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Mark 13:37

in Mark 13

And what I say to you, I say to everyone: Keep watch!”

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾

ASV

And what I say unto you I say unto all, Watch.

KJV

And what I say unto you I say unto all, Watch.

This verse in Mark 13

Commentary

17 notes on this verse
And what I say unto you,.... The four disciples, Peter, James, John, and Andrew; who came privately to him, and put to him the questions, which occasioned this long discourse; see Mar 13:3. I say unto all.

This site's exposition

instructed the doorkeeper to keep watch

on Mark 13:34-37

The discourse closes on a man who left his house and instructed the doorkeeper to keep watch. The last line, I say to everyone: Keep watch, carries the command from the four disciples to all who hear it.

This site's exposition

I say to everyone

The discourse was given privately to four disciples, as Jamieson, Fausset and Brown observe, yet its last word reaches all. Augustine asks how a warning for the final generation can bind the dead, and answers that the day comes to each person at death. So every Christian must keep watch.

The record, by era

The Church Fathers4 voices

A commentator

Augustine of Hippo

LETTER 199, TO HESYCHIUS 3 · Written in the 5th century.

proposed

Who are the "all" to whom he says this if not his elect and his beloved, the members of his body which is the church? Therefore, he said this not only to those who then heard him speaking, but also to those who came after them and before us, as well as to us and to those who will come after us until his final coming. Is that day going to encounter only those currently living, or is anyone likely to say that these words are also addressed to the dead, when he says: "Watch, lest he comes suddenly and finds you asleep?" Why, then, does he say to all what concerns only those who will then be living? For that day will come to every single one, when the day comes for him to leave this life, such as it is, to be judged on the last day. For this reason, every Christian ought to watch lest the coming of the Lord find him unprepared. But the last day will find unprepared anyone whom this day will find unprepared. This at least was certainly clear to the apostles. Even if the Lord did not come in their times, while they were still living here in the flesh, yet who would doubt that they watched most carefully and observed what he said to all, lest coming suddenly he might find them unprepared?

A commentator

Augustine of Hippo

Catena Aurea by Aquinas · Written in the 5th century.

proposed

(Epist. 199, 3) For He not only speaks to those in whose hearing He then spake, but even to all who came after them, before our time, and even to us, and to all after us, even to His last coming. But shall that day find all living, or will any man say that He speaks also to the dead, when He says, Watch, lest when he cometh he find you sleeping? Why then does He say to all, what only belongs to those who shall then be alive, if it be not that it belongs to all, as I have said? For that day comes to each man when his day comes for departing from this life such as he is to be, when judged in that day, and for this reason every Christian ought to watch, lest the Advent of the Lord find him unprepared; but that day shall find him unprepared, whom the last day of his life shall find unprepared.

A commentator

Apostolic Constitutions

CONSTITUTIONS OF THE HOLY APOSTLES 7.2.31 · Written before 380.

proposed

Watch therefore, and pray, that you do not sleep unto death. For your former good deeds will not profit you if in the end of your life you go astray from the true faith.

A commentator

Augustine of Hippo

SERMONS 18.1-2 · Written in the 5th century.

proposed

The first coming of Christ the Lord, God's Son and our God, was in obscurity. The second will be in sight of the whole world. When he came in obscurity, no one recognized him but his own servants. When he comes openly, he will be known by both the good and the bad. When he came in obscurity, it was to be judged. When he comes openly, it will be to judge. He was silent at his trial, as the prophet foretold.… Silent when accused, he will not be silent as judge. Even now he does not keep silent, if there is anyone to listen. But it says he will not keep silent then, because his voice will be acknowledged even by those who despise it.

The Medieval Church1 voice

A commentator

Theophylact of Ohrid

Catena Aurea by Aquinas · Written before 1107.

proposed

Now all these ages must look out for the end; for even a child must be watched, lest he die unbaptized.
9 more voices on this verse

The Medieval Church3 voices

He thus concludes His discourse, that the last should hear from those who come first this precept which is common to all; wherefore He adds, But what I say unto you I say unto all, Watch.

A commentator

Bede

On the Gospel of Mark · Written before 735.

proposed

But what I say to you, I say to all: Keep watch. Not only the apostles and their successors, indeed the leaders of the Church, but all are commanded to keep watch. We are all urgently ordered to guard the doors of our hearts, lest …

A commentator

Theophylact of Ohrid

Commentary on Mark · Written before 1107.

proposed

The Lord commands this to all in general — both to people in the world and to hermits. Therefore, we must watch and pray, fulfilling both the one and the other, for many, although they watch, spend the nights not in prayer but in wicked …

The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices

A commentator

Matthew Henry

1662–1714

Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710)

proposed

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

A commentator

Matthew Henry

1662–1714

Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710)

proposed

(4.) His coming will indeed be coming suddenly; it will be a great surprise and terror to those that are careless, and asleep, it will come upon them as a thief in the night. (5.) It is therefore the indispensable duty of all Christ's disciples, to watch, to be awake, and keep awake; " What I say unto you four (

quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — unbalanced-parens+odd-straight-quotes

The Nineteenth Century4 voices

I say unto all, Watch - This command was proper, not only for those who were expecting the calamities that were soon to come upon the Jews, but for all who are soon to die and to go to the judgment. We know not the time of our death. We know not how soon we shall be called to the judgment. The Son of man may come at any moment, and we should therefore be ready.

A commentator

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown

1802–1910

Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)

proposed

And what I say unto you--this discourse, it will be remembered, was delivered in private. I say unto all, Watch--anticipating and requiring the diffusion of His teaching by them among all His disciples, and its perpetuation through all time.
“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.
“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

7 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

    Mark 13:33

    Be on your guard and stay alert! For you do not know when the appointed time will come.

    it leads to

    • Romans 13:11–12

      And do this, understanding the occasion. The hour has come for you to wake up from your slumber, for our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed.

    • Luke 12:40

      You also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour you do not expect.”

    • Ephesians 6:18

      Pray 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.

    • Revelation 16:15

      “Behold, I am coming like a thief. Blessed is the one who remains awake and clothed, so that he will not go naked and let his shame be exposed.”

    • Matthew 25:13

      Therefore keep watch, because you do not know the day or the hour.

  • Through

    Mark 13:35

    Therefore keep watch, because you do not know when the master of the house will return—whether in the evening, at midnight, when the rooster crows, or in the morning.

    it leads to

    • Mark 13:33

      Be on your guard and stay alert! For you do not know when the appointed time will come.

    • Matthew 24:42

      Therefore keep watch, because you do not know the day on which your Lord will come.

    • Matthew 24:44

      For this reason, you also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour you do not expect.

Where this verse is studied

About Mark

Christ in the Storm on the Sea of Galilee, Rembrandt, 1633, Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum. Public domain.
Christ in the Storm on the Sea of Galilee, Rembrandt, 1633, Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum. Public domain.
This page draws on 14 works. Open the list of works

This page draws on Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Alexander Maclaren, Expositions of Holy Scripture, Mark; Apostolic Constitutions, CONSTITUTIONS OF THE HOLY APOSTLES 7.2.31; Augustine of Hippo, LETTER 199, TO HESYCHIUS 3; Augustine of Hippo, Catena Aurea by Aquinas; Augustine of Hippo, SERMONS 18.1-2; Bede, On the Gospel of Mark; 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); Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible; Pseudo-Jerome, Catena Aurea by Aquinas; Theophylact of Ohrid, Catena Aurea by Aquinas and Theophylact of Ohrid, Commentary on Mark.