Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Matthew 24:31
And he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.
31. with a great sound of a trumpet ] Omit “sound” on high MS. authority, translate with a great trumpet. The image would be suggestive to the Jews, who were called together in the camp by silver trumpets (Num 10:2 foll.). Moreover, the great festivals, the commencement of the year, and other celebrations were announced by trumpets.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
And he shall send his angels – Angels signify, literally, messengers, Luk 7:24; Luk 9:52. The word is often applied to inanimate objects, or to anything that God employs to rescue his people from danger Psa 104:4; but it most commonly refers to the race of intelligent beings more exalted than man, who are employed often in the work of mans rescue from ruin, and aiding his salvation, Heb 1:14. In either of these senses it might here refer to deliverance granted to his people in the calamities of Jerusalem. It is said that there is reason to believe that not one Christian perished in the destruction of that city, God having in various ways secured their escape, so that they fled to Pella, where they lived when the city was destroyed. But the language seems to refer rather to the end of the world, and, no doubt, its principal application was intended to be to the gathering of his elect at the day of judgment:
With a great sound of a trumpet – The Jewish assemblies used to be called together by the sound of a trumpet, as ours are by bells, Lev 25:9; Num 10:2; Jdg 3:27. Hence, when they spoke of convening an assembly, they spoke also of doing it by sounding a trumpet. Our Saviour, speaking to Jews, used language to which they were accustomed, and described the assembling of the people at the last day in language which they were accustomed to use in calling assemblies together. It is not certain, however, that he meant that this would be literally so, but it may be designed only to denote the certainty that the world would be assembled together. Similar language is often used when speaking of the judgment, 1Th 4:16; 1Co 15:52. A trump, or trumpet, was a wind instrument, made at first from the horns of oxen, and afterward of rams horns, cut off at the smaller extremity. In some instances it was made of brass, in the form of a horn. The common trumpet was straight, made of brass or silver, a cubit in length, the larger extremity shaped so as to resemble a small bell. In times of peace, in assembling the people, this was sounded softly. In times of calamity, or war, or any great commotion, it was sounded loud. Perhaps this was referred to when our Saviour said, with a great sound of a trumpet.
They shall gather together his elect – Elect. See the notes at Mat 24:22. The word means Christians – the chosen of God. If this refers to the destruction of Jerusalem, it means, God shall send forth his messengers – whatever he may choose to employ for that purpose: signs, wonders, human messengers, or the angels themselves – and gather Christians into a place of safety, so that they shall not be destroyed with the Jews. If it refers to the last judgment, as it doubtless in a primary or secondary sense does, then it means that he will send his angels to gather his chosen, his elect, together from all places, Mat 13:39, Mat 13:41-43. This shall be done before the living shall be changed, 1Co 15:51-52; 1Th 4:16-17.
From the four winds – That is, from the four quarters of the globe – east, west, north, and south. The Jews expressed those quarters by the winds blowing from them See Eze 37:9. See also Isa 43:5-6. From one end of heaven, etc. Mark says Mar 13:27, from the uttermost part of the earth to the uttermost part of heaven. The expression denotes that they shall be gathered from all parts of the earth where they are scattered. The word heaven is used here to denote the visible heavens or the sky, meaning that through the whole world he would gather them. See Psa 19:1-7; Deu 4:32.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Verse 31. He shall send his angels] , his messengers, the apostles, and their successors in the Christian ministry.
With a great sound of a trumpet] Or, a loud-sounding trumpet – the earnest affectionate call of the Gospel of peace, life, and salvation.
Shall gather together his elect] The Gentiles, who were now chosen or elected, in place of the rebellious, obstinate Jews, according to Our Lord’s prediction, Mt 8:11-12, and Lu 13:28-29. For the children of the kingdom, (the Jews who were born with a legal right to it, but had now finally forfeited that right by their iniquities) should be thrust out. It is worth serious observation, that the Christian religion spread and prevailed mightily after this period: and nothing contributed more to the success of the Gospel than the destruction of Jerusalem happening in the very time and manner, and with the very circumstances, so particularly foretold by our Lord. It was after this period that the kingdom of Christ began, and his reign was established in almost every part of the world.
To St. Matthew’s account, St. Luke adds, Lu 21:24, They shall fall by the edge of the sword, and shalt be led away captive into all nations; and Jerusalem shall be trodden down by the Gentiles, till the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled. The number of those who fell by the sword was very great. ELEVEN HUNDRED THOUSAND perished during the siege. Many were slain at other places, and at other times. By the commandment of Florus, the first author of the war, there were slain at Jerusalem 3,600, Jos. WAR, b. ii. c. 14. By the inhabitants of Caesarea, above 20,000. At Scythopolis, above 13,000. At Ascalon, 2,500. At Ptolemais, 2,000. At Alexandria, 50,000. At Joppa, when taken by Cestius Gallus, 8,400. In a mountain called Asamon, near Sepporis, above 2,000. At Damascus, 10,000. In a battle with the Romans at Ascalon, 10,000. In an ambuscade near the same place, 8,000. At Japha, 15,000. Of the Samaritans, on Mount Gerizim, 11,600. At Jotapa, 40,000. At Joppa, when taken by Vespasian, 4,200. At Tarichea, 6,500. And after the city was taken, 1,200. At Gamala, 4,000, besides 5,000 who threw themselves down a precipice. Of those who fled with John, of Gischala, 6,000. Of the Gadarenes, 15,000 slain, besides countless multitudes drowned. In the village of Idumea, above 10,000 slain. At Gerasa, 1,000. At Machaerus, 1,700. In the wood of Jardes, 3,000. In the castle of Masada, 960. In Cyrene, by Catullus the governor, 3,000. Besides these, many of every age, sex, and condition, were slain in the war, who are not reckoned; but, of those who are reckoned, the number amounts to upwards of 1,357,660, which would have appeared incredible, if their own historian had not so particularly enumerated them. See Josephus, WAR, book ii. c. 18, 20; book iii. c. 2, 7, 8, 9; book iv. c. 1, 2, 7, 8, 9; book vii. c. 6, 9, 11; and Bp. Newton, vol. ii. p. 288-290.
Many also were led away captives into all nations. There were taken at Japha, 2,130. At Jotapa, 1,200. At Tarichea, 6,000 chosen young men, who were sent to Nero; others sold to the number of 30,400, besides those who were given to Agrippa. Of the Gadarenes were taken 2,200. In Idumea above 1,000. Many besides these were taken in Jerusalem; so that, as Josephus says, the number of the captives taken in the whole war amounted to 97,000. Those above seventeen years of age were sent to the works in Egypt; but most were distributed through the Roman provinces, to be destroyed in their theatres by the sword, and by the wild beasts; and those under seventeen years of age were sold for slaves. Eleven thousand in one place perished for want. At Caesarea, Titus, like a thorough-paced infernal savage, murdered 2,500 Jews, in honour of his brother’s birthday; and a greater number at Berytus in honour of his father’s. See Josephus, WAR, b. vii. c. 3. s. 1. Some he caused to kill each other; some were thrown to the wild beasts; and others burnt alive. And all this was done by a man who was styled, The darling of mankind! Thus were the Jews miserably tormented, and distributed over the Roman provinces; and continue to be distressed and dispersed over all the nations of the world to the present day. Jerusalem also was, according to the prediction of our Lord, to be trodden down by the Gentiles. Accordingly it has never since been in the possession of the Jews. It was first in subjection to the Romans, afterwards to the Saracens, then to the Franks, after to the Mamalukes, and now to the Turks. Thus has the prophecy of Christ been most literally and terribly fulfilled, on a people who are still preserved as continued monuments of the truth of our Lord’s prediction, and of the truth of the Christian religion. See more in Bp. Newton’s Dissert. vol. ii. p. 291, &c.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
And he shall send his angels,…. Not the angels, i.e. ministering spirits, so called, not from their nature, but their office, as being sent forth by God and Christ; but men angels, or messengers, the ministers and preachers of the Gospel, whom Christ would call, qualify, and send forth into all the world of the Gentiles, to preach his Gospel, and plant churches there still more, when that at Jerusalem was broken up and dissolved. These are called “angels”, because of their mission, and commission from Christ, to preach the Gospel; and because of their knowledge and understanding in spiritual things; and because of their zeal, diligence, and watchfulness.
With a great sound of a trumpet, meaning the Gospel; see Isa 27:13 so called in allusion either to the silver trumpets which Moses was ordered to make of one piece, and use them for the calling of the assembly, the journeying of the camps, blowing an alarm for war, and on their solemn and festival days, Nu 10:1. The Gospel being rich and precious, all of a piece, useful for gathering souls to Christ, and to his churches; to direct saints in their journey to Canaan’s land; to encourage them to fight the Lord’s battles; and is a joyful sound, being a sound of love, grace, and mercy, peace, pardon, righteousness, life and salvation, by Christ: or else so called, in allusion to the trumpet blown in the year of “jubilee”; which proclaimed rest to the land, liberty to prisoners, a release of debts, and restoration of inheritances; as the Gospel publishes rest in Christ, liberty to the captives of sin, Satan, and the law, a payment of debts by Christ, and a release from them upon that, and a right and title to the heavenly inheritance. The Vulgate Latin reads it, “with a trumpet, and a great voice”; and so does Munster’s Hebrew Gospel; and so it was read in four of Beza’s copies:
and they shall gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other; that is, by the ministration of the Gospel; the Spirit of God accompanying it with his power, and grace, the ministers of the word should gather out of the world unto Christ, and to his churches, such persons as God had, before the foundation of the world, chosen in Christ, unto salvation, through sanctification of the Spirit, and belief of the truth; wherever they are under the whole heavens, from one end to another; or in any part of the earth, though at the greatest distance; for in Mr 13:27 it is said, “from the uttermost part of the earth, to the uttermost part of the heaven”. The Jews h say, that
“in the after redemption (i.e. by the Messiah) all Israel shall be gathered together by the sound of a trumpet, from the four parts of the world.”
h Zohar in Lev. fol. 47. 1.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
With a great sound of a trumpet ( ). Some MSS. omit () “sound.” The trumpet was the signal employed to call the hosts of Israel to march as to war and is common in prophetic imagery (Isa 27:13). Cf. the seventh angel (Re 11:15). Clearly “the coming of the son of man is not to be identified with the judgment of Jerusalem but rather forms its preternatural background” (Bruce).
Fuente: Robertson’s Word Pictures in the New Testament
With a great sound of a trumpet [ ] . Some read with a great trumpet. The blowing of trumpets was anciently the signal for the host of Israel on their march through the desert. I summoned to war, and proclaimed public festivals, and marked the beginnings of months; Num 10:1 – 10; Psa 81:3. Hence the symbolism of the New Testament. Jehovah ‘s people shall be summoned before their king by sound of trumpet. Compare the proclamation of Christ as king at the trumpet of the seventh angel, Rev 11:15.
Fuente: Vincent’s Word Studies in the New Testament
And he shall send his angels. He describes the effect of his power, that he will send his angels to gather his elect from the most distant parts of the world; for by the extremity of heaven is meant the most distant region. But Christ speaks hyperbolically, in order to show that the elect, even though they were carried away from the earth and scattered in the air, will again be gathered, so to be united in the enjoyment of eternal life under Him as their head, and enjoy the expected inheritance; for Christ intended to console his disciples, that they might not be altogether discouraged by the lamentable dispersion of the Church. Whenever, therefore, we perceive the Church scattered by the wiles of Satan, or torn in pieces by the cruelty of the ungodly, or disturbed by false doctrines, or tossed about by storms, let us learn to turn our eyes to this gathering of the elect. And if it appear to us a thing difficult to be believed, let us call to remembrance the power of the angels, which Christ holds out to us for the express purpose of raising our views above human means. For, though the Church be now tormented by the malice of men, or even broken by the violence of the billows, and miserably torn in pieces, so as to have no stability in the world, yet we ought always to cherish confident hope, because it will not be by human means, but by heavenly power, which will be far superior to every obstacle, that the Lord will gather his Church.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
(31) He shall send his angels.The words are memorable as the formal expansion of what had been, as it were, hinted before in the parables of the Tares (Mat. 13:41) and the Net (Mat. 13:49).
With a great sound of a trumpet.The better MSS. omit sound: With a great trumpet. We know not, and cannot know, what reality will answer to this symbol, but it is interesting to note how deeply it impressed itself on the minds not only of the disciples who heard it, but of those who learnt it from them. When St. Paul speaks of the trumpet that shall sound (1Co. 15:52), of the voice of the archangel and the trump of God (1Th. 4:16), we feel that he was reproducing what had been thus proclaimed, and that his eschatology, or doctrine of the last things, was based on a knowledge of, at least, the substance of the great prophetic discourse recorded in the Gospels.
They shall gather together his elect.The elect are the same in idea, though not necessarily the same individuals, as those for whom the days were to be shortened in Mat. 24:22; and the work of the angels is that of gathering them, wherever they may be scattered, into the one fold. As with so many of the pregnant germs of thought in this chapter, the work of the angels is expanded by the visions of the Apocalypse, when the seer beheld the angels come and seal the hundred and forty-four thousand in their foreheads before the work of judgment should begin (Rev. 7:2). In each case the elect are those who are living on the earth at the time of the second Advent. In these chapters there is, indeed, no distinct mention of the resurrection of the dead, though they, as well as the living, are implied in the parable of judgment with which the discourse ends.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
31. Send his angels To call the nations before his throne, where on different sides they all appear before him. 25-32. Angels are ever described as attending the judgment presence. Mat 13:40; Rev 1:7 : 1Th 4:16. Gather his elect Separately, in a glorious resurrection order, both living and dead, at Christ’s right hand. Afterward the wicked are in like manner taken, perhaps by evil angels, to the left of the judge. The separation will be awfully sudden, as described in Mat 24:40-41. From the four winds The ancient mode of describing the entire globe was by the number four; as the earth was held to consist of four quarters, to be subject to the four points of compass, from which the four winds blowing are so called.
Thus the grand prelude is prepared, to be continued and consummated at Mat 25:31-46.
But before proceeding to that finishing of the picture, our Lord pauses to illustrate what he has given, by parabolic images. In the remainder of this chapter, in contrast with the slow approach of the destruction of Jerusalem, he illustrates the unexpectedness of the advent to a revelling world by the parallel of the flood; its suddenness to the revelling individual by the parable of the drunken servant. In the next chapter he illustrates its inflexible suddenness to the sleeping dead by the slumbering virgins; its graduated justice to each man’s character by the talents; and then, closing chapter 25, does the END come.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
“And he will send forth his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they will gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.”
And His first act on being revealed will be to gather to Him all Who are His, ‘His elect’, those whom He has conscripted. They are to be gathered to His banner. His angels will come like a group of mustering sergeants to muster His troops, who will respond to a trumpet from the heavenly trumpeter (compare Isa 27:13; 1Co 15:52; 1Th 4:16), and they will ‘gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other’. The ‘four winds of heaven’ were a regular description of universality and indicated the activity of God (Jer 49:36; Dan 8:8; Dan 11:4; Zec 2:6, and compare Eze 37:9). ‘From one end of heaven to the other’ indicates the heavenly nature of those gathered (compare Eph 2:6; Php 3:20), and the universality of their presence. This event is vividly described by Paul in 1Co 15:52-53; 1Th 4:15-17; and is in mind in Rev 11:12. Thus we have here the final ending of time as the righteous are taken to life eternal, while the remainder face His eternal judgment (Mat 13:41-43; Mat 13:49-50; Mat 25:46).
While silence is sometimes a dangerous weapon it is difficult to see how, if anything was to follow this on earth (such as a Millennium), there would be no hint of it here. And that is especially so as there is no reference to any such Millennium anywhere else in the New Testament. (The suggested reference seen by some in Revelation 20 is very much dependent on interpretation. See our commentary). Even after Mat 25:31-46 the same silence applies, and there it is even more incredible if there were any truth in the idea. But there the only destinies awaiting men are either eternal life or eternal punishment. And we can also compare Mat 13:41-43; Mat 13:49-50 where the impression is given that the reference there is also to the final destiny of men. Silence might be one thing, but a total blanket over the idea, and the giving of a different impression is quite another. It would seem therefore that Jesus knew nothing of any Millennium, and that we must therefore interpret any such ideas which are found in the Old Testament which give that impression, in the light of this fact, and as being portrayals in earthly terms (necessary at a time when there was no concept of men living in Heaven) of the everlasting kingdom in the new heaven and the new earth (Rev 21:1 compare Isa 65:17).
Some have interpreted this as signifying the sending forth of the messengers (aggeloi) of the Gospel, but in view of Mat 16:27 where a similar description refers to the final judgment, and the clear indication from the parallel ideas in mind in both, we must surely see this as in line with that. Taken together with the clear parallel picture given in Mat 24:27, where the visible coming of the Son of Man is made very apparent, it must be seen as very unlikely that it refers to the evangelising of the world, wonderful though that is.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
Mat 24:31. And he shall send his angels This is all in the style and phraseology of the prophets, and, stripped of its figures, means, that after the destruction of Jerusalem, Christ, by his angels or ministers, will gather to himself a glorious church out of all the nations under heaven. No one ever so little versed in history needs to be told, that the Christian religion spread and prevailed mightily after this period, and hardly any one thing contributed more to this success of the Gospel than the destruction of Jerusalem falling out in thevery manner, and in the very circumstances so particularly foretold by our blessed Saviour. See Bishop Newton. Most translations, as well as our own, have greatly obscured this text, by rendering the word , angels; for though it generally signifies those celestial spirits who are on great occasions the messengers of God to our world, it is well known that the word refers not to their nature, but to their office, and it is often applied to men, and rendered messengers. See Mar 1:2. Luk 7:24; Luk 9:52. 2Co 8:23. Php 2:25 and Jam 2:25 in some of which places it signifies, as here, preachers of the Gospel, who were sent forth to carry on God’s great designs of uniting all his believing people in one society, under Christ under their common head. See Eph 1:10
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
Mat 24:31 . ] And He will send forth, i.e . from the clouds of heaven, 1Th 4:16-17 .
] the angels specially employed in His service.
.] with (having as an accompaniment) a trumpet of a loud sound . The second genitive qualifies and is governed by the first; see Buttmann, Neut. Gr . p. 295 [E. T. 343]. The idea is not that the individual angels blow trumpets, but what is meant (Isa 27:13 ) is the last trumpet (1Co 15:52 ), the trumpet of God (1Th 4:16 ), which is sounded while the Messiah is sending forth the angels. The resurrection of believers is also to be understood as taking place on the sound of this trumpet being heard (1 Cor. as above; 1 Thess. as above).
] gather together (Mat 23:27 ; 2Th 2:1 ; 2Ma 1:27 ; 2Ma 2:18 ), namely, toward the place where He is in the act of appearing upon earth. This gathering together of the elect, which is to be a gathering from every quarter (comp. Rev 1:7 ), and from the whole compass of the earth, is an act and accompaniment of the second advent (in answer to Cremer’s distinction, see Hoelemann, p. 171). But the , to meet the Lord as He approaches (1Th 4:17 ), is to be regarded as taking place after this gathering together has been effected.
. ] the elect belonging to Him (chosen by God for the Messianic kingdom, as in Mat 24:22 ). Comp. Rom 1:6 .
.] ab extremitatibus coelorum usque ad extremitates eorum, i.e . from one horizon to the other (for without the article, see Winer, p, 115 [E. T. 150]), therefore from the whole earth (Mat 24:14 ), on which the extremities of the sky seem to rest. Deu 4:32 ; Deu 30:4 ; Psa 19:7 .
As showing the exegetical abuses to which this grand passage has been subjected, take the following, Lightfoot: “emittet filius homines ministros suos cum tuba evangelica,” etc.; Kuinoel (comp. Wetstein): “in tanta calamitate Judaeis, adversariis religionis Christianae, infligenda, ubivis locorum Christi sectatores per dei providentiam illaesi servabuntur,” etc.; Olshausen: he will send out men armed with the awakening power of the Spirit of God, for the purpose of assembling believers at a place of safety. This is substantially the view of Tholuck also.
It may be observed, moreover, that this passage forbids the view of Kstlin, p. 26, that our Gospel does not contain a specifically Christian , but merely an ethical universalism (as contrasted with Jewish obduracy). See, on the other hand, especially Mat 8:11 , Mat 22:9 f., Mat 25:31 ff., Mat 28:19 , etc.
Fuente: Heinrich August Wilhelm Meyer’s New Testament Commentary
31 And he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.
Ver. 31. And he shall send his angels ] As his apparitors (heralds) and executioners. David went otherwise attended when he went against Nabal than when against Goliath; so Christ shall come, when he shall come again with his troops and trumpets.
With a great sound of a trumpet ] Christ shall put forth his own mighty voice Joh 5:28 ; 1Th 4:16 , ministered by his angels, as in the text, and set forth by the sound of a trumpet, in allusion, belike, to Num 10:1-11 , where the people were congregated and called together by the sound of a trumpet to the door of the tabernacle. “The lion of the tribe of Judah shall roar from above, and thrust out his voice from his holy habitation, when he entereth into judgment with all flesh,” Jer 25:30-31 . As the lion roareth over his whelps, brought forth dead at first, and raiseth them from death to life, as Pliny reporteth.
And they shall gather together his elect ] How shall they know them from reprobates? By God’s saving mark set fairly in their foreheads,Eze 9:9Eze 9:9 . a And by their blithe and merry countenances, cleared and cheered in the apprehension and approach of their full redemption, now drawing nigh. Besides, as servants know their master’s harvest from another’s, and can easily discern the corn from the cockle, so can the good angels soon single out the elect, about whom they have been familiarly conversant here on earth, as ministering spirits sent forth to minister to the heirs of salvation, ready pressed to any good office about them, Heb 1:14 .
a Signo salutari. Tremel.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
31. ] In 1 Thess., as above, the voice of the Archangel and the trump of God are distinguished from one another, which seems to favour the reading which inserts here. This is not the great Trumpet of the general Resurrection (ref. 1 Cor.), except in so far as that may be spoken of as including also the first resurrection: see on this verse the remarkable opening of Psa 50:1-23 ., which is itself a prophecy of these same times.
Fuente: Henry Alford’s Greek Testament
Mat 24:31 . . ., with a trumpet of mighty sound, another stock phrase of prophetic imagery (Isa 27:13 ). ., and they (the angels or messengers) shall collect the elect (as in Mat 24:22 ; Mat 24:24 ), showing that the advent is described in terms suited to the situation previously depicted. The Christ comes for the comfort of those preserved from the general ruin. . : not merely from the mountains east of the Jordan, but from every quarter of the arth where faithful souls are found; tho of Isa 27:13 again audible here.- , etc., echo of phrases in Deu 30:4 , Psa 19:7 . This Parusialogion is not to be regarded as a didactic statement, but simply as a for the comfort of anxious spirits. With that aim it naturally places the Parusia within the reach of those it is designed to comfort. After the ruin of Israel there is no history; only the wind-up. Jerusalem destroyed, the curtain falls. Christ’s didactic words suggest another aspect, a delayed Parusia, vide on Mat 16:28 . From the foregoing exposition it appears that the coming of the Son of Man is not to be identified with the judgment of Jerusalem, but rather forms its preternatural background.
Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson
a great sound of a trumpet. Greek “a trumpet and a great sound” = a trumpet, yea, a great sounding trumpet. Figure of speech Hendiadys (App-6); not two things, but one.
they shall gather, &c. Quoted from Deu 30:4. See 1Th 4:16, 1Th 4:17.
His elect. Who “received the Word”. Act 2:41. 1Th 2:13.
from = out of. Greek. ek. App-104.
heaven = heavens. Plural See note on Mat 6:9, Mat 6:10.
know = get to know. Greek. ginosko. App-132. The same word as in verses: Mat 24:33, Mat 24:39, Mat 24:43 (“know”).
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
31.] In 1 Thess., as above, the voice of the Archangel and the trump of God are distinguished from one another, which seems to favour the reading which inserts here. This is not the great Trumpet of the general Resurrection (ref. 1 Cor.), except in so far as that may be spoken of as including also the first resurrection: see on this verse the remarkable opening of Psa 50:1-23., which is itself a prophecy of these same times.
Fuente: The Greek Testament
Mat 24:31. , His angels) It is likely enough that a certain number of angels may be called peculiarly the angels of Christ, although all are subject to Him.-, of a trumpet) Trumpets are employed to call multitudes together; that trumpet will have a loud voice [Eng. Vers, great sound].-, they shall gather together) Cf. 2Th 2:1.- , from the extremities of the heavens) In Mar 13:27, We have from the uttermost part of the earth.- signifies any extremity. Where the earth ends, there the heaven begms: whence it happens, that the mountains and the heavens also sometimes represent each other in parallel passages. Cf. 2Sa 22:8 with Psa 18:8 (7). It corresponds with the Hebrew (extremity). In Deu 30:4, the LXX. have , from [the one] extremity of the heaven to [the other] extremity of the heaven; and thus also in Deu 4:32.
Fuente: Gnomon of the New Testament
angels
(See Scofield “Heb 1:4”)
Fuente: Scofield Reference Bible Notes
he: Mat 28:18, Mar 16:15, Mar 16:16, Luk 24:47, Act 26:19, Act 26:20
his angels: Mat 13:41, Mat 25:31, Rev 1:20, Rev 2:1, Rev 14:6-9
with: Num 10:1-10, Psa 81:3, Isa 27:13, 1Co 15:52, 1Th 4:16
a great sound of a trumpet: or, a trumpet and a great voice
gather: Isa 11:12, Isa 49:18, Isa 60:4, Zec 14:5, Mar 13:27, Joh 11:52, Eph 1:10, 2Th 2:1
from: Psa 22:27, Psa 67:7, Isa 13:5, Isa 42:10, Isa 43:6, Isa 45:22, Zec 9:10, Rom 10:18
Reciprocal: Exo 25:20 – toward Deu 4:32 – from the one Neh 1:9 – yet will I Psa 50:5 – Gather Psa 103:21 – ministers Eze 1:14 – General Dan 8:8 – toward Zec 1:11 – they answered Mat 8:11 – That Mat 13:49 – the angels Mat 18:10 – their Mat 25:6 – a cry Luk 9:26 – when Luk 16:22 – was carried Eph 1:4 – as Col 3:12 – as 1Th 4:14 – God 2Ti 2:10 – for Heb 1:14 – minister 1Pe 1:2 – Elect Rev 7:1 – four angels Rev 7:3 – Hurt not Rev 12:7 – and his
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
4:31
The prediction that a trumpet will be heard when Jesus comes again is also made in 1Co 15:52 and 1Th 4:16. We observe also that the second coming of Christ will occur at the same time the world is to come to an end. In this verse the coming of Christ is accompanied with the work of the angels in gathering the elect (saved ones) of Christ, and in Mat 13:39 we are told that the angels will do this at the end of the world.
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
And he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.
[And he shall send his angels, etc.] when Jerusalem shall be reduced to ashes, and that wicked nation cut off and rejected, then shall the Son of man send his ministers with the trumpet of the gospel, and they shall gather together his elect of the several nations from the four corners of heaven: so that God shall not want a church…
Fuente: Lightfoot Commentary Gospels
Mat 24:31. Send forth his angels with a great sound of a trumpet. According to 1Th 4:16, the angels and trumpets are distinguished, the latter coming first. The trumpet, used to call assemblies together, refers to some means employed in connection with the actual angels to gather Christs people together. This sound of the trumpet is to be distinguished from the great Trumpet of the Judgment day (1Co 15:52 : the last trump), since both this verse and Mat 24:40-41, point to a gathering out from the world, while at the great Judgment all are collected.And they shall gather together his elect, the individual believers, over against the organizations which contain or conceal them. A gathering, either of living and raised believers into one place, or of the saints hitherto scattered among the nations into one organization. It is implied that before that time no one organization will include all true believers. A lesson against sectarian bigotry wherever found.
Fuente: A Popular Commentary on the New Testament
24:31 And he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the {r} four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.
(r) From the four corners of the world.
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes
Jesus explained another event that will happen when He returns at the end of the Tribulation. The passage He referred to was Isa 27:12-13. There Israel is in view, so Jesus must have been speaking about the gathering of Israelites again to the Promised Land at His second coming. The four winds refer to the four compass points. This regathering will involve judgment (Mat 13:39; Mat 13:41; Mat 24:40-41; Mat 25:31; 2Th 1:7-8). Jesus had previously spoken of the angels’ role of assisting Him at this time (Mat 13:41; cf. Mat 16:27). This regathering will set the stage for Messiah’s worldwide reign.
God summoned the Israelites to march and to worship using trumpets during the wilderness wanderings and in the land (Exo 19:16; Exo 20:18; Jer 4:5; et al.). This is not the same trumpet that will call Christians to heaven at the Rapture (1Co 15:52; 1Th 4:16). Other trumpets will sound announcing various other events in the future (cf. Rev 8:2; Rev 8:6; Rev 8:13; Rev 9:14; Rev 11:15; et al.).
Events in the church age, between Pentecost and the Rapture, are not in view in the Olivet Discourse. This is the typical pretribulational interpretation of the discourse. [Note: See Bruce A Ware, "Is the Church in View in Matthew 24-25?" Bibliotheca Sacra 138:550 (April-June 1981):158-72., ] The whole discourse deals with the return of Messiah to establish His kingdom on the earth and the things leading up to that. Jesus mentioned no sign involving anything in the church age. The signs begin in the Tribulation when Christians will have gone to be with the Lord. Jesus’ first reference to the Rapture was in the Upper Room Discourse (Joh 14:1-3), which He gave after the Olivet Discourse. [Note: See Thomas R. Edgar, "An Exegesis of Rapture Passages," in Issues in Dispensationalism, pp. 217-21; and Paul D. Feinberg, "Dispensational Theology and the Rapture," in ibid., pp. 235-44.] Turner compared and contrasted four main evangelical views of this passage: the futurist, the preterist, the traditional preterist-futurist, and the revised preterist-futurist. [Note: David L. Turner, "The Structure and Sequence of Mat 24:1-41 : Interaction with Evangelical Treatments," Grace Theological Journal 10:1 (Spring 1989):3-27. For a refutation of the preterist interpretation, see Stanley D. Toussaint, "A Critique of the Preterist View of the Olivet Discourse," Bibliotheca Sacra 161:644 (October-December 2004):469-90.] He preferred the third of these, and I take the first.
"Those accepting the posttribulational view, that the rapture of the church and the second coming of Christ occur at the same time, tend to ignore the details of this discourse in the same fashion as the amillenarians do." [Note: Walvoord, Matthew: . . ., p. 181. E.g., Morgan.]
The reference to Jesus gathering the elect from the sky may indicate that dead and raptured Christians are also in view. [Note: Walvoord, Matthew: . . ., p. 190.] They will accompany Him when He returns to reign on the earth (cf. Col 3:4). Some interpreters believe the reference to the sky simply describes the whole world in different words and that only Jews are in view in this verse. Some feel this may include Old Testament saints who have died. [Note: Toussaint, Behold the . . ., pp. 277-78; Carson, "Matthew," p. 506; Barbieri, p. 78.] I think it includes Christians and Old Testament saints and possibly angels.
This concludes Jesus’ answer to the disciples’ question about the sign of His coming and the end of the present age (Mat 24:3). Other important passages of Scripture dealing with the Second Coming are the following: Deu 30:3; Psalms 2; Isa 63:1-6; Dan 2:44-45; Rom 11:26; 1Th 3:13; 1Th 5:1-4; 2Th_1:7 to 2Th_2:12; 2Pe_2:1 to 2Pe_3:17; Jud 1:14-15; and Rev 1:7; Rev 19:11-21. [Note: For parallels between the eschatology of Matthew 24 and that of the Didache, see William C. Varner, "The Didache ’Apocalypse’ and Matthew 24," Bibliotheca Sacra 165:659 (July-September 2008):309-22.]