Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Matthew 24:40
Then shall two be in the field; the one shall be taken, and the other left.
40. shall be taken ] Properly, is taken or withdrawn. For this present for future of certainty see ch. Mat 27:63.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
40, 41. Instances like these serve to bring out the reflection that the world’s work will be going on then as now; there is also the thought of a real separation in this life beneath an external sameness.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Then shall two be in the field … – The calamity will come suddenly. There will be no escape for those whom it overtakes.
One shall be taken – The word taken may mean either to be taken away from the danger – that is, rescued, as Lot was Luk 17:28-29, or to be taken away by death. Probably the latter is the meaning.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Mat 24:40-41
Two women shall be grinding at the mill.
Routine life
The text speaks of an experience which comes to all of us in our turn, as life gradually builds us round. At first, in our childhood, it is otherwise. This earth seems, then, to have no fixed hardness; the spot on which we stand melts off indefinitely into a dreamlike distance, which is hazy and vague, and peopled with we know not what possibilities, holding within its rays strange fairy worlds which rumours may fill as they will, and everything seems possible, and anything might happen, and no relentless law of undeviating existence has imprisoned our expectations and experience, and the world of our hopes mingles with the world of our senses, and earth and heaven are not afraid of each other; their lines cross without a shock. But, as we grow up, we know how solid and how hard the whole thing becomes. The earth takes its stiff limits and its exact rules; it is seen, and known, and measured-a round ball, rolling in space, compact, and massive, and blind, and entire-a round, rolling ball, and we roll round with it. We are things in it, embedded in it; we belong to it; we have a fixed spot and lot on its surface. To it we are tied; we are bound to definite purposes which we never dream of disputing. So we travel with the moving earth; and our days are settled for us; occupations and holidays repeat themselves, year after year, with stolid regularity, against which gradually we give up protesting; we make up our minds to live out our own parts; and all the emotions that beat against this even tenour of uneventful days-dreams, impulses, alarms, hopes, aspirations-cease to be more than empty visions. The common day closes in upon us, settled and familiar; the common world is about us, with interests that ever increase, with work and play, with rule and habit; and the steady block of endless business fills in all our allotted space of action, fills it in down to every cranny, thick and solid and unyielding. (Canon Scott-Holland.)
Circumstances no index of character
How powerless and immaterial are circumstances for those two! Every single circumstance of life is identical; together they rise at the same hour; right through the day they grind together; at the same hour they go to the evening meal, and at the same hour they sleep. Everything, year after year, repeats itself. They dress alike; they were paid alike; life passed for both on the same level of low, unchanging poverty. To any one looking on they would be wholly alike-two poor women, of the same class, occupation, education, wage, interest, dress. Nothing from end to end of these earthly circumstances could be found to distinguish the one from the other. At the same mill they had turned and turned, to both the earth had been equally harsh and unkind, and no lights shone in upon them, and no changes ever surprised them. On and on together, hand in hand, and face to face, they had ground at the same mill up to the last; and lo! one is for heaven, and one for hell. Within they are as different as black from white, as good from evil; so dominant, so imperial is human character, so free it is from the control of circumstances. Oh, what wide comfort! What can it matter what our conditions may be? Two grinding at the mill; one taken, and the other left. Is there any one who sinks under the sodden monotony of daily routine, who withers under the pressure of everyday sameness; who finds himself chained into that mean, petty, narrow block of circumstances which he knows to be killing out all spiritual emotions in those about him, and yet he cannot break from it, and he dreads to feel creeping over his soul the same melancholy dryness he sees in others? That which kills another may be life to him, if he will use it. He alone is the master And yet, on the other hand, how powerful is circumstance! It is at the mill, at the grinding-there and nowhere else-that the thing has got to be done, the difference is to be created. There, as they ground and ground together, these two poor women built up bit by bit the wall of their separation. It was out of the doing of the same things that one grew readier for the Lord, and the other darkened down to the slothful servant. At the mill, still grinding, the Lord finds them. No one, then, need leave his mill. In the field where men work, there our drama works itself out. Circumstances are nothing, but they are also everything; and we shall discover our weakness if we attempt to ignore them Strength of character lies not in demanding special circumstances, but in mastering and using any that may be given. Our work and daily contact with our fellows form our scene of action, and God blesses with a peculiar blessing the efforts to put to profit, not some self-selected occasion, but the actual conditions in which we find ourselves. (Canon Scott-Holland.)
Faithful performance of common duties
Philip Henry one day calling upon a tanner, found him so busy tanning a hide that he was not aware of his approach until he tapped him on the back. Starting in confusion, the man exclaimed, Sir, I am ashamed you should find me thus. Philip Henry replied with solemn emphasis, May the Lord Jesus, when he comes, find me discharging with the same faithfulness and zeal the duties of my calling!
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
Verse 40. – 41. Then shall two men – two women – one shall be taken, and the other left.] The meaning seems to be, that so general should these calamities be, that no two persons, wheresoever found, or about whatsoever employed, should be both able to effect their escape; and that captivity and the sword should have a complete triumph over this unhappy people.
Two women shall be grinding] Women alone are still employed in grinding the corn in the east; and it is only when despatch is required, or the uppermost millstone is heavy, that a second woman is added. See Wakefield, and Harmer, Obs. vol. i. 253. That they were formerly thus employed, see Ex 11:5, and the note there. See also Isa 47:2.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
Some refer this to the coming of Christ in his kingdom of grace; some: to his coming in the day of judgment: it is true of both those comings. God shows the freeness of his grace much in the conversion of sinners, and makes discriminations of which we can give no account, as he tells us, Luk 4:25-27. But it seemeth here rather to be understood of that separation which Christ shall make at the day of judgment, of the sheep from the goats, the elect from the reprobates; for of that coming our Saviour seemeth to be speaking, both in the preceding and in the following words.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
Then shall two be in the field,…. About their proper business, of husbandry, ploughing, or sowing, or any other rural employment:
the one shall be taken; not by the preaching of the Gospel, into the kingdom of God, or Gospel dispensation; though such a distinction God makes, by the ministry of the word, accompanied by his Spirit and power; nor by angels, to meet Christ in the air, and to be introduced into his kingdom and glory; but by the eagles, the Roman army, and either killed or carried captive by them:
and the other left; not in a state of nature and unregeneracy, as many are, to whom the Gospel is preached; nor with devils at the last day, to be thrust down by them into the infernal regions; but by the Romans, being by some remarkable providence, or another, delivered out of their hands; which was the case of some few, and these of the meaner sort; and therefore persons of a rural life and occupation are instanced in.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
Shall be taken – left. Both verbs are in the present tense, which makes the saying more lively. One is taken and one if left. So Rev.
Fuente: Vincent’s Word Studies in the New Testament
40. Two men shall then be in the field. Before mentioning this, Luke inserts some sentences; the first of which is presented by Matthew as belonging to the destruction of Jerusalem, Let not him who shall be on the house-top go down into his house to carry away his furniture. But it is possible that Christ applied the same words to various subjects. Luke states also a warning, that the disciples should remember Lot’s wife; that is, that they should forget those things which are behind, (Phi 3:13) and advance towards the end of the heavenly calling. For Lot’s wife was changed into a pillar of salt, (Gen 19:26,) because, hesitating whether there were good reasons for departing from the city, she looked behind her, by which she gave the lie to the heavenly oracle. Perhaps, too, regret at leaving her nest, in which she had dwelt with comfort, induced her to turn her head. Since, therefore, God intended that she should remain as an everlasting demonstration, our minds ought to be strengthened by the constancy of faith, that they may not hesitate and give way in the middle of the course; and they ought also to be trained to perseverance, in order that, bidding adieu to the fascinations of a transitory life, they may rise cheerfully and willingly towards heaven.
Luke adds a third sentence, whosoever shall seek to save his soul will lose it, that the desire of an earthly life may not prevent believers from passing rapidly through the midst of death, to the salvation laid up for them in heaven. And Christ employs a strong expression to denote the frailty of the present life, when he says that souls ( Ζωογονοῦνται), — that is, are begotten into life — when they are lost. His meaning is the same as if he had declared that inch do not live in the world, because the commencement of that life which is real, and which is worthy of the name, is, to leave the world. Luke afterwards adds what we find also in Matthew, that husbands and wives will then be separated, that the tics by which human beings are bound to each other in the world may not hinder or retard the godly; for it frequently happens that, while men are paying attention to each other, not one of them advances a step. In order, therefor that every man in his own department, freed from every bond and impediment, may run with cheerfulness, Christ informs us that, out of a single couple, one partner will be taken, while the other is left. Not that all who are united must of necessity be thus separated; for the sacred bond of piety will cause a believing wife to cleave to a believing husband, and will cause children to accompany their father. But Christ only intended, in order to cut off every occasion of delay, to enjoin every one to make haste, that those who already prepared may not waste their time in waiting for their companions. Immediately afterwards Luke adds, where the carcass is, there will the eagles also be gathered together; which must not, however, be restricted to the last day, but as the disciples had asked, Where, Lord? that is, “How shall we stand erect amidst so great shaking? and how shall we remain safe amidst such dangerous storms? and to what places of concealment shall we resort for protection, when we are united?” Christ declares, as we find in Matthew—that he is the banner of solid union, and in which all the children of God must be gathered.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
(40) The one shall be taken.Literally, the present tense being used to express the certainty of the future, one is taken, and one is left. The form of the expression is somewhat obscure, and leaves it uncertain which of the two alternatives is the portion of the chosen ones. Is the man who is taken received into fellowship with Christ, while the other is abandoned? or is he carried away as by the storm of judgment, while the other is set free? On the whole, the use of the Greek word in other passages (as, e.g., in Mat. 1:20; Mat. 1:24; Mat. 12:45; Joh. 1:11; Joh. 14:3) is in favour of the former interpretation. What is taught in any case is that the day of judgment will be, as by an inevitable law, a day of separation, according to the diversity of character which may exist in the midst of the closest fellowship in outward life.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
40. Then shall two be in the field See comment on Mat 24:31. The suddenness of separation at the judgment day is here most strikingly described. Two One is a Christian, the other is a sinner. The holy angels come and snatch one, to bear him to the right hand of Christ. The other is left, to be borne by evil angels to his doom at the left hand.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
“Then will two men be in the field; one is taken, and one is left. Two women will be grinding at the mill; one is taken, and one is left.”
And in the same way when the Son of Man comes two men will be working together in the field, and two women will be working at their handmills at home, and in each case one will be ‘taken away’. This may signify ‘to judgment’ (compare Mat 13:30; Mat 13:41; Mat 13:49), while the other will be left to be caught up to meet their Lord in the air (1Co 15:52; 1Th 4:18), or it may mean ‘taken to be with the Lord, with the other remaining or judgment. (Dogmatism is ruled out, for all descriptions of what will happen on the final day of judgment are in picture form. Consider the different descriptions of the final judgment in the Book of Revelation (e.g. Rev 6:12-17; Rev 11:14-18; Rev 14:14-20; Rev 16:17-21; Rev 19:11-21; Rev 20:11-15). All will be essentially true, but the reality will be unlike all. All are picture of a greater reality, in the same way as in the Old Testament prophets. God is not subject to the vagaries of time or a physical world).
The men would be working in the fields producing food for their daily fare, while the women would grind the produce at home in their small hand mills, thus enabling all of them to eat and drink (compare Mat 24:39, ‘eating and drinking’). The picture is a homely one of married couples keeping the household going (again compare Mat 24:39, marrying and giving in marriage). Note that in both cases their judgment is not said to be based on their sinfulness (although of course it is), but on the fact that they simply ignored the Son of Man and the need to be ready for Him. Their final sin was that they had ignored God’s remedy.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
Mat 24:40-41. Then shall two be in the field, &c. Providence will then make a distinction between such as are not at all distinguished now. Some shall be rescued from the destruction of Jerusalem, like Lot out of the burning of Sodom; while others, no ways perhaps different in outward circumstances, shall be left to perish in it. See Bishop Newton’s Dissertations, and Luk 17:31. Dr. Doddridge is of opinion, that the grand transition from the description of the destruction of Jerusalem to that of the dayof judgment, is made precisely after these two verses. For after them there is not a word peculiar to that destruction, but many circumstances are introduced which refer to the day of judgment, and of death as transmitting to it, and which can only be thus understood. Our Lord, in the following verses of St. Matthew and St. Mark, directs their thoughts to that final solemnity in which they are so highly concerned, by repeating, almost in the same words, the cautions and advices which he had formerly given, Luk 12:35; Luk 12:59. In which whole context there is no reference to the temporal calamities coming on the Jews, which have been the subject of almost the whole preceding discourse; and the remembrance of what had passed on the former occasion, might the more easily lead them to the distinct understandingof what was now added; though it may not be improper to recollect, that the same pious care through grace in the temper and conduct, which would be a preparative against national judgments, and obtainfor them the special protection of Providence in them, would also, through the alone merit of the great Atonement, secure them from any unwelcome surprise by a call to the tribunal of God.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
Mat 24:40-41 . ] then , when the second advent will have thus suddenly taken place.
] is taken away , namely, by the angels who are gathering the elect together, Mat 24:31 . The use of the present tense here pictures what is future as though it were already taking place. But had this referred to the being caught up in the clouds , mentioned 1Th 4:17 (Theophylact, Euthymius Zigabenus, Jansen), would have been used instead.
] is left , expressing in its positive form. Comp. Mat 23:38 , Mat 15:14 ; Soph. O. R . 599. It is tantamount to saying: away! thou art not accepted . To understand the terms as directly the opposite of each other in the following sense: the one is taken captive , the other allowed to go free (Wetstein, Kuinoel), is grammatically wrong ( . cannot, when standing alone, be taken as equivalent to bello capere , although it is used to denote the receiving of places into surrender, in deditionem accipere , Polyb. ii. 54. 12, iv. 63. 4, iv. 65. 6), and does violence to the context to suit the exigencies of the erroneous reference to the destruction of Jerusalem. Rather compare Joh 14:3 . It is no doubt admissible to interpret the expression in the hostile sense: the one is seized (Polyb. iii. 69. 2; similarly Baumgarten-Crusius) or carried off (Mat 4:5 ; Mat 4:8 ; Num 23:27 ; 1Ma 3:37 ; 1MMal 4:1 ), namely, to be punished. But the ordinary explanation harmonizes better with the reference to Mat 24:31 , as well as with the subsequent parable, Mat 24:45 ff., where the is first introduced.
, . . .] of two who grind at the mill, one will , etc. For the construction, in which, by means of a , the plural-subject is broken up into two separate persons, comp. Hom. Il . vii. 306 f.: , , . Plat. Phaedr . p. 248 A, al .; see Dissen, ad Pind. Ol . viii. 37; also ad Dem. de cor . p. 237 f. If we were to adopt the usual course of supplying from Mat 24:40 , we would require to translate as follows: two will be grinding at the mill . But this supplying of is not at all necessary; as may be gathered from the annexing of the participle, we have in this other case, Mat 24:41 , just a different mode of presenting the matter.
] the hard work usually performed by the lower order of female slaves (Exo 9:5 ; Isa 47:2 ; Job 31:10 ; Ecc 12:3 ), and such as is still performed in the East by women , either singly or by two working together (Rosenmller, Morgenl . on Exo 11:5 ; and on the present passage, Robinson, Palst . II. p. 405 f.). A similar practice prevailed in ancient Greece, Hermann, Privatalterth . 24. 8. Hemsterhuis, ad Lucian. Tim . 23. On the un-classical (for ), see Lobeck, ad Phryn . p. 151.
] which is not to be confounded (see the critical notes) with (a mill-house), is the millstone (Mat 18:6 ) of the ordinary household hand-mill. It may denote the lower (Deu 24:6 ) as well as the upper stone (Isa 47:2 ), which latter would be more precisely designated by the term (Deut. as above). It is the upper that is intended in the present instance; the women sit or kneel (Robinson as above), hold the handle of the upper millstone in their hands (hence . .: with the millstone), and turn it round upon the lower, which does not move.
Fuente: Heinrich August Wilhelm Meyer’s New Testament Commentary
40 Then shall two be in the field; the one shall be taken, and the other left.
Ver. 40. The one shall be taken, the other left ] The Flood took all away in a manner; but at Christ’s coming there shall be found a considerable company of such as shall be saved. He shall separate his saints with a wonderful separation, and make himself to be “admired in all them that believe,” 2Th 1:10 . How carefully, then, should we work out our salvation, and ensure to ourselves our election by good works.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
40, 41. ] From this point (or perhaps even from Mat 24:37 , as historic resemblance is itself parabolic) the discourse begins to assume a parabolic form, and gradually passes into a series of formal parables in the next chapter.
These verses set forth that, as in the times of Noah, men and women shall be employed in their ordinary work: see Exo 11:5 (LXX), Isa 47:2 . They also shew us that the elect of God will to the last be mingled in companionship and partnership with the children of this world (see Mar 1:19-20 ). We may notice, that these verses do not refer to the same as Mat 24:16-18 . Then it is a question of voluntary flight; now of being taken (by the angels, Mat 24:31 : the present graphically sets the incident before us; or perhaps describes the rule of proceeding. See on the sense of . especially ref. John), or left . Nor again do they refer to the great judgment of ch. Mat 25:31 , for then ( Mat 24:32 ) all shall be summoned: but they refer to the millennial dispensation, and the gathering of the elect to the Lord then . The “women grinding at the mill” has been abundantly illustrated by travellers, as even now seen in the East. See especially ‘The Land and the Book,’ pp. 526, 7.
, either because the pair of stones is the element in which the act of grinding takes place, or, more probably, because that which is ground is within , between the stones.
Fuente: Henry Alford’s Greek Testament
Mat 24:40-41 graphically illustrate the suddenness of the Parusia . (Mat 24:40 ) instead of , o in Mat 24:41 . Of these idioms Herrmann in Viger (p. 6) remarks: “Sapiunt Ebraismum”. , , one is taken, one left. The reference may either be to the action of the angels, Mat 24:31 (Meyer), or to the judicial action of the Son of Man seizing some, leaving free others (Weiss-Meyer). The sentences are probably proverbial (Schott), and the terms may admit of diverse application. However applied, they point to opposite destinies. , grinding: , late for , condemned by Phryn., p. 151. (T. R.), in the mill house . . . (W.H [133] ), in or with the millstone. The reference is to a handmill, which required two to work it when grinding was carried on for a considerable time women’s work ( vide Robinson, i., 485; Furrer, Wand. , p. 97; Benzinger, p. 85, where a figure is given).
Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson
the one shall be taken, &c. 1Th 4:15, 1Th 4:16 refers to this, for it is the same parousia.
shall = is. So in Mat 24:41.
taken = taken to one’s side, in peace and for blessing, as in Mat 1:20, Mat 1:24; Mat 17:1. Luk 9:10; Luk 18:31; Joh 14:3 (“receive”).
left. For judgment; as in Mat 13:30 (“let”); Mat 15:14 (“let alone”); Mat 19:27, Mat 19:29 (“forsaken”); Mat 23:38; Mat 26:56, &c.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
40, 41.] From this point (or perhaps even from Mat 24:37, as historic resemblance is itself parabolic) the discourse begins to assume a parabolic form, and gradually passes into a series of formal parables in the next chapter.
These verses set forth that, as in the times of Noah, men and women shall be employed in their ordinary work: see Exo 11:5 (LXX), Isa 47:2. They also shew us that the elect of God will to the last be mingled in companionship and partnership with the children of this world (see Mar 1:19-20). We may notice, that these verses do not refer to the same as Mat 24:16-18. Then it is a question of voluntary flight; now of being taken (by the angels, Mat 24:31 : the present graphically sets the incident before us; or perhaps describes the rule of proceeding. See on the sense of . especially ref. John), or left. Nor again do they refer to the great judgment of ch. Mat 25:31, for then (Mat 24:32) all shall be summoned:-but they refer to the millennial dispensation, and the gathering of the elect to the Lord then. The women grinding at the mill has been abundantly illustrated by travellers, as even now seen in the East. See especially The Land and the Book, pp. 526, 7.
, either because the pair of stones is the element in which the act of grinding takes place,-or, more probably, because that which is ground is within, between the stones.
Fuente: The Greek Testament
Mat 24:40,[1065] 41. , is taken[1066]) sc. into safety, under protection; see Mat 24:31.-, is left) sc. in the midst of the dangers, whatever may occur.[1067] The present tense is used with reference to the time of the , then; and the matter was already present to the Saviours eyes.
[1065] , then) at the actual time of the Advent, Mat 24:39. Comp. ch. Mat 25:1.-V. g.
[1066] In the original, assumitur.-(I. B.)
[1067] As was the case with the men at the time of the Deluge.-V. g.
Fuente: Gnomon of the New Testament
Watch and Work
Mat 24:40-51
There are many comings of the Son of man before the final one to judgment. We may derive the full benefit of our Lords words, even though we have arrived at no settled opinion as to the precise order of future events. The hour of our death is as uncertain as that of His coming in the clouds. For each, we should be ready!
Watchfulness is keeping awake! We are beset by temptations to sleep. Bunyan said that we are traveling over the Enchanted Ground, the air of which is very heavy and sleep-producing. How dull we are to perceive the unseen, or to meet the great opportunities of life! Broken up alludes to the mud or clay house which could not keep off the thief. Death breaks in and carries us away from all of our treasures. See 1Th 5:2; 1Th 5:4.
We had best wait for our Lord while engaged in carefully discharging our appointed tasks. The Church is a big household in which each has his niche. To labor is to pray; to serve is to be ready.
Fuente: F.B. Meyer’s Through the Bible Commentary
the one: 2Ch 33:12-24, Luk 17:34-37, Luk 23:39-43, 1Co 4:7, 2Pe 2:5, 2Pe 2:7-9
Reciprocal: Gen 41:25 – God Psa 64:7 – suddenly Act 9:7 – General
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
4:40
Taken is from PARALAM-BANO which Thayer defines at this and several other places “To take to, to take with one’s self, to join to one’s self.” So it does not mean that one man will be taken out of the field and the other left there. That will be im- possible since the field will be destroyed with the earth. It means one of the men will be taken to Christ as part of the good harvest, while the other will be rejected and gathered with the tares to be burned.
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
Mat 24:40. Then shall two men be in the field. Until that time Christs people are to be in companionship with the world.
One is taken, i.e., gathered as one of the elect (Mat 24:31). The one taken is the blessed one. There is no direct allusion to death. This differs from the event referred to in Mat 24:16-18, where voluntary flight is commanded, and from the judgment (chap. Mat 25:31 ff.) where all are gathered.
Fuente: A Popular Commentary on the New Testament
24:40 {10} Then shall two be in the field; the one shall be taken, and the other left.
(10) Against those that persuade themselves that God will be merciful to all men, and do by this means give themselves over to sin, that they may in the meantime live in pleasure, void of all care.
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes
The parables of one taken and one left behind 24:40-41 (cf. Luk 17:34-35)
Having explained the importance of the signs leading up to His return and the responses to those signs, Jesus next explained the respective consequences of the two responses.
Many Christians who have read these verses have assumed that they describe believers taken to heaven at the Rapture and unbelievers left behind to enter the Tribulation. However the context is dealing with the second coming of Christ, not the Rapture. The sequence of events will be Jesus’ ascension, the church age beginning on Pentecost and ending with the Rapture, the Tribulation, the Second Coming, and the beginning of the messianic kingdom.
"It will be a taking away judicially and in judgment. The ones left will enjoy the blessings of Christ’s reign on earth, just as Noah and his family were left to continue life on earth. This is the opposite of the rapture, where those who are left go into the judgment of the Great Tribulation." [Note: Feinberg, Israel in . . ., p. 27.]
"Jesus was not referring to the Rapture of the church in Matthew 24. When that event takes place, all the saved will be removed from the earth to meet Christ in the air, and all the unsaved will be left on the earth. Thus, the Rapture will occur in reverse of the order of things in the days of Noah and, therefore, the reverse of the order at Jesus’ coming immediately after the Great Tribulation." [Note: Showers, p. 180. See also Gerald B. Stanton, Kept from the Hour, pp. 51-65.]
Some interpreters have made a case for this being a reference to the Rapture because Jesus used two different words for "take" in the context. In Mat 24:39 the Greek verb is airo whereas in Mat 24:40-41 He used paralambano. The argument is that paralambano is a word that describes Jesus taking His own to Himself. However it also occurs in a bad sense (Mat 4:5; Mat 4:8; Joh 19:16). Probably Jesus used paralambano because it more graphically pictures sweeping away as in a flood. [Note: Morison, p. 489.]
Perhaps Jesus used two illustrations to show that neither gender nor occupation nor proximate relationship will prevent the separation for judgment (cf. Mat 10:35-36). Typically two women-often sisters, a mother and a daughter, or two servants-sat opposite each other turning the small hand mill between them. [Note: Carson, "Matthew," p. 509.]