Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Luke 21:18
But there shall not a hair of your head perish.
18. not a hair of your head ] for they are “all numbered,” Mat 10:30. The previous verse (Luk 21:16) is of course sufficient to shew that the meaning is spiritual here, not literal as in Act 27:34.
shall…perish ] i.e. not without the special Providence of God, nor without reward, nor before the due time. Bengel.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Verse 18. But there shall not a hair of your head perish.] A proverbial expression for, Ye shall not suffer any essential injury. Every genuine Christian shall escape when this desolation comes upon the Jewish state.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
It is a proverbial speech, signifying that they should have no hurt or damage by any thing which their enemies should do against them. When at the last you come to cast up your accounts, you shall find you have lost nothing, and your enemies shall also find that they have gained nothing.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
18. not a hair . . . perishHehad just said (Lu 21:16) theyshould be put to death; showing that this precious promise isfar above immunity from mere bodily harm, and furnishing a key to theright interpretation of the ninety-first Psalm, and such like.Matthew adds the following (Mt24:12): “And because iniquity shall abound, the love ofmany,” the many or, the mostthe generality of professeddisciples”shall wax cold.” But he that endureth to theend shall be saved. Sad illustrations of the effect of aboundinginiquity in cooling the love of faithful disciples we have in theEpistle of James, written about this period referred to, andtoo frequently ever since (Heb 10:38;Heb 10:39; Rev 2:10).”And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all theworld for a witness, and then shall the end come” (Mt24:14). God never sends judgment without previous warning; andthere can be no doubt that the Jews, already dispersed over mostknown countries, had nearly all heard the Gospel “as a witness,”before the end of the Jewish state. The same principle was repeatedand will repeat itself to the end.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
But there shall not art hair of your head perish. That is, without the will of God, as in Mt 10:29 or not one shall perish, but what shall be restored again: or the sense is, that though they should be betrayed by their friends, and hated, and persecuted, and imprisoned by their enemies, yet they should be no losers in the main; all things should work together for their good; and though even they should be put to death, yet that would be to their advantage, since instead of a temporal, troublesome life, they should enjoy an eternal and happy one: for this cannot be understood of entire preservation from all corporeal damages and hurt; seeing it is, before declared, that they should be put into prisons, and some of them put to death; nor of their preservation at the destruction of Jerusalem, for none of them was living at that time, but the Apostle John, and he was not in those parts.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
1) “But there shall not,” (kai ou me) “And there will not at all be,” or come to be, because of the masters perpetual presence and care, Heb 13:5.
2) “An hair of your head perish.” (thriks ek tes kephales humon apoletai) “An hair of your head perish,” Mat 10:30; Act 27:34. The idea is, without His attention and care. For heroic people must be people of faith, optimism, and assurance.*
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
(18) There shall not an hair of your head perish.The promise does not meet us in this form in the parallel passages of the two other Gospels. A like promise meets us in Mat. 10:30, Luk. 12:7. The very same phrase occurs, however, almost as if it were a quotation from this Gospel, in St. Pauls address to the sailors, in Act. 27:34.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
18. Shall not a hair perish Although their lives should be taken, (Luk 21:16,) yet not a drop of their blood should be shed in vain; not a hair should fail of its effect or go for naught.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
“And not a hair of your head will perish.”
But Jesus’ final guarantee to His own was that not a hair of their heads would perish (compare Luk 12:7; Act 27:34). This was not intended to be taken literally, indeed could not be, for the number of our hairs is not fixed, and when we lose them they perish. The saying was probably proverbial. The point was that at the resurrection every hair would still be in place, even though they had been burned or had been ground to powder or had decayed in the grave. Eternally they were totally secure. That is why they did not need to fear those who could only kill the body (Luk 12:4), but could not prevent every hair from surviving. This is confirmed by the next verse which also has in mind eternity.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
Luk 21:18. There shall not an hair of your head perish. A proverbial expression, denoting an absolute safety. Our Lord had foretold but just before, Luk 21:16 that several of them should be put to death; he must therefore here intend to assure them, that when they came, on the whole, to balance their accounts, they should find that they had not been losers in any the least instance; but that whatever damage they had sustained, it should be amply made up, and they at length placed in a state of entire security. See 1Sa 14:45. 2Sa 14:11. 1Ki 1:52 and Act 27:3
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
Luk 21:18-19 . Comp. 1Sa 14:45 ; 2Sa 14:11 ; 1Ki 1:52 ; Act 27:34 . But the meaning cannot be, “ye shall remain unharmed in life and limb ” against which interpretation the preceding . , Luk 21:16 , is decisive, since . cannot be taken, as by Volkmar, of mere danger of death; rather is to be taken in a Messianic sense. Comp. the following . Hence: no hair of your head shall be subject to the everlasting , i.e. you shall not come by the slightest harm as to the Messianic salvation ; but rather, Luk 21:19 : through your endurance (Mat 10:22 ; Mat 24:13 ; Mar 13:13 ), in these persecutions, ye shall gain your souls , whereby is denoted the acquisition of the Messianic salvation; the latter is regarded as the life , and the opposite as death . Comp. Luk 9:25 , Luk 17:33 , also , Mar 8:36 . The form of the expression . . . . . has therefore a proverbial character (Mat 10:30 ), and is not to be taken in such a manner as that God would restore again every hair at the resurrection (Zeller in the Theol. Jahrb . 1851, p. 336; comp. his Apostelg. p. 18 f.). The omission of the verse in Marcion shows that at an early period there was already found therein a contradiction to Luk 21:16 , as Gfrrer, Baur, Hilgenfeld, and others still find there. This apparent impropriety makes it the more improbable that Luk 21:18 should be a later addition (Wilke, Baur, Hilgenfeld), perhaps from Act 17:34 .
Fuente: Heinrich August Wilhelm Meyer’s New Testament Commentary
15 For I will give you a mouth and wisdom, which all your adversaries shall not be able to gainsay nor resist.
16 And ye shall be betrayed both by parents, and brethren, and kinsfolks, and friends; and some of you shall they cause to be put to death.
17 And ye shall be hated of all men for my name’s sake.
18 But there shall not an hair of your head perish.
Ver. 18. See Mat 10:30 ; See Trapp on “ Mat 10:30 “ See also for explication,1Sa 14:451Sa 14:45 ; 2Sa 14:11 ; Act 27:34 .
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
18. ] Not literally , but really true; not corporeally, but in that real and only life which the disciple of Christ possesses.
Fuente: Henry Alford’s Greek Testament
Luk 21:18 , , etc., a hair of your head shall not perish = Mat 10:30 , where it is said: “your hairs are all numbered”. What! even in the case of those who die? Yes, Jesus would have His apostles live in this faith whatever betide; an optimistic creed, necessary to a heroic life.
Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson
not = by no means. Greek ou me. App-105.
hair, &c. Compare Mat 10:30.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
18.] Not literally, but really true; not corporeally, but in that real and only life which the disciple of Christ possesses.
Fuente: The Greek Testament
Luk 21:18. , an hair) A proverbial expression.- , shall not perish) namely, without the special providence of God,-without its reward,-before its time. Most of the apostles, or at least some of them, lived beyond the destruction of Jerusalem.
Fuente: Gnomon of the New Testament
Luk 12:7, 1Sa 14:45, 1Sa 25:29, 2Sa 14:11, Mat 10:30, Act 27:34
Reciprocal: 1Ki 1:52 – there shall Pro 3:25 – neither Dan 3:27 – nor was Luk 10:19 – and nothing Luk 21:9 – when Act 18:10 – and no
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
8
Not an hair perish is a figurative form of speech, meaning that not the least harm would come to the disciples who heeded the instructions of Jesus. A note on Jo-sephus, Wars, Book 2, Chapter 19, Sections 6, 7, shows how it came about, that an unexpected retreat of the Roman forces from Jerusalem, for a brief period, gave the Christians an opportunity to escape from the city. “This they did on this occasion and were preserved.”
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
Luk 21:18. And not a hair of your head shall perish. Some would add: as long as you are needed for the service of Christ; others refer it to the safety of the mass of Christians at the time of the destruction of Jerusalem. But the fact that Luk 21:16 points to the death of some makes a reference to the spiritual life more probable. The seeming difficulty led to an early omission of the verse.
Fuente: A Popular Commentary on the New Testament
Verse 18
Nothing really valuable to them should be lost or destroyed; but, amidst all these trials and dangers, their ultimate welfare and happiness were perfectly secure.
Fuente: Abbott’s Illustrated New Testament
Jesus promised that He would keep them safe. This probably means that no harm would befall them without the Father’s permission (Luk 21:16; cf. Act 27:34). [Note: Geldenhuys, p. 527; Morris, p. 298; Lenski, p. 1017.] Some interpreters believe it refers to their spiritual safety. [Note: E.g., Plummer, p. 480; Marshall, The Gospel . . ., p. 769; A. T. Robertson, Word Pictures in the New Testament, 2:259; H. A. Ironside, Addresses on the Gospel of Luke , 2:619; Liefeld, "Luke," p. 1021; and G. Campbell Morgan, The Gospel According to Luke, p. 237.] However physical safety seems to be in view throughout the passage.