Mark 13:33
in Mark 13Be on your guard and stay alert! For you do not know when the appointed time will come.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Take ye heed, watch and pray: for ye know not when the time is.
KJV
Take ye heed, watch and pray: for ye know not when the time is.
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This verse in Mark 13
Commentary
12 notes on this verseThis site's exposition
No one knows about that day or hour
on Mark 13:32-33
Arian teachers pressed the words nor the Son against His deity. The church read it of His knowledge as a man, holding His true humanity and true deity together.
This site's exposition
you do not know when
The hidden hour has a purpose. Athanasius argues that anyone who knew the day of the end would neglect the time before it. One who does not know is readier each day.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers3 voices
A person does not go wrong when he knows that he does not know something, but only when he thinks he knows something which he does not know.
A commentator
Athanasius of Alexandria296–373
Discourses Against the Arians 3.49 · Written before 373.
proposed
The end of all things is concealed from us. For in the end of all is the end of each, and in the end of each is the end of all [on the last day]. Whereas this time is uncertain and always in prospect, we may advance day by day as if summoned, reaching forward to the things before us and forgetting the things behind. For who, if they knew the day of the end, would not disregard the interval? But if ignorant, would they not be more ready day by day? It was on this account that the Savior said: "Watch; for you do not know when the time will come."
How useless is the advice of those simplistic moralists who teach that after death rewards and punishments fall with lighter weight! That is, if any judgment at all awaits the soul! Rather it ought to be assumed that judgment will be weightier at the end of life than during it. For nothing is more telling and complete than that which comes at the very end. So no judgment could be more complete than God's. Accordingly, God's judgment will be incomparably radical and comprehensive, because it will be pronounced at the very last, in an eternal irrevocable sentence, both of punishment and of consolation. Then souls will not conveniently dissolve into senselessness, but will return into their own proper bodies. All this occurs once for all, on "that day, too, of which the Father only knows," in order that a full trial be made of faith, and of faith's concerned sincerity which awaits in trembling expectation, keeping her gaze ever fixed on that day, in her perpetual ignorance of when it will arrive, daily trembling at that for which she yet daily hopes.
The Medieval Church2 voices
But He teaches us two things, watching and prayer; for many of us watch, but watch only to pass the night in wickedness; He now follows this up with a parable, saying, For the Son of man is as a man taking a far journey, who left his house, and gave his servants power over every work, and commanded the porter to watch.
Watch, therefore, and pray. For you do not know when the time is. Like a man who, traveling abroad, leaves his house and gives authority to his servants, etc. The Lord clearly shows why He said: "Of that day or hour no one knows, neither …
5 more voices on this verse
The Medieval Church1 voice
Moreover, for our benefit God has hidden the end of life, both of the common life and of each of us individually, so that we, in the uncertainty of this end, might ceaselessly strive, expecting it and fearing lest it find us unprepared.
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
3 And as he sat upon the mount of Olives over against the temple, Peter and James and John and Andrew asked him privately, 4 Tell us, when shall these things be? and what shall be the sign when all these things shall be fulfilled? How apt many of Christ's own disciples are to idolize things that look great, and have been long looked upon as sacred.
quarantine:scripture (2026-07-29) — verbatim-run:43w-of-66
Take ye heed, watch and pray,....
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
A commentator
J.C. Ryle1816–1900
Expository Thoughts on the Gospels: Mark (lightly modernized text, Grace Gems edition) (1857)
proposed
“But concerning that day or that hour, no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. Be on guard, keep awake. For you do not know when the time will come. It is like a man going on a journey, when he leaves home and puts his servants in charge, each with his work, and commands the doorkeeper to stay awake.
A commentator
J.C. Ryle1816–1900
Expository Thoughts on the Gospels: Mark (lightly modernized text, Grace Gems edition) (1857)
proposed
“But concerning that day or that hour, no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. Be on guard, keep awake. For you do not know when the time will come. It is like a man going on a journey, when he leaves home and puts his servants in charge, each with his work, and commands the doorkeeper to stay awake. Therefore stay awake—for you do not know when the master of the house will come, in the evening, or at midnight, or when the rooster crows, or in the morning— lest he come suddenly and find you asleep. And what I say to you I say to all: Stay awake.” Mark 13:32-37 These verses conclude Mark's report of our Lord's prophecy on the Mount of Olives. They ought to form a personal application of the whole discourse to our consciences. We learn from these verses, that the exact time of our Lord Jesus Christ's second advent is purposely withheld from His church . The event is certain. The precise day and hour are not revealed. "Of that day and hour knows no man, no, not the angels which are in heaven." There is deep wisdom and mercy in this intentional silence. We have reason to thank God that the thing has been hidden from us. Uncertainty about the date of the Lord's return is calculated to keep believers in an attitude of constant expectation, and to preserve them from despondency. What a dreary prospect the early church would have had before it, if it had known for certain that Christ would not return to earth for at least fifteen hundred years! The hearts of men like Athanasius, Chrysostom, and Augustine, might well have sunk within them, if they had been aware of the centuries of darkness through which the world would pass, before their Master came back to take the kingdom. What a quickening motive, on the other hand, true Christians have perpetually had, for a close walk with God!
The words behind it
9 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Βλέπετε, | blepete | do take heed, | G991 → | 132 times |
| ἀγρυπνεῖτε | agrupneite | do watch | G69 → | |
| οὐκ | ouk | not | G3756 → | 1664 times |
| οἴδατε | oidate | you know | ||
| γὰρ | gar | for | G1063 → | 1039 times |
| πότε | pote | when | G4219 → | 19 times |
| ὁ | ho | the | G3588 → | 19766 times |
| καιρός | kairos | time | G2540 → | 84 times |
| ἐστιν. | estin | is. | G1510 → | 2333 times |
Βλέπετε,do take heed,
blepeteG991 →132 times
ἀγρυπνεῖτεdo watch
agrupneiteG69 →
οὐκnot
oukG3756 →1664 times
οἴδατεyou know
oidate
γὰρfor
garG1063 →1039 times
πότεwhen
poteG4219 →19 times
ὁthe
hoG3588 →19766 times
καιρόςtime
kairosG2540 →84 times
ἐστιν.is.
estinG1510 →2333 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
1 Peter 5:8Be sober-minded and alert. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.
it leads to
- Ephesians 6:11
Put on the full armor of God, so that you can make your stand against the devil’s schemes.
- James 4:7
Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.
- Ephesians 4:27
and do not give the devil a foothold.
- Job 2:2
“Where have you come from?” said the LORD to Satan. “From roaming through the earth,” he replied, “and walking back and forth in it.”
- 1 Peter 1:13
Therefore prepare your minds for action. Be sober-minded. Set your hope fully on the grace to be given you at the revelation of Jesus Christ.
- Ephesians 6:11
Through
Ephesians 6:18Pray in the Spirit at all times, with every kind of prayer and petition. To this end, stay alert with all perseverance in your prayers for all the saints.
it leads to
- 1 Thessalonians 5:17
Pray without ceasing.
- Colossians 4:2
Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful,
- Philippians 4:6
Be anxious for nothing, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.
- 1 Thessalonians 5:17
Where this verse is studied
About Mark
This page draws on 11 works. Open the list of works
This page draws on Athanasius of Alexandria, Discourses Against the Arians 3.49; Augustine of Hippo, LETTER 199, TO HESYCHIUS 52; Bede, On the Gospel of Mark; J.C. Ryle, Expository Thoughts on the Gospels: Mark (lightly modernized text, Grace Gems edition); John Calvin, Commentary on a Harmony of the Evangelists; John Chrysostom, Homilies on the Gospel of Matthew; John Gill, Exposition of the New Testament (1746-1748); Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible; Tertullian, ON THE SOUL 33; Theophylact of Ohrid, Commentary on Mark and Theophylact of Ohrid, Catena Aurea by Aquinas.