Luke 17:35
in Luke 17Two women will be grinding grain together: one will be taken and the other left.”
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
There shall be two women grinding together; the one shall be taken, and the other shall be left.
KJV
Two women shall be grinding together; the one shall be taken, and the other left.
⋯
This verse in Luke 17
Commentary
17 notes on this verseOr out of the same bed of human infirmity, one is left, that is, rejected, another is taken up, that is, is caught to meet Christ in the air. By the two grinding together, he seems to imply the poor and the oppressed. To which belongs what follows. Two men shall be in the field, &c. For in these there is no slight difference. For some nobly bear up against the burden of poverty, leading a lowly but honest life, and these shall be taken up; but the others are very active in wickedness, and they shall be left.
This site's exposition
will be in one bed
on Luke 17:34-37
Two people in one bed and two women grinding grain together picture a judgment that divides people in the same place and task. The judgment will find its object as surely as a carcass draws the birds.
This site's exposition
Two women will be grinding grain together
Two women grind grain at one mill, and one is taken and the other left. Matthew Henry notes that God will mark His own from those nearest them. Ambrose read taken as caught up to meet Christ.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers4 voices
He fittingly said, "night," because the Antichrist is the hour of darkness. The Antichrist spreads darkness in the hearts of people, when he says he is the Christ.… Christ, like flashing lightning, scatters the spheres of his light throughout the world. He does not wander through the desert. He is not enclosed in some other places, because the Lord says, "I fill heaven and earth." He shines with the light of his splendor, so that we may see his glory in that night of the resurrection.
Two people in this world, which is very often compared with a field, are believers and unbelievers. One will receive the reward of their merits; therefore the faithful one is taken, but the faithless is left.
(de Qu. Ev. lib. ii. qu. 41.) Or He says, in that night, meaning in that tribulation. (de Qu. Ev. ut sup) Or there are three classes of men here represented. The first is composed of those who prefer their ease and quiet, and busy not themselves in secular or ecclesiastical concerns. And this quiet life of theirs is signified by the bed. The next class embraces those who being placed among the people are governed by teachers. And such he has described by the name of women, because it is best for them to be ruled by the advice of those who are set over them; and he has described these as grinding at the mill, because in their hands revolves the wheel and circle of temporal concerns. And with reference to these matters he has represented them as grinding together, inasmuch as they give their services to the benefit of the Church. The third class are those who labour in the ministry of the Church as in the field of God. In each of these three classes then there are two sorts of men, of which the one abide in the Church and are taken up, the other fall away and are left. (de Con. Ev. l. ii. c. 7.) these things which Luke has given us in a different place from Matthew, he either relates by anticipation, so as to mention beforehand what was afterwards spoken by our Lord, or he means us to understand that they were twice uttered by Him.
He says, "Two women will be grinding at a mill. The one will be taken, and the other left." By these he again seems to mean those who live in poverty and labor. Even in these, he says that there is a certain vast difference. Some have carried the burden of poverty courageously, honoring a serious and virtuous way of life. Others have been of a different character. They are planners for every wicked practice and all shamefulness. There will be even in their case a full and exact investigation of their manners. The good will be taken, and he that is not good will be left.
The Medieval Church1 voice
Secondly, as regards the state of actives, he adds: Two shall be grinding together, through engagement in the active life, which is rightly understood by the millstone, because those who are occupied with the acts of the active life go around and run about in …
9 more voices on this verse
The Medieval Church4 voices
There will be two grinding at the mill. He calls those grinding at the mill who are placed among the people and are governed by teachers, doing the things of this world, whom he also signifies by the name of women, because, as I said, …
One will be taken, and the other left. That part which has engaged in marriage only for the love of offspring and has dispensed earthly substance for acquiring heavenly things will be taken; but that which has served marriages for the allurements of the flesh, …
In like manner, of the poor as well, who are signified by those grinding, one will be saved and another will not. For not all the poor are righteous: some of them are thieves and cut purses. By grinding is indicated the laboriousness of the …
Or He teaches us the suddenness of Christ's coming, which we are told will be in the night. And having said that the rich can scarcely be saved, He shows that not all the rich perish, nor all the poor are saved.
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
When God's judgments are laying all waste, he will take an effectual course to preserve those that are his, by remarkable providences distinguishing between them and others that were nearest to them: two in a bed, one taken and the other left; one snatched out of the burning and taken into a place of safety, while the other is left to perish in the common ruin.
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
Two women shall be grinding together,....
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
A commentator
J.C. Ryle1816–1900
Expository Thoughts on the Gospels: Luke (lightly modernized text, Grace Gems edition) (1858)
proposed
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.
A commentator
J.C. Ryle1816–1900
Expository Thoughts on the Gospels: Luke (lightly modernized text, Grace Gems edition) (1858)
proposed
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.
The words behind it
13 Greek wordsEvery 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.
| Greek | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ἔσονται | esontai | There will be | G1510 → | 2333 times |
| δύο | duo | two [women] | G1417 → | 133 times |
| ἀλήθουσαι | alethousai | grinding | G229 → | |
| ἐπὶ | epi | at | G1909 → | 883 times |
| τὸ | to | the | G3588 → | 19766 times |
| αὐτό· | auto | same [place]; | G846 → | 5565 times |
| ἡ | he | The | G3588 → | 19766 times |
| μία | mia | one | G1520 → | 343 times |
| παραλημφθήσεται, | paralemphthesetai | will be taken, | G3880 → | 49 times |
| ἡ | he | <the> | G3588 → | 19766 times |
| δὲ | de | and | G1161 → | 2765 times |
| ἑτέρα | hetera | the other | G2087 → | 97 times |
| ἀφεθήσεται.¶ | aphethesetai | will be left. | G863 → | 143 times |
ἔσονταιThere will be
esontaiG1510 →2333 times
δύοtwo [women]
duoG1417 →133 times
ἀλήθουσαιgrinding
alethousaiG229 →
ἐπὶat
epiG1909 →883 times
τὸthe
toG3588 →19766 times
αὐτό·same [place];
autoG846 →5565 times
ἡThe
heG3588 →19766 times
μίαone
miaG1520 →343 times
παραλημφθήσεται,will be taken,
paralemphthesetaiG3880 →49 times
ἡ<the>
heG3588 →19766 times
δὲand
deG1161 →2765 times
ἑτέραthe other
heteraG2087 →97 times
ἀφεθήσεται.¶will be left.
aphethesetaiG863 →143 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach 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
Judges 16:21Then the Philistines seized him, gouged out his eyes, and brought him down to Gaza, where he was bound with bronze shackles and forced to grind grain in the prison.
it leads to
- Exodus 11:5
and every firstborn son in the land of Egypt will die, from the firstborn of Pharaoh who sits on his throne, to the firstborn of the servant girl behind the hand mill, as well…
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Isaiah 47:2
Take millstones and grind flour; remove your veil; strip off your skirt, bare your thigh, and wade through the streams.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Proverbs 2:19
None who go to her return or negotiate the paths of life.
- Proverbs 14:14
The backslider in heart receives the fill of his own ways, but a good man is rewarded for his ways.
- Exodus 11:5
Through
Exodus 11:5and every firstborn son in the land of Egypt will die, from the firstborn of Pharaoh who sits on his throne, to the firstborn of the servant girl behind the hand mill, as well…
it leads to
- Psalms 78:51
He struck all the firstborn of Egypt, the virility in the tents of Ham.
- Exodus 13:15
And when Pharaoh stubbornly refused to let us go, the LORD killed every firstborn in the land of Egypt, both of man and beast. This is why I sacrifice to the LORD the firstborn…
- Psalms 136:10
He struck down the firstborn of Egypt His loving devotion endures forever.
- Exodus 4:23
and I told you to let My son go so that he may worship Me. But since you have refused to let him go, behold, I will kill your firstborn son!’”
- Psalms 78:51
Where this verse is studied
About Luke
This page draws on 12 works. Open the list of works
This page draws on Ambrose of Milan, Catena Aurea by Aquinas; Ambrose of Milan, Commentary on Luke; Augustine of Hippo, Catena Aurea by Aquinas; Bede, On the Gospel of Luke; Bonaventure, Commentary on Luke, Chapter 17; Cyril of Alexandria, COMMENTARY ON LUKE, HOMILY 118; J. C. Ryle, Expository Thoughts on the Gospels, Luke; J.C. Ryle, Expository Thoughts on the Gospels: Luke (lightly modernized text, Grace Gems edition); John Gill, Exposition of the New Testament (1746-1748); Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible; Theophylact of Ohrid, Commentary on Luke and Theophylact of Ohrid, Catena Aurea by Aquinas.