Mark 13:25
in Mark 13the stars will fall from the sky, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken.’
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
and the stars shall be falling from heaven, and the powers that are in the heavens shall be shaken.
KJV
And the stars of heaven shall fall, and the powers that are in heaven shall be shaken.
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This verse in Mark 13
Commentary
16 notes on this verseIf you examine this whole passage of Scripture from the inquiry of the disciples down to the parable of the fig tree, you will find that it makes sense at every point in connection with the coming of the Son of Man. He will bring both sorrow and joy. The Son of Man is coming in the midst of both calamities and promises, both the grief of nations and the longing of the saints. He is the common element in both.
This site's exposition
The sun will be darkened
on Mark 13:24-25
The sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light echoes the day of the Lord in Isaiah 13:10. The same prophets used this language for judgment on Babylon, so it may describe the end or the judgment on Jerusalem.
This site's exposition
powers of the heavens
Readers divide on the powers. Bede takes them as the angels, who tremble at the sight of the judgment. Augustine reads the falling stars as believers who once seemed to shine and then yield to persecutors, with even the strongest of the faithful shaken.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers3 voices
The powers above—the angels guarding the universe—will be put into action in that storm and tumult of all things. Powerful men will stop. Laboring women will also stop and flee into the dark places of their houses.
When impious persecutors rage beyond measure, and when the fortune of this world seems to smile upon them and fear leaves them and they say: "Peace and security," then the stars shall fall from heaven and the powers of heaven shall be moved, when many who seemed to shine brilliantly with grace will yield to the persecutors and will fall, and even the strongest of the faithful will be shaken.
A commentator
Victorinus of PettauCommentary on the Apocalypse of the Blessed John · Written before 304.
proposed
"And I saw another angel ascending from the east, having the seal of the living God" He speaks of Elias the prophet, who is the precursor of the times of Antichrist, for the restoration and establishment of the churches from the great and intolerable persecution. We read that these things are predicted in the opening of the Old and New Testament; for He says by Malachi: "Lo, I will send to you Elias the Tishbite, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, according to the time of calling, to recall the Jews to the faith of the people that succeed them." And to that end He shows, as we have said, that the number of those that shall believe, of the Jews and of the nations, is a great multitude which no man was able to number. Moreover, we read in the Gospel that the prayers of the Church are sent from heaven by an angel, and that they are received against wrath, and that the kingdom of Antichrist is cast out and extinguished by holy angels; for He says: "Pray that ye enter not into temptation: for there shall be a great affliction, such as has not been from the beginning of the world; and except the Lord had shortened those days, no flesh should be saved." Therefore He shall send these seven great archangels to smite the kingdom of Antichrist; for He Himself also thus said: "Then the Son of man shall send His messengers; and they shall gather together His elect from the four corners of the wind, from the one end of heaven even to the other end thereof." For, moreover, He previously says by the prophet: "Then shall there be peace for our land, when there shall arise in it seven shepherds and eight attacks of men; and they shall encircle Assur," that is, Antichrist, "in the trench of Nimrod," that is, in the nation of the devil, by the spirit of the Church. Similarly when the keepers of the house shall be moved. […]
The Medieval Church2 voices
But after the coming of Antichrist, the frame of the world shall be altered and changed, for the stars shall be obscured on account of the abundance of the brightness of Christ. Wherefore it goes on: But in those days, after that tribulation, the sun shall be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light; and the stars of heaven shall fall. That is, the Angelic virtues shall be astonished, seeing that such great things are done, and that their fellow-servants are judged.
We say these things, dearly beloved brethren, so that your minds may be awakened to the pursuit of caution, lest they grow sluggish through security, lest they become feeble through ignorance, but that fear may always stir them and solicitude strengthen them in good work. For what does the Lord call the powers of heaven except angels, archangels, thrones, dominions, principalities, and powers, which at the coming of the strict Judge will then visibly appear to our eyes, so that they may then strictly demand from us what the invisible Creator now patiently bears with us?
8 more voices on this verse
The Medieval Church4 voices
And the powers that are in the heavens will be moved. Is it any wonder that humans, who are earthly by nature and sense, are perturbed at this judgment, at the sight of which even the powers of the heavens, that is, the angelic powers, …
(ubi sup.) What wonder is it that men should be troubled at this judgment, the sight of which makes the very Angelic powers to tremble? What will the stories of the house do when the pillars shake? What does the shrub of the wilderness undergo, when the cedar of paradise is moved?
But the tribulation shall be great, and the days short, for the sake of the elect, lest the evil of this time should change their understanding. Or else, the sun shall be darkened, at the coldness of their hearts, as in the winter time. And the moon shall not give her light with serenity, in this time of quarrel, and the stars of heaven shall fail in their light, when the seed of Abraham shall all but disappear, for to it they are likened. (Gen. 22:17) And the powers of heaven shall be stirred up to the wrath of vengeance, when they shall be sent by the Son of Man at His coming, of whose Advent it is said, And then shall they see the Son of Man coming in the clouds with great power and glory, He, that is, who first came down like rain into the fleece of Gideon in all lowliness.
The stars will fall from heaven, and the angelic powers "will be shaken," that is, they will be horrified, looking upon such an upheaval in the world and seeing their fellow servants being judged.
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
And the stars of heaven shall fall,.... The Jewish Rabbins and doctors, who fell off from the written word, and compiled their "Misna", or oral law, their book of traditions, and set it up above the Bible, the foundation of which was laid immediately upon their dispersion. And the powers that are in heaven shall be shaken; the ordinances of the legal dispensation, which were shaken before, but now so shaken as to be removed; compare Hag 2:6 with Heb 12:26; See Gill on Mat 24:29.
The Nineteenth Century3 voices
A commentator
J.C. Ryle1816–1900
Expository Thoughts on the Gospels: Mark (lightly modernized text, Grace Gems edition) (1857)
This part of our Lord's prophecy on the Mount of Olives is entirely unfulfilled. The events described in it are all yet to take place. They may possibly take place in our own day. The passage therefore is one which we ought always to read with peculiar interest. Let us observe, in the first place, what solemn majesty will attend our Lord Jesus Christ's second coming to this world . The language that is used about the sun, moon, and stars, conveys the idea of some universal convulsion of the universe at the close of the present dispensation.
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
We cannot therefore consider the mere strength of this language a proof that it refers exclusively or primarily to the precursors of the final day, though of course in "that day" it will have its most awful fulfilment.
A commentator
J.C. Ryle1816–1900
Expository Thoughts on the Gospels: Mark (lightly modernized text, Grace Gems edition) (1857)
proposed
This part of our Lord's prophecy on the Mount of Olives is entirely unfulfilled. The events described in it are all yet to take place. They may possibly take place in our own day. The passage therefore is one which we ought always to read with peculiar interest. Let us observe, in the first place, what solemn majesty will attend our Lord Jesus Christ's second coming to this world . The language that is used about the sun, moon, and stars, conveys the idea of some universal convulsion of the universe at the close of the present dispensation. It reminds us of the apostle Peter's words, "the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat." (2 Pet.3:10.) At such a time as this, amid terror and confusion, exceeding all that even earthquakes or hurricanes are known to produce, men "shall see the Son of Man coming in the clouds with great power and glory." The second coming of Christ shall be utterly unlike the first. He came the first time in weakness, a tender infant, born of a poor woman in the manger at Bethlehem, unnoticed, unhonored, and scarcely known. He shall come the second time in royal dignity, with the armies of heaven around Him, to be known, recognized, and feared by all the tribes of the earth. He came the first time to suffer — to bear our sins — to be reckoned a curse — to be despised, rejected, unjustly condemned, and slain. He shall come the second time to reign — to put down every enemy beneath His feet — to take the kingdoms of this world for His inheritance — to rule them with righteousness — to judge all men, and to live for evermore. How vast the difference! How mighty the contrast! How startling the comparison between the second advent and the first! How solemn the thoughts that the subject ought to stir up in our minds! Here are comforting thoughts for Christ's friends. Their own King will soon be here.
The words behind it
16 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| καὶ | kai | and | G2532 → | 9120 times |
| οἱ | hoi | the | G3588 → | 19766 times |
| ἀστέρες | asteres | stars | G792 → | |
| ἔσονται | esontai | will be | G1510 → | 2333 times |
| ἐκ | ek | out of | G1537 → | 911 times |
| τοῦ | tou | the | G3588 → | 19766 times |
| οὐρανοῦ | ouranou | heaven | G3772 → | 272 times |
| πίπτοντες, | piptontes | falling, | G4098 → | 90 times |
| καὶ | kai | and | G2532 → | 9120 times |
| αἱ | hai | the | G3588 → | 19766 times |
| δυνάμεις | dunameis | powers | G1411 → | 119 times |
| αἱ | hai | that [are] | G3588 → | 19766 times |
| ἐν | en | in | G1722 → | 2738 times |
| τοῖς | tois | the | G3588 → | 19766 times |
| οὐρανοῖς | ouranois | heavens | G3772 → | 272 times |
| σαλευθήσονται. | saleuthesontai | will be shaken.’ | G4531 → |
καὶand
kaiG2532 →9120 times
οἱthe
hoiG3588 →19766 times
ἀστέρεςstars
asteresG792 →
ἔσονταιwill be
esontaiG1510 →2333 times
ἐκout of
ekG1537 →911 times
τοῦthe
touG3588 →19766 times
οὐρανοῦheaven
ouranouG3772 →272 times
πίπτοντες,falling,
piptontesG4098 →90 times
καὶand
kaiG2532 →9120 times
αἱthe
haiG3588 →19766 times
δυνάμειςpowers
dunameisG1411 →119 times
αἱthat [are]
haiG3588 →19766 times
ἐνin
enG1722 →2738 times
τοῖςthe
toisG3588 →19766 times
οὐρανοῖςheavens
ouranoisG3772 →272 times
σαλευθήσονται.will be shaken.’
saleuthesontaiG4531 →
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
Isaiah 34:4All the stars of heaven will be dissolved. The skies will be rolled up like a scroll, and all their stars will fall like withered leaves from the vine, like foliage from the fig…
it leads to
- Matthew 24:29
Immediately after the tribulation of those days: ‘The sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light; the stars will fall from the sky, and the powers of the heavens will…
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Revelation 6:13–14
and the stars of the sky fell to the earth like unripe figs dropping from a tree shaken by a great wind.
- Ezekiel 32:7–8
When I extinguish you, I will cover the heavens and darken their stars. I will cover the sun with a cloud, and the moon will not give its light.
- Joel 3:15
The sun and moon will grow dark, and the stars will no longer shine.
- Mark 13:24–25
But in those days, after that tribulation: ‘The sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light;
- Matthew 24:29
Through
Revelation 6:13and the stars of the sky fell to the earth like unripe figs dropping from a tree shaken by a great wind.
it leads to
- Isaiah 34:4
All the stars of heaven will be dissolved. The skies will be rolled up like a scroll, and all their stars will fall like withered leaves from the vine, like foliage from the fig…
- Revelation 9:1
Then the fifth angel sounded his trumpet, and I saw a star that had fallen from heaven to earth, and it was given the key to the pit of the Abyss.
- Revelation 8:10–12
Then the third angel sounded his trumpet, and a great star burning like a torch fell from heaven and landed on a third of the rivers and on the springs of water.
- Isaiah 34:4
Where this verse is studied
About Mark
This page draws on 14 works. Open the list of works
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Augustine of Hippo, LETTER 199, To HESYCHIUS 39; Bede, Catena Aurea by Aquinas; Bede, On the Gospel of Mark; Gregory of Neocaesarea, ON ECCLESIASTES 12; Gregory the Dialogist, Forty Gospel Homilies, Homily 1; J.C. Ryle, Expository Thoughts on the Gospels: Mark (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); Pseudo-Jerome, Catena Aurea by Aquinas; Tertullian, AGAINST MARCION 4.39; Theophylact of Ohrid, Catena Aurea by Aquinas; Theophylact of Ohrid, Commentary on Mark and Victorinus of Pettau, Commentary on the Apocalypse of the Blessed John.