Matthew 24:21

For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be.

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Word by word — the Greek

Word	Greek	Strong’s	Meaning
For	γὰρ gar	G1063	properly · conjunction
then	τότε tote	G5119	the when · adverb
shall be	ἔσομαι ésomai	G2071	will be
great	μεγάλη megalē	G3173	big (literally or figuratively · adjective — nominative singular feminine
tribulation	θλῖψις thlipsis	G2347	pressure (literally or figuratively) · noun — nominative singular feminine
such as	οἵα oia	G3634	such or what sort of (as a correlation or exclamation) · correlative pronoun — nominative singular feminine
was	γέγονεν gegonen	G1096	to cause to be ("gen"-erate) · verb — second perfect active indicative, 3rd person singular
not	οὐ ou	G3756	the absolute negative (compare G3361 (μή)) adverb · particle — negative
since	ἀπ᾽ ap᾽	G575	"off · preposition
the beginning	ἀρχῆς archēs	G746	(properly abstract) a commencement · noun — genitive singular feminine
of the world	κόσμου kosmou	G2889	orderly arrangement · noun — genitive singular masculine
to	ἕως he'ōs	G2193	a conjunction · preposition
this time	νῦν nun	G3568	"now" (as adverb of date · adverb
no	οὐδ᾽ oud᾽	G3761	not however · conjunction — negative
nor	οὐ ou	G3756	the absolute negative (compare G3361 (μή)) adverb · particle — negative
ever	μὴ mē	G3361	(adverb) not · particle — negative
shall be	γένηται. genētai	G1096	to cause to be ("gen"-erate) · verb — second aorist middle deponent subjunctive, 3rd person singular

Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).

Cross-references

Daniel 12:1 And at that time shall Michael stand up, the great prince which standeth for the children of thy people: and there shall be a time of troubl…
Joel 2:2 A day of darkness and of gloominess, a day of clouds and of thick darkness, as the morning spread upon the mountains: a great people and a s…
Malachi 4:1 For, behold, the day cometh, that shall burn as an oven; and all the proud, yea, and all that do wickedly, shall be stubble: and the day tha…
Zechariah 14:2-3 For I will gather all nations against Jerusalem to battle; and the city shall be taken, and the houses rifled, and the women ravished; and h…
Isaiah 66:15-16 For, behold, the LORD will come with fire, and with his chariots like a whirlwind, to render his anger with fury, and his rebuke with flames…
Matthew 24:29 Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall f…
Luke 19:43-44 For the days shall come upon thee, that thine enemies shall cast a trench about thee, and compass thee round, and keep thee in on every side…
Luke 21:24 And they shall fall by the edge of the sword, and shall be led away captive into all nations: and Jerusalem shall be trodden down of the Gen…

Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).

Commentary

John Gill on Matthew 24:21

For then shall be great tribulation,.... This is urged as a reason for their speedy flight; since the calamity that would come upon those who should remain in the city, what through the sword, famine, pestilence, murders, robberies, &c. would be such as was not since the beginning of the world, to this time, no, nor ever shall be. The burning of Sodom and Gomorrha, the bondage of the children of Israel in Egypt, their captivity in Babylon, and all their distresses and afflictions in the times of the Maccabees, are nothing to be compared with the calamities which befell the Jews in the siege and destruction of Jerusalem. Great desolations have been made in the besieging and at the taking of…

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John Calvin on Matthew 24:15-28

Matthew 24:15-28 Matthew 24:15-28 Mark 13:14-23 Luke 21:20-24 15. When therefore you shall see the abomination of desolation, which is described by Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place, (let him that readeth understand,) 16. Then let them who are in Judea flee to the mountains. 17. Let not him who is on the housetop go down to carry anything out of his house; 18. And let not him who is in the field return to carry away his clothes. 19. But woe to the women with child, and to them that give suck in those days. 20. And pray that your flight may not be in the winter, nor on the sabbath. [134] 21. For there will then be great tribulation, such as hath not been from the beginning of…

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Tyndale Open Study Notes on Matthew 24:21

greater anguish: Similar language is found in Neh 9:37; Jer 11:16; Dan 12:1; Joel 2:1-17. The blatant savagery of the times has been documented by Josephus (see War 5.10.2-3).

Henry, Jamieson-Fausset-Brown, Clarke, Gill, Calvin and Keil & Delitzsch are in the public domain; Tyndale Open Study Notes © Tyndale House Publishers, CC BY-SA 4.0 — all from the Free Use Bible API (bible.helloao.org). Rashi: the Rosenbaum & Silbermann Pentateuch (public domain) and the Judaica Press and Metsudah Tanakh (CC BY), via Sefaria. Spurgeon's Treasury of David: public domain (lyteword's markdown edition, CC0).

The Church Fathers

(Ep. 199. 30.) In Luke it is thus read, There shall be great distress upon the earth, and wrath upon this people, and they shall fall by the edge of the sword, and shall be led away captive into all nations. (Luke 21:23.) And so Josephus, who wrote the Jewish History, (B. J. vii.) relates evils so great happening to this people as to seem hardly credible. Whence it was not unreasonably said, that such tribulation had never been from the beginning of creation, nor should be; for though in the lime of Antichrist shall be such, or perhaps greater; yet to the Jews, of whom we must understand this, such shall never more befal. For if they shall be the first and the chief to receive Antichrist, they will then rather inflict than suffer tribulation.
— Augustine of Hippo ((as quoted by Aquinas, AD 1274)), Catena Aurea by Aquinas

The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).

Dictionary and topics

Matthew, Gospel according to — The author of this book was beyond a doubt the Matthew, an apostle of our Lord, whose name it bears. He wrote the Gospel of Christ according to his own plans and aims, and from his own point of view,…
Olves, Mount of — So called from the olive trees with which its sides are clothed, is a mountain ridge on the east of Jerusalem (1 Kings 11:7; Ezek. 11:23; Zech. 14:4), from which it is separated by the valley of…
Tribulation — Trouble or affiction of any kind (Deut. 4:30; Matt. 13:21; 2 Cor. 7:4). In Rom. 2:9 “tribulation and anguish” are the penal sufferings that shall overtake the wicked. In Matt. 24:21, 29, the word…
Christ, The Prophet · Foretold things to come — Foretold things to come
Creation · Effected: In the beginning — Effected: In the beginning
Jerusalem · Prophecies respecting: Its capture accompanied by severe calamities — Prophecies respecting: Its capture accompanied by severe calamities
Second Coming Of Christ, The · Signs preceding — Signs preceding

Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).