Matthew 24:35
in Matthew 24Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will never pass away.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away.
KJV
Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away.
⋯
This verse in Matthew 24
Commentary
21 notes on this verse(Verse 35.) Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away. Heaven and earth will pass away by change, not by their destruction: otherwise, how will the sun be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will fall, if the heaven in which these things are, and the earth, do not exist?
This site's exposition
Heaven and earth shall pass away
Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away sets Christ's own speech above the created order itself, a claim of authority no prophet before him made for his own words rather than for the word given him to speak. Henry reads the verse as securing the discourse's certainty against every difficulty in its details, since the timing may be argued but the content will stand. The same claim underwrites every promise the Gospel makes, a word that outlasts heaven and earth cannot fail on a smaller scale.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers5 voices
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. But the words spoken by the Saviour shall not pass away, because they effect and shall ever effect their purpose; but the perfect and they that admit no further improvement, passing through what they are, come to that which they are not; and this is that, My words shall not pass away. And perhaps the words of Moses and the Prophets have passed away, because all that they prophesied has been fulfilled; but the words of Christ are always complete, daily fulfilling and to be fulfilled in the saints. Or perhaps we ought not to say that the words of Moses and the Prophets are once for all fulfilled; seeing they also are the words of the Son of God, and are fulfilled continually.
For heaven and earth have in their constitution no necessity of existence, but Christ's words derived from eternity have in them such virtue that they must needs abide.
For "the very heaven shall be rolled together as a scroll; '" nay, it shall come to nothing along with the earth itself, with which it was made in the beginning. "Heaven and earth shall pass away," says He.
A commentator
Apostolic ConstitutionsApostolic Constitutions (Book VII), Section 2, XXXII · Written before 380.
proposed
For in the last days false prophets shall be multiplied, and such as corrupt the word; and the sheep shall be changed into wolves, and love into hatred: for through the abounding of iniquity the love of many shall wax cold. For men shall hate, and persecute, and betray one another. And then shall appear the deceiver of the world, the enemy of the truth, the prince of lies, [2 Thessalonians 2:3-12] whom the Lord Jesus "shall destroy with the spirit of His mouth, who takes away the wicked with His lips; and many shall be offended at Him. But they that endure to the end, the same shall be saved. And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven;" [Isaiah 11:4; Matthew 24:1-51] and afterwards shall be the voice of a trumpet by the archangel; and in that interval shall be the revival of those that were asleep. And then shall the Lord come, and all His saints with Him, with a great concussion above the clouds, with the angels of His power, [Matthew 16:27] in the throne of His kingdom, to condemn the devil, the deceiver of the world, and to render to every one according to his deeds. "Then shall the wicked go away into everlasting punishment, but the righteous shall go into life eternal," [Matthew 25:46] to inherit those things "which eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor have entered into the heart of man, such things as God has prepared for them that love Him;" [1 Corinthians 2:9] and they shall rejoice in the kingdom of God, which is in Christ Jesus.
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?
14 more voices on this verse
The Church Fathers3 voices
Since, therefore, some corrupting the meaning of the divine scriptures have misinterpreted the saying of our Lord, namely: The heaven and the earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away, failing to recognize that the mode of expression is hyperbolical, we shall …
Watch for your life's sake. Let not your lamps be quenched, nor your loins unloosed; but be ye ready, for ye know not the hour in which our Lord cometh. But often shall ye come together, seeking the things which are befitting to your souls: for the whole time of your faith will not profit you, if ye be not made perfect in the last time. For in the last days false prophets and corrupters shall be multiplied, and the sheep shall be turned into wolves, and love shall be turned into hate; for when lawlessness increaseth, they shall hate and persecute and betray one another, and then shall appear the world-deceiver as Son of God, and shall do signs and wonders, and the earth shall be delivered into his hands, and he shall do iniquitous things which have never yet come to pass since the beginning. Then shall the creation of men come into the fire of trial, and many shall be made to stumble and shall perish; but they that endure in their faith shall be saved from under the curse itself. And then shall appear the signs of the truth; first, the sign of an out-spreading in heaven; then the sign of the sound of the trumpet; and the third, the resurrection of the dead; yet not of all, but as it is said: The Lord shall come and all His saints with Him. Then shall the world see the Lord coming upon the clouds of heaven.
A commentator
John ChrysostomHomily on the Gospel of Matthew 77 · Written in the 5th century.
proposed
Then to lead them on more in faith, He saith, "Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away;" that is, it were more easy for these firm, fixed, and immoveable bodies to be blotted out, than for ought of my words to fall to the ground. And he who gainsays these things, let him test His sayings, and when he hath found them true (for so he surely will find them) from what is past, let him believe also the things to come, and let him search out all things with diligence, and he will see the actual events bearing witness to the truth of the prophecy. And the elements He hath brought forward, at once to declare, that the church is of more honor than Heaven and earth, and at the same time to indicate Himself by this also to be maker of all. For since He was speaking of the end, a thing disbelieved by many, He brought forward Heaven and earth, indicating His unspeakable power, and showing with great authority, that He is Lord of all, and by these things rendering His sayings deserving of credit, even with those who are much given to doubt.
The Medieval Church5 voices
"Generation" here means, not that which was then, but the generation of all believers. It is as if He were saying, "The generation of believers shall not pass away till all these things have occurred." But when you hear of famines and plagues, do not …
Nothing in Sacred Scripture is to be despised as useless, nothing rejected as false, nothing repudiated as wicked, because the Holy Spirit, its most perfect author, could say nothing false, nothing superfluous, nothing deficient. And therefore heaven and earth shall pass away, but the words …
"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." As if he were saying openly: Everything that is enduring among you is not enduring unto eternity without change; and everything that is seen to pass away in me is held fixed and without passing away, because my speech which passes away expresses judgments that remain without mutability.
The heaven which shall pass away is not the starry but the atmospheric heaven which of old was destroyed by the deluge.
And then he sets forth the reason: heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away; as if to say: it is easier for heaven and earth to pass away than for my words to pass away; Isaiah 40:8: But my …
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
Heaven and earth shall pass away,....
The Nineteenth Century3 voices
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.
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. The event here described is one of far greater moment than the march of an earthly army; it is nothing less than the closing act of the present dispensation—the second personal advent of Jesus Christ. These verses teach us in the first place that when the Lord Jesus returns to this world he shall come with peculiar glory and majesty. He shall come “in the clouds of heaven, with power and great glory.” Before his presence the very sun, moon and stars shall be darkened, and “the powers of heaven shall be shaken.” The second personal coming of Christ shall be as different as possible from the first. He came the first time as “a man of sorrows, and aquainted with grief.” He was born in the manger of Bethlehem, in lowliness and humiliation; he took on him the form of a servant, and was despised and rejected of men; he was betrayed into the hands of wicked men, condemned by an unjust judgment, mocked, scourged, crowned with thorns and at last crucified between two thieves. He shall come the second time as the King of all the earth, with royal majesty: the princes and great men of this world shall themselves stand before his throne to receive an eternal sentence: before him every mouth shall be stopped, and every knee bow, and every tongue shall confess that Jesus Christ is Lord. May we all remember this! Whatever ungodly men may do now, there will be no scoffing, no jesting at Christ, no infidelity at the last day.
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
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.
Modern Voices2 voices
'Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away.' The civilisation of antiquity was the whole world: and men no more dreamed of its ending than of the ending of daylight. They could not imagine another order unless it were in …
A commentator
GK ChestertonThe Everlasting Man, Part 2 Ch. 2: The Riddles of the Gospel (1925) (1925)
proposed
Christ as much as Aristotle lived in a world that took slavery for granted. He did not particularly denounce slavery. He started a movement that could exist in a world with slavery. But he started a movement that could exist in a world without slavery. …
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ὁ | ho | The | G3588 → | 19766 times |
| οὐρανὸς | ouranos | heaven | G3772 → | 272 times |
| καὶ | kai | and | G2532 → | 9120 times |
| ἡ | he | the | G3588 → | 19766 times |
| γῆ | ge | earth | G1093 → | 248 times |
| παρελεύσεται, | pareleusetai | will pass away, | G3928 → | 29 times |
| οἱ | hoi | <the> | G3588 → | 19766 times |
| δὲ | de | but | G1161 → | 2765 times |
| λόγοι | logoi | the words | G3056 → | 329 times |
| μου | mou | of Mine | G3165 → | 1936 times |
| οὐ | ou | certainly | G3756 → | 1664 times |
| μὴ | me | not | G3361 → | 1066 times |
| παρέλθωσιν.¶ | parelthosin | may pass away. | G3928 → | 29 times |
ὁThe
hoG3588 →19766 times
οὐρανὸςheaven
ouranosG3772 →272 times
καὶand
kaiG2532 →9120 times
ἡthe
heG3588 →19766 times
γῆearth
geG1093 →248 times
παρελεύσεται,will pass away,
pareleusetaiG3928 →29 times
οἱ<the>
hoiG3588 →19766 times
δὲbut
deG1161 →2765 times
λόγοιthe words
logoiG3056 →329 times
μουof Mine
mouG3165 →1936 times
οὐcertainly
ouG3756 →1664 times
μὴnot
meG3361 →1066 times
παρέλθωσιν.¶may pass away.
parelthosinG3928 →29 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
Isaiah 55:11so My word that proceeds from My mouth will not return to Me empty, but it will accomplish what I please, and it will prosper where I send it.
it leads to
- Isaiah 46:10
I declare the end from the beginning, and ancient times from what is still to come. I say, ‘My purpose will stand, and all My good pleasure I will accomplish.’
- Romans 10:17
Consequently, faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ.
- Isaiah 46:10
Through
Isaiah 40:8The grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of our God stands forever.”
it leads to
- 1 Peter 1:25
but the word of the Lord stands forever.” And this is the word that was proclaimed to you.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Mark 13:31
Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will never pass away.
- 1 Peter 1:25
Through
Numbers 23:19God is not a man, that He should lie, or a son of man, that He should change His mind. Does He speak and not act? Does He promise and not fulfill?
it leads to
- 1 Samuel 15:29
Moreover, the Glory of Israel does not lie or change His mind, for He is not a man, that He should change His mind.”
- James 1:17
Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, with whom there is no change or shifting shadow.
- Malachi 3:6
“Because I, the LORD, do not change, you descendants of Jacob have not been destroyed.
- Hebrews 6:18
Thus by two unchangeable things in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled to take hold of the hope set before us may be strongly encouraged.
- 1 Samuel 15:29
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies13
On this verse
On this chapter
- Enoch, the Man Who Walked with God
- The Abomination of Desolation
- The Days of Noah
- The Great Tribulation
- How Prophecy Works
- The Son of Man: Daniel 7:13-14
- The Ascension: Acts 1:1-11 · Luke 24:50-53
- The Bride & the Jewish Wedding
- The Seventy Weeks: Daniel 9:24-27
- The Trumpet & the Shofar
- The Third Temple
- Watchfulness
About Matthew
This page draws on 21 works. Open the list of works
This page draws on Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Apostolic Constitutions, Apostolic Constitutions (Book VII), Section 2, XXXII; Bonaventure, Breviloquium, Prologue; Cosmas Indicopleustes, The Christian Topography, Book 7; Didache, The Didache, Chapter 16; GK Chesterton, The Everlasting Man, The Five Deaths of the Faith (1925); GK Chesterton, The Everlasting Man, Part 2 Ch. 2: The Riddles of the Gospel (1925); Gregory the Dialogist, Forty Gospel Homilies, Homily 1; Hilary of Poitiers, Catena Aurea by Aquinas; J.C. Ryle, Expository Thoughts on the Gospels: Matthew; Jerome, Commentary on Matthew; Jerome, Catena Aurea by Aquinas; John Chrysostom, Homily on the Gospel of Matthew 77; John Gill, Exposition of the New Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the New Testament (1746-1748); Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible; Origen of Alexandria, Catena Aurea by Aquinas; Rabanus Maurus, Catena Aurea by Aquinas; Tertullian, Against Hermogenes; Theophylact of Ohrid, Commentary on Matthew and Thomas Aquinas, Commentary on Matthew.