Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Luke 17:36
Two [men] shall be in the field; the one shall be taken, and the other left.
36. Two men shall be in the field ] This verse is of more than doubtful authenticity in this place, being omitted by nearly all the important MSS. It is probably interpolated from Mat 24:40.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Two men shall be in the field,…. At work there, tilling the ground, or sowing the seed in it, or reaping the corn; which of them soever was the work of the field, at the time of Jerusalem’s destruction:
the one shall be taken, and the other left: the circumstances attending these several, instances show, that they cannot be considered as expressive of the use and effect of the preaching of the Gospel, that being the savour of life unto life to some, and the savour of death unto death to others, some being effectually called by it, and others being left to die in their sins; since these men and women are said to be either in a bed asleep, or on a couch feasting, or grinding in a mill, or at work in the field, and so not in proper places, and at leisure to hear the Gospel preached. The whole verse is left out in the Ethiopic version, and in some Greek copies; though it is in the Syriac, Arabic, and Persic versions, and in the Complutensian edition, and in some ancient copies, as Beza observes.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
1) “Two men shall be in the field;” “Two men shall be out in the field laboring in their daily toil;” Though this verse is omitted in the better manuscripts the idea is found in Mat 24:40; Mat 24:42.
2) “The one shall be taken, and the other left.” “As the one prepared shall be raptured away and the unprepared one shall be left behind.
The prepared, watching one, shall be taken and the other left behind, for The Tribulation The Great sorrows, Luk 21:34-36. You all are therefore to watch, Mat 24:42; Mar 13:32-37.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
“And they answering say to him, “Where, Lord?” And he said to them, “Where the carcase (body) is, there will the vultures also be gathered together.”
This then raised the obvious question among His listeners. Where then would they be taken? The reply is a vivid one. The vultures gather to their food supply, and in the same way the people of God will be gathered to the One on Whom they feed, the One Who gave His body that they might become one with Him and live by their partaking of Him as the bread of life (Luk 22:19; Joh 6:35; 1Co 10:16-17; 1Co 12:12-27). This is a picture of those who have ‘come’ and ‘believed’ (Joh 6:35). We might not have used this picture of Jesus, but He clearly had no problem with it. After all He was quite ready to use the pictures of ‘an unrighteous steward and ‘an unrighteous judge’ as pictures of His Father. And like many of Jesus’ parables it could give an immediate meaning, with a deeper meaning in it once more was known.
Some see the question as referring to those that are left. But it is difficult to see why that was a problem. They were left where they were. The puzzle was as to what happened to those who were taken.
Others would, however, soften the interpretation, taking the question as meaning, where will this take place? They therefore take it to mean ‘at the place of carnage’, or that ‘where the conditions are fulfilled, there the revelation of the Son of Man will take place’, or that ‘like vultures they would go to their natural gathering place’, or that ‘where the dead body of human nature is, there the judgments of God will come’, or that ‘doom will fall inevitably on those who are left’, or ‘where the spiritually dead people are, there the judgment will be executed’. Some point out that the picture is similar to that in Rev 19:17-18, while others would see ‘the eagles’ as referring to Roman eagles. But the verse does seem to suggest that the picture points to those who will be taken, and that the question is asking where they would be taken.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
36 Two men shall be in the field; the one shall be taken, and the other left.
Ver. 36. See Mat 24:40-41 . See Trapp on “ Mat 24:40 “ See Trapp on “ Mat 24:41 “
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Two, &c. The texts omit this verse.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
Luk 17:36. , …) Very ancient authorities exhibit this versicle in Luke also, as well as in Matt. (Luk 24:40). Moreover, that it was not transferred here from Matthew, is evident from the difference of the words in Luke, as compared with those in Matthew, as also from the different order of the versicles in each Evangelist. [This is the reason for the change of the opinion which is found in the larger Ed. For both the margin of the Ed. 2 and of the Vers. Germ., following the example of the Gnomon, receive that clause concerning the two men in the field.-E. B.] Matthew has two paragraphs, viz. the one concerning the field, and that concerning the grinding at the mill: Luke adds a third, concerning the two men in one bed: just as on another occasion Matthew has two paragraphs concerning following Jesus Christ, ch. Luk 8:19-20; to which Luke adds a third, ch. Luk 9:61-62 [Let me first go bid them farewell which are at home-No man having put his hand to the plough, etc.]. So likewise the former Evangelist has two paragraphs or clauses, viz. concerning bread, and concerning a fish, ch. Luk 7:9-10 : the latter Evangelist adds a third, viz. that concerning an egg, ch. Luk 11:12.[194]
[194] Dabc Vulg. Syr. support Luk 17:36 here in Luke 17. But ABQ, and most Uncial MSS. and Memph. Version, omit it.-E. and T.
Fuente: Gnomon of the New Testament
This verse is wanting in most of the Greek copies.