Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Matthew 24:39
And knew not until the flood came, and took them all away; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.
They knew not – That is, they knew not the exact time until it came upon them. So, says he, it shall be when the Son of man shall come. They shall not know the precise time until he comes, and then they will be found engaged in the ordinary business of life unconcerned.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Verse 39. And knew not] They considered not – did not lay Noah’s warning to heart, till it was too late to profit by it: so shall it be – and so it was in this coming of the Son of man.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
And knew not until the flood came,…. That is, they did not advert or give heed to what Noah said to them about it: they slighted and despised his warnings; they did not believe, that what he said of the flood was true; they had notice of it, but they would not know it, and therefore God gave them up to judicial blindness and hardness of heart; and so they remained, until it came upon them at once:
and took them all away; the whole world of the ungodly, every man, woman, and child, except eight persons only; Noah and his wife, and his three sons and their wives; for the deluge was universal, and reached to all the inhabitants of the world, who all perished in it, excepting the above persons.
So shall also the coming of the son of man be: such shall be, as it was, the case of the Jews, before the destruction of Jerusalem: they gave themselves up to all manner of wickedness and uncleanness; they disregarded the warnings of Christ and his apostles; they were careless and secure of danger; they would not believe their ruin was at hand, when it was just upon them; they buoyed themselves up to the very last, that a deliverer would arise, and save them; they cried peace, peace, when sudden destruction was nigh; even of them all, their nation, city, and temple, a few only excepted, as in the days of Noah: and though they were so much like the men of that generation, yet they themselves say of them, that
“the generation of the flood have no part in the world to come, nor shall they stand in judgment, according to Ge 6:3 o.”
o Misn. Sanhedrin, c. 11. sect. 3.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
39. And knew not until the deluge came. The source and cause of their ignorance was, that unbelief had blinded their minds; as, on the other hand, we are informed by the Apostle, that Noah beheld at a distance, by the eyes of faith, the vengeance of God which was still concealed, so as to entertain an early dread of it, (Heb 11:7.) And here Christ compares Noah with the rest of the world, and Lot with the inhabitants of Sodom, that believers may learn to withdraw, lest they wander and be cut off along with others. But it must be observed that the reprobate, at that time, were hardened in their wickedness, because the Lord did not show his grace to any but his servants, by giving them a salutary warning to beware in proper time. Not that information of the future deluge was altogether withheld from the inhabitants of the world—before whose eyes Noah, in building the ark for more than a hundred years, presented a warning of the approaching calamity—but because one man was specially warned, by divine revelation, of the future destruction of the whole world, and raised up to cherish the hope of salvation. Though the report of the last judgment is now widely circulated, and though there are a few persons who have been taught by God to perceive that Christ will come as a Judge in due time, yet it is proper that those persons should be aroused by this extraordinary kindness of God, and that their senses should be sharpened, lest they give themselves up to the indifference which so generally prevails. For Peter compares the ark of Noah with our baptism on this ground, that a small company of men, separated from the multitude, is saved amidst the waters, (1Pe 3:20.) To this small number, therefore, our minds must be directed, if we desire to escape in safety.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
(39) So shall also the coming of the Son of man be.The words justify the interpretation given above of Mat. 24:29-30. If the signs of the Advent were to be phenomena visible to the eye of sense, there could not be this reckless apathy of nescience. If they are to be tokens, signs of the times, which can be discerned only by the illumined insight of the faithful, the hardened unbelief on the one side, and the expectant watchfulness on the other, are the natural result of the power or the want of power to discern them.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
39 And knew not until the flood came, and took them all away; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.
Ver. 39. And knew not ] i.e. They took no knowledge of Noah’s predictions, or their own peril. Their wits they had buried in their guts, their brains in their bellies (as of the ass fish it is said (Arist. de Anim.) that contrary to all other living creatures, he hath his heart in his belly); “whoredom, wine, and new wine take away the heart,” Hos 4:11 . Carnal sins disable nature, and so set men in a greater distance from grace, which is seated in the powers of nature. I read of some desperate wretches that drinking together, when one of them had drunk himself stark dead, the other, no wit warned by that fearful example of God’s wrath, poured his part of drink into the dead man’s belly, in quodam episcopatu potaverunt aliqui, &c. in which a certain bishop drank some. (John Manl.)
And took them all away ] Men are never less safe than when they are most secure. Babylon bore itself bold upon the twenty years’ provision laid up beforehand, to stand out at siege. When it was nevertheless taken by Cyrus, some part of the city would not know or believe of three days after, that there was any such matter. (Herodot. lib. 1; Arist. Polit. lib. 3.)
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Mat 24:39 . , they did not know, scil., that the flood was coming till it was on them.
Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson
until. Reference to Pentateuch (Gen 7-11).
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
Mat 24:39. , knew not) Their ignorance was voluntary.
Fuente: Gnomon of the New Testament
Son of man
(See Scofield “Mat 8:20”)
Fuente: Scofield Reference Bible Notes
Mat 13:13-15, Jdg 20:34, Pro 23:35, Pro 24:12, Pro 29:7, Isa 42:25, Isa 44:18, Isa 44:19, Luk 19:44, Joh 3:20, Act 13:41, Rom 1:28, 2Pe 3:5
Reciprocal: Gen 6:17 – bring Gen 7:10 – waters Gen 7:21 – General Jos 8:3 – by night Jos 8:14 – he wist not Jdg 16:30 – and the house 1Ki 1:41 – as they Job 21:13 – They Mat 22:5 – one Luk 14:18 – I have Luk 21:34 – that day 2Pe 3:6 – General
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
4:39
Knew not means they were so concerned with the affairs of this life they did not realize their danger until the flood was upon them, and then it was too late to avoid the disaster. So the coming of Christ will be upon the world in a surprise event even as the flood was in the days of Noah. He and his family were not overtaken by the flood because that patriarch believed the warning of the Lord. Likewise when Jesus comes again there will be some righteous people looking for him and will riot be overtaken and found unprepared (1Th 5:1).
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
Mat 24:39. Knew not. Even after Noah was in the ark, their unbelief continued; so men will persist in unbelief, despite the fear mentioned in Luk 21:24-25; will at least go on as if unconcerned.