Matthew 24:40

Then shall two be in the field; the one shall be taken, and the other left.

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Word by word — the Greek

Word	Greek	Strong’s	Meaning
Then	Τότε Tote	G5119	the when · adverb
shall	ἔσομαι ésomai	G2071	will be
two	δύο duo	G1417	"two" · adjective — numeral, indeclinable
be	ἔσομαι ésomai	G2071	will be
in	ἐν en	G1722	"in · preposition
the field	ἀγρῷ· agrō	G68	a field (as a drive for cattle) · noun — dative singular masculine
the one	εἷς heis	G1520	one · adjective — nominative singular masculine
shall be taken	παραλαμβάνεται paralambanetai	G3880	to receive near · verb — present passive indicative, 3rd person singular
and	καὶ kai	G2532	and · conjunction
the other	εἷς heis	G1520	one · adjective — nominative singular masculine
left	ἀφίεται. aphietai	G863	an intensive form of · verb — present passive indicative, 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

Luke 17:34-37 I tell you, in that night there shall be two men in one bed; the one shall be taken, and the other shall be left.
2 Peter 2:7-9 And delivered just Lot, vexed with the filthy conversation of the wicked:
2 Peter 2:5 And spared not the old world, but saved Noah the eighth person, a preacher of righteousness, bringing in the flood upon the world of the ung…
2 Chronicles 33:12-24 And when he was in affliction, he besought the LORD his God, and humbled himself greatly before the God of his fathers,
Luke 23:39-43 And one of the malefactors which were hanged railed on him, saying, If thou be Christ, save thyself and us.
1 Corinthians 4:7 For who maketh thee to differ from another? and what hast thou that thou didst not receive? now if thou didst receive it, why dost thou glor…

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

Commentary

John Gill on Matthew 24:40

Then shall two be in the field,.... About their proper business, of husbandry, ploughing, or sowing, or any other rural employment: the one shall be taken; not by the preaching of the Gospel, into the kingdom of God, or Gospel dispensation; though such a distinction God makes, by the ministry of the word, accompanied by his Spirit and power; nor by angels, to meet Christ in the air, and to be introduced into his kingdom and glory; but by the eagles, the Roman army, and either killed or carried captive by them: and the other left; not in a state of nature and unregeneracy, as many are, to whom the Gospel is preached; nor with devils at the last day, to be thrust down by them into the infern…

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John Calvin on Matthew 24:37-42

Matthew 24:37-42 Matthew 24:37-42 Mark 13:33 Luke 17:26-37 37. But as the days of Noah were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be. 38. For as in the days that came before the deluge, they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, till the day when Noah entered into the ark, 39. And knew not until the deluge came, [160] and took them all away: so shall also the coming of the Son of man be. 40. Two men shall then be in the field; one is taken, and the other is left. 41. Two women shall be grinding at the mill; one is taken, and the other is left. 42. Watch therefore, for you know not at what hour your Lord will come. 33. Take heed, watch and pray; for you know no…

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Tyndale Open Study Notes on Matthew 24:40-41

The term taken most likely means taken in judgment, at AD 70 or at the end of history; left would then mean remaining to enter the new era of either the church (see 21:43; 22:1-14) or the Millennium.

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

Or, Two men in one field shall be found performing the same labour, sowing corn together, but not reaping the same fruit of their labour.
— Jerome ((as quoted by Aquinas, AD 1274)), Catena Aurea by Aquinas

Or otherwise; The body is laid as sick on the bed of carnal passions, the soul grinds in the mill of this world, and the bodily senses labour in the field of the world.
— Origen of Alexandria ((as quoted by Aquinas, AD 1274)), Catena Aurea by Aquinas

Or, these words denote three orders in the Church. The two men in the field (prædicatores.) denote the order of preachers, to whom is committed the field of the Church; by the two grinding at the mill, (conjugati.) the order of the married priests, who while with a divided heart they are called first to one side, then to the other, do, as it were, ever turn round a mill; by the two in one bed, (continentes.) the order of the continent, whose repose is signified by the bed. But in all these orders are good and bad, righteous and unrighteous, so that some shall be taken, and some left.
— Remigius of Rheims ((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…
Predestination · 19:25; — 19:25;
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).