Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Luke 21:23
But woe unto them that are with child, and to them that give suck, in those days! for there shall be great distress in the land, and wrath upon this people.
23. woe unto them that are with child ] The ‘woe’ is only an expression of pity for them because their flight would be retarded or rendered impossible.
great distress…and wrath ] 1Th 2:16, “Wrath is come upon them to the uttermost.” Josephus says that, when there were no more to plunder or slay, after “incredible slaughter and miseries,” Titus ordered the city to be razed so completely as to look like a spot which had been never inhabited. B. J. vi. 10, vii. 1.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Josephus tells us, that in the wars which ended in the taking of Jerusalem, by the famine and the sword there perished one million one hundred thousand Jews, and ninety seven thousand were carried into captivity. Jerusalem ever since that time hath been
trodden down by the Gentiles, the Romans, Saracens, Franks, and is at this day trodden of the Turks.
Until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled. Some from this text think, that there shall be a time when the Jews shall repossess the city of Jerusalem. Whether any such thing can be from hence gathered, I doubt. Some here by the times of the Gentiles understand all that time between the destruction of Jerusalem and the end of the world. Others, the time when the gospel should be carried over all the world. But their opinion seemeth to me most probable, who interpret it of the time of Gods patience with the Gentiles. As the Jews have filled up their measure, and now the wrath of God is come upon them to the uttermost, so the Gentiles shall have their time also. The Romans have had their time, the Turks now have their time; but their glass is also running out, there will be a fulfilling of their time too, and whether then another sort of barbarians shall possess it, or the Jews or Christians shall recover it, time must interpret.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
23. woe unto“alas for.”
with child, c.from thegreater suffering it would involve as also “flight in winter,and on the sabbath,” which they were to “pray” against(Mt 24:20), the one as moretrying to the body, the other to the soul. “For then shall betribulation such as was not since the beginning of the world, norever shall be”language not unusual in the Old Testament fortremendous calamities, though of this it may perhaps be literallysaid, “And except those days should be shortened, there shouldno flesh be saved, but for the elect’s sake those days shall beshortened” (Mat 24:21;Mat 24:22). But for this merciful”shortening,” brought about by a remarkable concurrence ofcauses, the whole nation would have perished, in which there yetremained a remnant to be afterwards gathered out. Here in Matthew andMark (Mat 24:24; Mar 13:22)are some particulars about “false Christs,” who should, “ifpossible“a precious clause”deceive the veryelect.” (Compare 2Th 2:9-11;Rev 13:13.)
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
But woe unto them that are with-child,….
[See comments on Mt 24:19].
For there shall be great distress in the land; of Judea. The Greek word , here used, properly signifies “necessity”, but here intends afflictions and distress; in which sense it is often used by the Septuagint, as in Ps 107:6 and it is also by the Targumists adopted into their language, and used in the same sense d: and indeed, the distress was very great, and such a time of tribulation, as was never known since the beginning of the world, nor never will be the like; what with the enemy without, and their seditions and divisions within, the robberies, murders, and famine, which prevailed and abounded, their miseries are not to be expressed:
and wrath upon this people; of the Jews; even the wrath of God, as well as of man, which came upon them to the uttermost; and their own historian observes, that God, who had condemned the people, turned every way of salvation to their destruction e.
d Vid. Targum in Gen xxii. 14. & xxxviii. 25. & Targum Sheni in Esth. v. 1. e Joseph. de Bello Jud. l. 6. c. 15.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
Distress [] . Originally constraint, necessity; thence force or violence, and in the classical poets, distress, anguish.
Fuente: Vincent’s Word Studies in the New Testament
1) “But woe unto them that are with child,” (ouai tais en gastri echousais) “Woe be to the women who are with child (pregnant),” or there shall be woe, at that time of vengeance, when the Roman armies should sweep down upon Jerusalem to destroy it and disperse Israel among all nation, Luk 21:20; Luk 21:24; La 4:10; Mat 24:19; Mar 13:17.
2) “And to them that give suck, in those days!” (kai tais thelazousais en ekeinais tais hemerais) “And to those who are breast-feeding in those days,” Mat 24:19; Mar 13:17.
3) “For there shall be great distress in the land,” (estai gar anagke megale epi tes ges) “For there will be great distress (emotional strain) upon the land,” Mar 13:19, the land of Judea, when the Roman army swept down to bring an expression of Divine judgment upon Jerusalem and Israel because of her unbelief, a foreshadow of The Tribulation The Great, at the end of the Gentile dispensation, Mat 24:14; Dan 9:26-27.
4) “And wrath upon this people.” (kai orge to lao touto) “And wrath to this people,” to those who have rejected Jesus Christ and persecuted His church disciples to that hour, to the Jewish race in particular. Israel is the “this people,” Dan 9:14; Dan 9:17.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
(23) Great distress in the land.Literally, great need, or necessity. The word, which St. Luke uses as an equivalent for tribulation, is not found in the other Gospels in this sense. It is, however, so used by St. Paul (1Co. 7:26; 2Co. 6:4; 2Co. 12:10; 1Th. 3:7).
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
“Woe to those who are with child and to those who are breast-feeding in those days! For there will be great distress on the land, and wrath to this people.”
The awfulness of the days that are coming on the land and on Jerusalem are emphasised in terms of the weakest and most vulnerable, those who are pregnant or breast-feeding. And yet in this very application (for the old and blind and lame are not mentioned) there is also stress on the effect it will have on the growth of the seed of these people. Even the most innocent will be affected. Many will be still born or will die in infancy because of what is coming.
We note that Luke omits the suggestion that they pray that their flight might not be in the winter. That suggestion (which did not say that it would be in the winter, only that they should pray that it was not) was in order to compound the horror. If it was not in the winter that would be at least one mercy. Instead he emphasises the distress in another way. Jesus’ full speech, which would include both, must have been even more terrifying.
‘Wrath.’ This is not a normal Lucan concept and confirms that he is giving us words that have been passed on to him. But it is not an idea from which he withdraws (see also Luk 3:7). The idea is of impending doom because of the nature of God in response to sin (compare Mar 3:5; Joh 3:36; John 10 times in Romans 9 times elsewhere in Paul’s letters; twice in Hebrews; twice in James and six times in Revelation). It is the inevitable consequence of sin (Rom 1:18).
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
Luk 21:23-24 . Comp. Mat 24:19 ff.; Mar 13:17 ff., to both of which Luke is related sometimes by abridgment, sometimes by more precise statements ex eventu .
] on the earth , without special definition (comp. Luk 5:24 , Luk 18:8 , Luk 21:25 ). The latter is then introduced in the second member ( ) by (and especially); but belongs to both. On the divine , which is punitively accomplished in such calamities, comp. 1Ma 1:64 ; 1Ma 2:49 ; 2Ma 5:17 ; Dan 8:19 .
. .] dependent on .
Luk 21:24 . ] by the mouth of the sword , Heb 11:34 . Thus frequently , Gen 34:26 ; Deu 13:16 , and elsewhere. Comp. Sir 28:18 ; Jdt 2:27 ; 1Ma 5:28 . The sword is poetically (Hom. Il. xv. 389; Porson, ad Eurip. Or. 1279; Schaefer) represented as a biting animal (by its sharpness; hence . , two-edged). Comp. , Hom. Il. x. 8, xix. 313. The subject of . and . is: those who belong to this people.
.] According to Joseph. Bell. vi. 9. 2, ninety-seven thousand were taken prisoners, and, for the most part, dragged to Egypt and into the provinces.
.] when conquered and laid waste (Luk 21:20 ), in opposition to Paulus, who finds merely the besetting of the city by a hostile force here expressed.
. ] shall be trodden under foot of the Gentiles, a contemptuous ill-treatment; the holy city thus profaned is personified. Comp. Isa 10:6 ; 1Ma 3:45 (see Grimm, in loc.), 1Ma 4:60 ; Rev 11:2 ; Philo, In Flacc. p. 974 C; Soph. Ant. 741.
] till the times of the Gentiles shall be fulfilled, i.e. till the time that the periods which are appointed to the Gentile nations for the completion of divine judgments (not the period of grace for the Gentiles, as Ebrard foists into the passage) shall have run out. Comp. Rev 11:2 . Such times of the Gentiles are ended in the case in question by the Parousia (Luk 21:25 f., Luk 21:27 ), which is to occur during the lifetime of the hearers (Luk 21:28 ); hence those are in no way to be regarded as of longer duration, [244] which Dorner, de orat. Ch. eschatolog. p. 73, ought not to have concluded from the plural, since it makes no difference with respect to duration whether a period of time is regarded as unity, or according to the plurality of its constituent parts. See, for example, 2Ti 3:1 comp. with Luk 4:3 ; 1Ti 4:1 ; Sir 39:31 ; 1Ma 4:59 ; 2Ma 12:30 . In opposition to Schwegler, who likewise finds betrayed in the passage a knowledge of a long duration, and therein the late composition of the Gospel; see Franck in the Stud. u. Krit. 1855, p. 347 f. Hofmann, Schriftbew . II. 2, p. 643, erroneously dates the beginning of the not from the taking of Jerusalem, supposing, on the contrary, the meaning to be: till the time, in which the world belongs to the nations , shall be at an end, and the people of God shall receive the dominion. In answer to this, it may be said, on the one hand, that the thought of the dominion of the world (according to Dan 7:14 ; Dan 7:27 ) is a pure interpolation; on the other, that the would be the , which were familiar to all from the prophecies , and which had already begun to run their course , so that at the time of Jesus and long before they were regarded as in process of fulfilment . This is the reason for our having with the article (comp. Luk 19:44 ). Comp. on without the article, Tob 14:5 ; Act 3:20-21 . By a perverse appeal to history, it has been explained as having reference to the fall of heathenism under Constantine (Clericus), and to the conversion [245] of the heathen-world (see in Wolf; also Dorner, l.c. p. 68). Comp. Lange, who suggests withal the thought of the Mohammedans.
[244] “Non infertur hinc, templum cultumque umbratilem instauratum iri,” Bengel. Comp. Calov. in loc. , and our remark after Rom 11:27 .
[245] Comp. Luther’s gloss: “till the heathens shall be converted to the faith, i.e. till the end of the world.”
Fuente: Heinrich August Wilhelm Meyer’s New Testament Commentary
23 But woe unto them that are with child, and to them that give suck, in those days! for there shall be great distress in the land, and wrath upon this people.
Ver. 23. See Mat 24:15-17 .
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
23. ] . ., general; . , particular. The distress on all the earth is not so distinctly the result of the divine anger, as that which shall befall this nation.
Fuente: Henry Alford’s Greek Testament
Luk 21:23 . , etc.: as in parallels as far as ; then follow words peculiar to Lk. concerning the and . The use of the former word in the sense of distress is mainly Hellenistic; here and in St. Paul’s epistles. The latter word expresses the same idea as that in 1Th 2:16 .
Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson
in = upon. Greek. epi. App-104.
land. Greek. ge. App-129.
wrath. See 1Th 2:16.
upon = among. Greek. en. App-104. But all the texts read “to”.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
23.] . ., general; . , particular. The distress on all the earth is not so distinctly the result of the divine anger, as that which shall befall this nation.
Fuente: The Greek Testament
Luk 21:23. , on the earth [but Engl. Vers. in the land]) even outside of Judea. The same phrase occurs in Luk 21:25; but with greater force, Luk 21:35.[225] [The omission of the particle is favoured as well by the margin of both Editions, as also by the Germ. Vers.-E. B.[226]]- , in the case of [upon] this people) who have despised so great grace vouchsafed from heaven. [The introduction of the appellation Israel is avoided in this case.-V. g.]
[225] Upon the earth-On the face of the whole earth. This makes Bengels interpretation of the words, Luk 21:23, more probable than that of Engl. Vers-E. and T.
[226] ABCDac Vulg. omit . Rec. Text has it, without any of the oldest authorities.-E. and T.
Fuente: Gnomon of the New Testament
woe: Luk 23:29, Deu 28:56, Deu 28:57, Lam 4:10, Heb 9:12-17, Heb 13:16, Mat 24:19, Mar 13:17
great: Luk 19:27, Luk 19:43, Mat 21:41, Mat 21:44, 1Th 2:16, Heb 10:26-31, Jam 5:1, 1Pe 4:17
Reciprocal: Num 33:56 – General Deu 28:50 – shall not Deu 29:28 – rooted them Psa 40:15 – desolate Pro 1:27 – distress Jer 16:2 – General Jer 29:17 – Behold Lam 1:12 – if Dan 12:1 – there shall Hos 9:14 – what Zep 1:15 – is Zec 11:1 – that 1Co 7:26 – that
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
3
An expectant or nursing mother would find it very difficult to make a hurried escape out of the land. Jesus was not pronouncing a woe, just predicting it.
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
Luk 21:23. Upon the land, or earth. This may be general, but as the direct reference is to the war under Titus, it more probably means: the land of Judea. If the wider sense be adopted, the particular distress (Divine retribution) is brought out in the clause: wrath unto this people.
Fuente: A Popular Commentary on the New Testament
21:23 But woe unto them that are with child, and to them that give suck, in those days! for there shall be great distress in the land, and {e} wrath upon this people.
(e) By “wrath” are meant those things which God sends when he is displeased.
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes
The distress of pregnant women and nursing mothers then represents the trouble that all people in and around Jerusalem would face. God’s wrath and the wrath of Israel’s enemy would also be great. Some of the Jews would die in battle, and others would become captives and have to leave Palestine. Gentiles would dominate Jerusalem itself. This would last until the end of "the times of the Gentiles." This is a phrase that describes the period during which Gentiles rather than Jews would control the fate of Jerusalem (Daniel 2; Daniel 7). It began when Nebuchadnezzar destroyed Jerusalem in 586 B.C. and will continue until Jesus Christ returns at the Second Coming (cf. Dan 2:34-35; Dan 2:45; Rom 11:25). Throughout this entire long period of history, including the present, Gentiles have controlled the fate of Jerusalem. [Note: See J. Dwight Pentecost, The Words and Works of Jesus Christ, p. 399; John F. Walvoord, "The Times of the Gentiles," Bibliotheca Sacra 125:497 (January-March 1968):3-9.] Luke’s reference to the times of the Gentiles is consistent with his interest in Gentiles.
Again careful comparison with the similar passages in Matthew and Mark reveals that they were recording Jesus’ prediction of the attack on Jerusalem just before His return (cf. Zec 14:1-2). Luke recorded His prediction of Jerusalem’s destruction that happened in A.D. 70.
Act 3:19 records Peter’s invitation to the Jews to repent and to return to a proper relationship to God with the result that "times of refreshing" might come from the Lord’s presence. This is probably a reference to the inauguration of the messianic kingdom (cf. Zec 12:10-14). If the Jewish nation as a whole had believed in Jesus then, how could Jesus’ predictions about the destruction of Jerusalem have taken place? Probably the Romans would have invaded Jerusalem sooner than they did, the Rapture would have happened (Joh 14:1-3), the seven-year Tribulation would have followed, and Jesus would have returned to set up His kingdom. All of this could have happened within about 10 years from the time Peter extended his invitation.