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Luke 17:26

in Luke 17

Just as it was in the days of Noah, so also will it be in the days of the Son of Man:

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾

ASV

And as it came to pass in the days of Noah, even so shall it be also in the days of the Son of man.

KJV

And as it was in the days of Noe, so shall it be also in the days of the Son of man.

This verse in Luke 17

Commentary

18 notes on this verse

A commentator

Ambrose of Milan

Catena Aurea by Aquinas · Written before 397.

He rightly declares the deluge to have been caused by our sins, for God did not create evil, but our deservings found it out for themselves. Let it not however be supposed that marriages, or again meat and drink, are condemned, seeing that by the one succession is sustained, by the other nature, but moderation is to be sought for in all things. For whatsoever is more than this is of evil.

This site's exposition

in the days of Noah

on Luke 17:26-30

Jesus draws two pictures from Genesis, Noah and Lot, and both lists name ordinary business: eating and drinking, buying and selling, planting and building. The day the Son of Man is revealed will find the world absorbed in its daily work.

The record, by era

The Church Fathers4 voices

A commentator

Augustine of Hippo

LETTER 164 · Written before 430.

proposed

In the days of Noah this preaching to them was futile because they did not believe when the patience of God waited for them for many years in which the ark was built. Its building was in a sense a kind of preaching. In the same way today, their imitators do not believe. They are shut up in the darkness of ignorance. They are like in a prison, looking in vain on the church being built throughout the whole world. Judgment threatens them as did the flood in which all the unbelievers perished. The Lord says, "As in the days of Noah, so will it be also in the days of the Son of man. They were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage until Noah entered the ark, and the flood came and destroyed them all." Since this signified a future event, the flood also signified baptism for believers and death for unbelievers. There is also a symbol in what was spoken and not done, where it is written about the stone that signifies Christ. Two effects were foretold. It is a stumbling block for unbelievers and a building for believers.

A commentator

Irenaeus

Irenaeus Against Heresies Book 4 · Written before 202.

proposed

And therefore did the Lord say to His disciples, to make us become good workmen: "Take heed to yourselves, and watch continually upon every occasion, lest at any time your hearts be overcharged with surfeiting and drunkenness, and cares of this life, and that day shall come upon you unawares; for as a snare shall it come upon all dwelling upon the face of the earth." "Let your loins, therefore, be girded about, and your lights burning, and ye like to men who wait for their lord, when he shall return from the wedding." "For as it was in the days of Noe, they did eat and drink, they bought and sold, they married and were given in marriage, and they knew not, until Noe entered into the ark, and the flood came and destroyed them all; as also it was in the days of Lot, they did eat and drink, they bought and sold, they planted and builded, until the time that Lot went out of Sodom; it rained fire from heaven, and destroyed them all: so shall it also be at the coming of the Son of man." "Watch ye therefore, for ye know not in what day your Lord shall come." [In these passages] He declares one and the same Lord, who in the times of Noah brought the deluge because of man's disobedience, and who also in the days of Lot rained fire from heaven because of the multitude of sinners among the Sodomites, and who, on account of this same disobedience and similar sins, will bring on the day of judgment at the end of time; on which day He declares that it shall be more tolerable for Sodom and Gomorrah than for that city and house which shall not receive the word of His apostles. "And thou, Capernaum," He said, "is it that thou shalt be exalted to heaven? Thou shalt go down to hell. For if the mighty works which have been done in thee had been done in Sodom, it would have remained unto this day. […]

A commentator

Tertullian

Against Marcion Book IV · Written before 220.

proposed

If, however, He speaks of His own coming, why does He compare it with the days of Noe and of Lot, which were dark and terrible-a mild and gentle God as He is? Why does He bid us "remember Lot's wife," who despised the Creator's command, and was punished for her contempt, if He does not come with judgment to avenge the infraction of His precepts? If He really does punish, like the Creator, if He is my Judge, He ought not to have adduced examples for the purpose of instructing me from Him whom He yet destroys, that He might not seem to be my instructor.

A commentator

Cyril of Alexandria

COMMENTARY ON LUKE, HOMILY 117 · Written before 444.

proposed

To show that he will appear unexpectedly and with no one knowing it, the Lord says that the end of the world will come and be as it was in the days of Noah and Lot. He says, "They were eating and drinking, and were taking wives and being made the wives of men. They were selling and buying and building," but the coming of the waters destroyed the one, while the others were the prey and food of fire and brimstone. What does this signify? It signifies that he requires us to be always watchful and ready to make our defense before the tribunal of God.

The Medieval Church1 voice

A commentator

Bonaventure

Commentary on Luke, Chapter 17 · Written in the 13th century.

proposed

And as it was in the days etc. After he described the manner of appearing, here secondly he describes the manner of coming. The advent of Christ is described as sudden with respect to sinners through a twofold comparison and example. First indeed it is …
11 more voices on this verse

The Medieval Church4 voices

A commentator

Bede

On the Gospel of Luke · Written before 735.

proposed

And as it was in the days of Noah, so will it be in the days of the Son of Man. He affirms the suddenness of His coming with many examples. For what He had compared to lightning quickly traversing everything, He compares to the …

A commentator

Bede

Catena Aurea by Aquinas · Written before 735.

proposed

The coming of our Lord, which He had compared to lightning flying swiftly across the heavens, He now likens to the days of Noah and Lot, when a sudden destruction came upon mankind.

A commentator

Theophylact of Ohrid

Catena Aurea by Aquinas · Written before 1107.

proposed

For when Antichrist has come, then shall men become wanton, given up to abominable vices, as the Apostle says, Lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God. (2 Tim. 3:4.) For if Antichrist is the dwelling-place of every sin, what else will he then implant in the miserable race of men, but what belongs to himself. And this our Lord implies by the instances of the deluge and the people of Sodom.

A commentator

Theophylact of Ohrid

Commentary on Luke · Written before 1107.

proposed

And here the Lord points to the suddenness and unexpectedness of His coming. For just as in the days of Noah the flood came suddenly and destroyed everyone, so also will His coming be. By these examples, that is, the example of the people before …

The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices

A commentator

Matthew Henry

1662–1714

Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710)

Come a little lower, and think how it was with the men of Sodom, who were wicked, and sinners before the Lord exceedingly. Now observe concerning both these, [1.] That they had fair warning given them of the ruin that was coming upon them for their sins. Noah was a preacher of righteousness to the old world; so was Lot to the Sodomites.

A commentator

Matthew Henry

1662–1714

Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710)

proposed

9 Doth he thank that servant because he did the things that were commanded him? 10 So likewise ye, when ye shall have done all those things which are commanded you, say, We are unprofitable servants: we have done that which was our duty to do. That the giving of offences is a great sin, and that which we should every one of us avoid and carefully watch against,

quarantine:scripture (2026-07-29) — verbatim-run:30w-of-67

And as it was in the days of Noe,....

The Nineteenth Century4 voices

A commentator

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown

1802–1910

Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)

Though the antediluvian world and the cities of the plain were awfully wicked, it is not their wickedness, but their worldliness, their unbelief and indifference to the future, their unpreparedness, that is here held up as a warning. Note.--These recorded events of Old Testament history--denied or explained away nowadays by not a few--are referred to here as facts.
The subject of these verses is one of particular solemnity. It is the second coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. That great event, and the things immediately connected with it — are here described by our Lord's own lips. We should observe, for one thing, in these verses — what a fearful picture our Lord gives of the state of the professing Church at His second coming. We are told that as it was in the days of Noah, and in the days of Lot — so shall it be in the day when the Son of man is revealed.
The subject of these verses is one of particular solemnity. It is the second coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. That great event, and the things immediately connected with it — are here described by our Lord's own lips. We should observe, for one thing, in these verses — what a fearful picture our Lord gives of the state of the professing Church at His second coming. We are told that as it was in the days of Noah, and in the days of Lot — so shall it be in the day when the Son of man is revealed. We are not left to conjecture the character of those days. We are told distinctly, that men were entirely taken up with eating, drinking, marrying, buying, selling, planting, building — and would attend to nothing else. The flood came at last in Noah's day, and drowned all except those who were in the ark! The fire fell from Heaven at last in Lot's day — and destroyed all except Lot, his wife, and his daughters. And our Lord declares most plainly, that similar things will happen when He comes again at the end of the world. "When they shall say, Peace and safety — then sudden destruction comes upon them!" (1 Thessalonians 5:3.) It is hard to imagine a passage of Scripture which more completely overthrows the common notions that prevail among men about Christ's return. The world will not be converted when Jesus comes again. The earth will not be full of the knowledge of the Lord. The reign of peace will not have been established. The millennium will not have begun. These glorious things will come to pass after the second coming, but not before. If words have any meaning, the verses before us show that the earth will be full of wickedness and worldliness in the day of Christ's appearing. The unbelievers and the unconverted will be found to be very many. The believers and the godly, as in the days of Noah and Lot, will be found to be very few.

A commentator

Adam Clarke

1762–1832

Commentary on the Bible · Written before 1832.

proposed

As it was in the days of Noe - See on Mat 24:38 (note).

The words behind it

17 Greek words

Every Greek word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.

A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.

The walk

8 stops

Each card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.

  • Through

    Luke 17:24

    For just as the lightning flashes and lights up the sky from one end to the other, so will be the Son of Man in His day.

    it leads to

    • Matthew 24:27

      For just as the lightning comes from the east and flashes as far as the west, so will be the coming of the Son of Man.

    • Matthew 24:30

      At that time the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven, and all the tribes of the earth will mourn. They will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds…

    • Zechariah 9:14

      Then the LORD will appear over them, and His arrow will go forth like lightning. The Lord GOD will sound the ram’s horn and advance in the whirlwinds of the south.

    • Malachi 4:1–2

      “For behold, the day is coming, burning like a furnace, when all the arrogant and every evildoer will be stubble; the day is coming when I will set them ablaze,” says the LORD of…

  • Through

    Luke 17:22

    Then He said to the disciples, “The time is coming when you will long to see one of the days of the Son of Man, but you will not see it.

    it leads to

    • Luke 5:35

      But the time will come when the bridegroom will be taken from them; then they will fast.”

    • Matthew 9:15

      Jesus replied, “How can the guests of the bridegroom mourn while He is with them? But the time will come when the bridegroom will be taken from them; then they will fast.

    • John 16:16–22

      In a little while you will see Me no more, and then after a little while you will see Me.”

    • John 13:33

      Little children, I am with you only a little while longer. You will look for Me, and as I said to the Jews, so now I say to you: ‘Where I am going, you…

Where this verse is studied

About Luke

This page draws on 16 works. Open the list of works

This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Alexander Maclaren, Expositions of Holy Scripture, Luke; Ambrose of Milan, Catena Aurea by Aquinas; Augustine of Hippo, LETTER 164; Bede, On the Gospel of Luke; Bede, Catena Aurea by Aquinas; Bonaventure, Commentary on Luke, Chapter 17; Cyril of Alexandria, COMMENTARY ON LUKE, HOMILY 117; Irenaeus, Irenaeus Against Heresies Book 4; J.C. Ryle, Expository Thoughts on the Gospels: Luke (lightly modernized text, Grace Gems edition); Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the New Testament (1746-1748); Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible; Tertullian, Against Marcion Book IV; Theophylact of Ohrid, Catena Aurea by Aquinas and Theophylact of Ohrid, Commentary on Luke.