and 51, each matched to a sin of the wicked servant. The first is sudden death, judgment falling before he can turn it away. It answers his unbelief and his forgetting of the master's coming.
Matthew 24:50
“The lord of that servant - Here are three punishments which answer to the three characteristics of the bad minister. 1. A sudden death, and the weight of God’s judgments falling upon him, without a moment to avert it: this answers to his infidelity and forgetfulness. He shall come in a day in which he looked not for him. 2. A separation from the communion of saints, and from all the gifts which he has abused: this answers to the abuse of his authority in the Church of Christ.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
cut him to pieces: Clarke reads cut to pieces as an ancient punishment, the death Isaiah is said to have suffered. Jerome reads it as cutting the servant off from the company of the holy, and Gill as removing him from his place. Wesley calls such a hypocrite the worst of sinners.
Matthew 24:51
“He shall cut him in sunder, is not to be understood of execution by the sword, but that he shall sever him from the company of the saints. And shall appoint him his portion with the hypocrites, with those, namely, that were in the field, and grinding at the mill, and were nevertheless left. For as we often say that the hypocrite is one who is one thing, and passes himself for another; so in the field and at the mill he seemed to be doing the same as others, but the event proved that his purpose was different.”
Jerome · written before 420 · Catena Aurea by Aquinaspatristic
3 more voices on this verse
Matthew 24:51
“And shall cut him asunder,.... The Persic version renders it, "he shall separate him from himself": he shall separate soul and body by death; he shall take away all his gifts and talents from him; and remove him from his place and office, and from the church of God, and communion of the saints, and out of this world.”
Matthew 24:51
“Cut him asunder - This refers to an ancient mode of punishment used in several countries. Isaiah is reported to have been sawed Asunder. That it was an ancient mode of punishment is evident from what Herodotus says: that Sabacus, king of Ethiopia, had a vision, in which he was commanded μεσους διαταμειν, to cut in two, all the Egyptian priests, lib. ii.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
Matthew 24:51
“And allot him his portion with the hypocrites - The worst of sinners, as upright and sincere as he was once. If ministers are the persons here primarily intended, there is a peculiar propriety in the expression. For no hypocrisy can be baser, than to call ourselves ministers of Christ, while we are the slaves of avarice, ambition, or sensuality.”
John Wesley · Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament (1755)evangelical
Keep studying
Studies23
- Enoch, the Man Who Walked with God
- The Abomination of Desolation
- Antichrist, the Word and the Figure
- The Days of Noah
- The Hebrew Feasts
- The Great Tribulation
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Sources for this chapter
The summary
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory; John Calvin, Commentaries; John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the New Testament and Matthew Henry, Complete Commentary.
The context
C. F. Keil, Biblical Commentary on the Book of Daniel and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.
The exposition
Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes; Flavius Josephus; Gregory the Dialogist, Forty Gospel Homilies, Homily 13; J.C. Ryle, Expository Thoughts on the Gospels: Matthew; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; Jerome; John Calvin, Commentary on a Harmony of the Evangelists; John Chrysostom, Homilies on the Gospel of Matthew; John Gill; John Lightfoot, Horae Hebraicae et Talmudicae on Matthew; John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament; Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible; Origen of Alexandria and Tertullian, Against Marcion Book IV.