Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Matthew 24:6
And ye shall hear of wars and rumors of wars: see that ye be not troubled: for all [these things] must come to pass, but the end is not yet.
6. wars and rumours of wars ] The second sign. Philo and Josephus describe the disturbed state of Juda from this date to the siege of Jerusalem. Massacres of the Jews were perpetrated at Csarea, at Alexandria, in Babylonia and in Syria. See Milman’s History of the Jews, Bks. xii. xv. Tacitus, characterising the same period, says “opus adgredior opimum casibus, atrox prliis, discors seditionibus, ipsa etiam pace svum.” Hist. i. 2.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
And ye shall hear of wars … – It is recorded in the history of Rome that violent agitations prevailed in the Roman empire previous to the destruction of Jerusalem. Four emperors, Nero, Galba, Otho, and Vitellius, suffered violent deaths in the short space of eighteen months. In consequence of these changes in the government, there were commotions throughout the empire. Parties were formed, and bloody and violent wars were the consequence of attachment to particular emperors. This is the more remarkable, as at the time that the prophecy was made, the empire was in a state of peace.
Rumours of wars – Wars declared or threatened, but not carried into execution. Josephus says that Bardanes, and after him Vologeses, declared war against the Jews, but it was not carried into execution, Antig. xx. 34. He also says that Vitellius, governor of Syria, declared war against Aretas, king of Arabia, and wished to lead his army through Palestine, but the death of Tiberius prevented the war, Antiq. xviii. 5. 3.
The end is not yet – The end of the Jewish economy; the destruction of Jerusalem will not immediately follow. Be not, therefore, alarmed when you hear of those commotions. Other signs will warn you when to be alarmed and seek security.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Mat 24:6
But the end is not yet.
The end is not yet
I. So far as we have any means of judging, the end is not yet. The negative argument is that there are no conclusive indications of a speedy end, afforded either by the Word of God or the condition of the world. Such are alleged, but rest upon gratuitous assumptions. It is assumed that a certain form or pitch of moral depravation is incompatible with the continued existence of society; but we do not know how much evil is necessary to the end in question. The same is true as to the predictions of the Word of God; they may not be sure signs. Experience renders this clear; all these signs have been misapplied before. Let us look at the positive arguments in favour of the same position; that the fulfilment of Scripture is still incomplete, and will require a long time for its completion. Refer to the grand and comprehensive scale on which the Divine purposes are projected in the Scripture. The language of the Bible indicates a long continued process of change and dissolution. The spread of the gospel; the general vindication of Scriptures from doubt; to exhibit society in its normal state, and the effects of holiness as compared with sin; all will take ages.
II. It is better to assume that the end is not yet, than to assume the contrary.
1. The doubt in which Scripture leaves the day creates a presumption that it was not meant to influence our conduct by the expectation of this great event as just at hand. The expectation of a speedy end would paralyze effort, while the opposite belief invigorates it.
2. No less dissimilar is the effect of these two causes in relation to the credit and authority of Scripture. The constant failure of the predicted signs discredits Scripture.
3. The preparation for death is not secured by a belief in the approach of the great final catastrophe. If men are unprepared to die, they will be as much surprised by death as by the coming of the end. Let us prepare to die and thus prepare to live. The end is not yet. Let us not imagine our work done. (J. A. Alexander, D. D.)
The magnitude of the Divine purpose indicates the end of the world as far distant
The natural impression made, perhaps, on all unbiassed readers is, that in the Bible there are vast beginnings, which require proportionate conclusions, even in the present life. There are germs which were never meant to be developed in the stunted shrub, but in the spreading oak. There are springs, in tracing which we cannot stop short at the brook or even at the river, but are hurried on, as if against our will, to the lake, the estuary, and the ocean. Every such reader of the Bible feels that it conducts him to the threshold of a mighty pile, and opens many doors, through which he gets a distant glimpse of long-drawn aisles, vast halls, and endless passages; and how can he believe that this glimpse is the last that he shall see, and that the edifice itself is to be razed before he steps across the threshold? (J. A. Alexander, D. D.)
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
The SECOND sign, wars and commotions.
Verse 6. The next signs given by our Lord are wars and rumours of wars, c.] These may be seen in Josephus, Ant. b. xviii. c. 9 War, b. ii. c. 10; especially as to the rumours of wars, when Caligula ordered his statue to be set up in the temple of God, which the Jews having refused, had every reason to expect a war with the Romans, and were in such consternation on the occasion that they even neglected to till their land.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
Mark hath the same, Mar 13:7,8. Luke hath also much the same, Luk 21:9-11, only he addeth, fearful sights and great signs shall there be from heaven. Interpreters think this prophecy did chiefly respect the destruction of Jerusalem, for the time from our Saviours death to that time was full of seditions and insurrections, both in Judea and elsewhere. The truth of our Saviours words as to this is attested by Josephus largely, from the eleventh chapter of his second book of the Wars of the Jews to the end of the fourth book. Besides that there were great wars between Otho, and Vitellius, and Vespasian, the Roman emperor who succeeded Nero, we read of one famine, Act 11:28, which Agabus there prophesied should be in the time of Claudius Caesar. Of earthquakes in several places mention is made in divers histories. Our Saviour tells them that these things should be, but the end should not be presently, which any one that will read Josephuss history of the Wars of the Jews, will see abundantly verified upon the taking of Jerusalem by the Roman armies.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
And ye shall hear of wars and rumours of wars,…. This is the second sign of the destruction of Jerusalem: it is observable that this, and some of the following signs, are given by the Jews, as signs of the Messiah’s coming; whereas they were forerunners of their ruin, for the rejection of him who was already come. They suppose the Messiah will come in the seventh year, or the year of rest and release:
“On the seventh year (they say h) will be , “wars”: and in the going out, or at the close of the seventh year, the son of David will come.”
Which wars, the gloss says, will be between the nations of the world, and Israel. Here wars may mean the commotions, insurrections, and seditions, against the Romans, and their governors; and the intestine slaughters committed among them, some time before the siege of Jerusalem, and the destruction of it. Under Cureanus the Roman governor, a sedition was raised on the day of the passover, in which twenty thousand perished; after that, in another tumult, ten thousand were destroyed by cut-throats: in Ascalon two thousand more, in Ptolemais two thousand, at Alexandria fifty thousand, at Damascus ten thousand, and elsewhere in great numbers i. The Jews were also put into great consternation, upon hearing the design of the Roman emperor, to put up his image in their temple:
see that ye be not troubled; so as to leave the land of Judea as yet, and quit the preaching of the Gospel there, as if the final destruction was just at hand;
for all these things must come to pass; these wars and the reports of them and the panic on account of them; these commotions and slaughters, and terrible devastations by the sword must be; being determined by God, predicted by Christ, and brought upon the Jews by their own wickedness; and suffered in righteous judgment, for their sin:
but the end is not yet; meaning not the end of the world, but the end of Jerusalem, and the temple, the end of the Jewish state; which were to continue, and did continue after these disturbances in it.
h T. Bab. Sanhedrin, fol. 97. 1. & Megilia, fol. 17. 2. Zohar in Exod. fol. 3. 3, 4. i Vid. Joseph. Antiq. l. 20. c. 6. & de Bello Jud. l. 2, &c.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
See that ye be not troubled ( ). Asyndeton here with these two imperatives as Mr 8:15 (Robertson, Grammar, p. 949). Look out for the wars and rumours of wars, but do not be scared out of your wits by them. means to cry aloud, to scream, and in the passive to be terrified by an outcry. Paul uses this very verb ( ) in 2Th 2:2 as a warning against excitement over false reports that he had predicted the immediate second coming of Christ.
But the end is not yet (‘ ). It is curious how people overlook these words of Jesus and proceed to set dates for the immediate end. That happened during the Great War and it has happened since.
Fuente: Robertson’s Word Pictures in the New Testament
6 For you will hear of wars and rumors of wars. He describes here those commotions only which arose in Judea, for we shall find him soon afterwards saying that the flame will spread much wider. As he had formerly enjoined them to beware lest any man deceived them, so now he bids them meet with courage rumors of wars and wars themselves; for they would be in danger of giving way when surrounded by calamities, especially if they had promised to themselves ease and pleasure.
For all these things must take place. He adds this, not for the purpose of assigning a reason, but of warning them that none of these things happened accidentally, or without the providence of God, that they may not uselessly kick against the spur; for nothing has a more powerful efficacy to bring us into subjection, than when we acknowledge that those things which appear to be confused are regulated by the good pleasure of God. True, indeed, God himself never wants proper causes and the best reasons for allowing the world to be disturbed; but as believers ought to acquiesce in his mere good pleasure, Christ reckoned it enough to exhort the disciples to prepare their minds for endurance, and to remain firm, because such is the will of God.
But the end is not yet. He now states in plainer terms the threatening which I have already mentioned, that those events which were in themselves truly distressing would be only a sort of preparation for greater calamities; because, when the flame of war has been kindled in Judea, it will spread more widely; for ever since the doctrine of the Gospel was published, a similar ingratitude prevailing among other nations has aroused the wrath of God against them. Hence it happened that, having broken the bond of peace with God, they tore themselves by mutual contentions; having refused to obey the government of God, they yielded to the violence of their enemies; not having permitted themselves to be reconciled to God, they broke out into quarrels with one another; in short, having shut themselves out from the heavenly salvation, they raged against each other, and filled the earth with murders. Knowing how obstinate the malice of the world would be, he again adds,
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
(6) Ye shall hear . . .Literally, ye shall be about to heara kind of double future, or possibly an example of the transition between the older future tense and the use of an auxiliary verb.
Wars and rumours.St. Luke adds commotions. The forty years that intervened before the destruction of Jerusalem were full of these in all directions; but we may probably think of the words as referring specially to wars, actual or threatened, that affected the Jews, such, e.g., as those of which we read under Caligula, Claudius, and Nero (Jos. Ant. xx. 1, 6). The title which the historian gave to his second book, The Wars of the Jews, is sufficiently suggestive. As the years passed on, the watchword, Be not troubled, must have kept the believers in Christ calm in the midst of agitation. They were not to think that the end was to follow at once upon the wars which were preparing the way for it.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
6. Wars and rumours of wars Wars actually occurring, and wars rumoured as likely to take place. These things These words are in italics, being added by the translators from the parallel passage in Luke. The phrase these things stands here in precise contrast with the end. The most obvious principles of interpretation require, as before stated, that this end in the answer should be the same as the end in the question asked but a moment ago. The meaning, moreover, is not that these troubles are not themselves the end; but (what is important) that they are not the tribulation which portends or precedes the end of the world. Our Lord denies that these troubles will be followed by the end. It was indeed a doctrine of the Jews, as it is of Scripture, that a terrible tribulation will precede the coming of the Messiah. But our Lord forewarns them that these troubles, though they must be, as foreseen and predicted, yet they are not the true tribulation that precedes the second advent.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
“And you will hear of wars and rumours of wars. See that you are not troubled. For it is necessary for these things to happen, but the end is not yet.”
Nor were His disciples to see wars of which they heard, or even rumours of distant wars (including the wars in Judaea), as indications that His coming was near. Any such news was not to disturb them. Such wars, however terrible they might sound, were not to be seen as an indication of His coming, even the great war that will envelop Jerusalem, for wars like this will continue on through time (see Rev 6:3-4). This reference to ‘hearing of wars’ is preparing the way for the fact that the war that will strike at Jerusalem is simply one among many.
The reference to ‘hearing’ of wars does not exclude the possibility of their being caught up in wars themselves. It is simply a reminder that what is heard about can often be seen as much more portentous than what is experienced personally, and that rumours which come from a distance tend to grow in the telling and can become so exaggerated that it often sounds as though the world must surely soon come to an end.
‘It is necessary for these things to happen.’ Note the divine necessity. It is all part of God’s programme, for it is the outworking of man’s sinfulness, and as the Old Testament Scriptures have revealed, such sinfulness always has its consequences.
‘But the end is not yet.’ While these things such as wars will lead up to what is to follow, and are reminders along the way, they are not to be seen as indicators that the end is near for they will continue on through history. Thus wars of any kind are never to be taken as the sign of the end. Taking this with the continuing necessity for wars, and referring back to the disciples’ questions concerning the destruction of the Temple and Jesus’ parousia (coming, arrival), it is a further indication that the war which results in the destruction of the Temple will not necessarily signify the closeness of His coming. Wars will happen, even war in Palestine, without it necessarily signifying the end of the age.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
Other external signs:
v. 6. And ye shall hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that ye be not troubled; for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet.
v. 7. For nation shall rise against nation and kingdom against kingdom; and there shall be famines and pestilences and earthquakes in divers places.
v. 8. All these are the beginning of sorrows. Christ’s recital is impressive, dramatic: It will so happen, there is no question about it. he multiplicity of wars, the restlessness preceding, following wars, leading to new wars, wars in which the nations to which the Christians belong are involved, and wars of which they only hear by way of report and rumor; all these things are bound to happen, they are the result of the rejection of the Messiah; and so the Christians should not give way to perturbation, to excessive terror. They need calmness and strength, for that is not yet the end of sorrows. It was not the end before the destruction of Jerusalem, and it will not be the last thing before the end of the world. The wars, on the contrary, will assume a definite form. There will be uprisings, rebellions, of nation against nation, of people against people, of kingdom against kingdom, the Jews against the Syrians, the Tyrians against the Jews, the Jews and Galileans against the Samaritans, the Jews against the Romans and Agrippa, and civil war in Rome itself. As it was in the days before the destruction of Jerusalem, so the instances could be cited and multiplied from contemporaneous history, presaging the dissolution of the world, according to Christ’s word. Even so it is with famines and pestilences and earthquakes: A famine in the days of Claudius Caesar, Act 21:28, famines involving millions of people in our days; pestilences mentioned by the historians of those days, a most fearful, unexplainable pestilence sweeping over the earth in our times; earthquakes in Crete, in Asia Minor, on the islands of the Aegean, at Rome, in Judea, in those days, similar ones in our days devastating large cities and whole provinces. And these are only the beginning of the intolerable dolors.
Fuente: The Popular Commentary on the Bible by Kretzmann
Mat 24:6. And ye shall hear of wars, &c. To relate the particulars of wars and rumours of wars, which happened at the period here referred to, would be to transcribe a great part of Josephus’s History. There were more especially rumours of wars, when Caligula the Roman emperor ordered his statue to be set up in the temple at Jerusalem, which the Jews refused to suffer, and persisted in their refusal; and, having therefore reason to apprehend a war from the Romans, were in such a consternation, that they omitted even the tilling of their lands. But this storm was soon blown over, and their fear dissipated by the timely death of that emperor. But be ye not troubled, says our Lord, at the prospect of these calamities, for all these things must first come to pass: they must come to pass a considerable time before the destruction of the nation; but the end is not yet. The end of the age, or Jewish dispensation, and the demolition of the temple, will not be immediately on the back of these things. See on Mat 24:8.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
Mat 24:6 . ] continuative: but to turn now from this preliminary warning to your question itself ye will hear, etc. This reply to the disciples’ question as to the events that were to be the precursors of the destruction of the temple (comp. , Mat 24:3 ), is so framed that the prophetic outlook is directed first to the more general aspect of things (to what is to take place on the theatre of the world at large , Mat 24:6-8 ), and then to what is of a more special nature (to what concerns the disciples and the community of Christians , Mat 24:9-14 ). For the future . ( you will have to ), comp. 2Pe 1:12 ; Plat. Ep . vii. p. 326 C.
. ] said with reference to wars near at hand , the din and tumult of which are actually heard, and to wars at a distance , of which nothing is known except from the reports that are brought home.
, ] take care, be not terrified . For , comp. 2Th 2:2 ; Son 5:4 ; on the two imperatives, as in Mat 8:4 ; Mat 8:15 , Mat 9:30 , see Buttmann, Neut. Gr . p. 209 [E. T. 243].
] they are not to be terrified, because it is necessary that all that should take place . The reflection that it is a matter of necessity in pursuance of the divine purpose (Mat 26:54 ), is referred to as calculated to inspire a calm and reassured frame of mind. is to be understood as meaning: everything that is then to happen , not specially ( , , comp. critical notes) the matters indicated by , but rather that: nothing, which begins to take place, can stop short of its full accomplishment. The emphasis, however, is on .
] however, this will not be as yet the final consummation , so that you will require to preserve your equanimity still further. Comp. Hom. Il . ii. 122: . cannot mean the , Mat 24:3 (Chrysostom, Ebrard, Bleek, Lange, Cremer, Auberlen, Hoelemann, Gess), but, as the context proves by the correlative expression , Mat 24:8 , and by , Mat 24:14 , comp. with , Mat 24:15 , the end of the troubles at present under consideration . Inasmuch, then, as these troubles are to be straightway followed by the world’s last crisis and the signs of the Messiah’s advent (Mat 24:29-30 ), must be taken as referring to the end of the dolores Messiae . This end is the laying waste of the temple and the unparalleled desolation of the land that is to accompany it. Mat 24:15 ff. This is also substantially equivalent to de Wette’s interpretation: “the decisive winding up of the present state of things (and along with it the climax of trouble and affliction).”
Fuente: Heinrich August Wilhelm Meyer’s New Testament Commentary
6 And ye shall hear of wars and rumours of wars: see that ye be not troubled: for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet.
Ver. 6. See that you be not troubled ] , or frighted, as soldiers are by sudden alarm. Quid timet hominem homo in sinu dei positus? David was undaunted,Psa 3:6Psa 3:6 ; Psa 27:3 . He looked not downward on the rushing and roaring streams of dangers that run so swiftly under him, for that would have made him giddy: but steadfastly fastened on the power and promise of God all-sufficient, and was safe. So at the sack of Ziglag, 1Sa 30:6 .
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
6 8. ] and there certainly were during this period; but the prophecy must be interpreted rather of those of which the Hebrew Christians would be most likely to hear as a cause of terror. Such undoubtedly were the three threats of war against the Jews by Caligula, Claudius, and Nero; of the first of which Josephus says, Antt. xix. 1. 2, , ( ) . Luke couples with ., , and to this seems also to point. There were serious disturbances, (1) at Alexandria, which gave rise to the complaint against and deposition of Flaccus, and Philo’s work against him (A.D. 38), in which the Jews as a nation were the especial objects of persecution; (2) at Seleucia about the same time (Jos. Antt. xviii. 9. 8, 9), in which more than 50,000 Jews were killed; (3) at Jamnia, a city on the coast of Juda near Joppa (Philo, legat. ad Caium, 30, vol. ii. p. 575 f.). Many other such national tumults are recorded by Josephus. See especially B. J. ii. 17. 10; 18. 1 8, in the former of which places, he calls the sedition , and says that : and adds, , .
, and , which is coupled to it in [164] Luke, are usual companions: a proverb says, . With regard to the first , Greswell (Parr. vol. v. p. 261 note) shews that the famine prophesied of in the Acts ( Mat 11:28 ) happened in the ninth of Claudius, A.D. 49. It was great at Rome, and therefore probably Egypt and Africa, on which the Romans depended so much for supplies, were themselves much affected by it. Suetonius (Claud. 18) speaks of assidu sterilitates ; and Tacitus (Ann. xii. 43) of ‘frugum egestas, et orta ex eo fames,’ about the same time. There was a famine in Juda in the reign of Claudius (the true date of which however Mr. Greswell believes (Diss. vol. ii. p. 5) to be the third of Nero), mentioned by Josephus, Antt. iii. 15. 3. And as to , though their occurrence might, as above, be inferred from the other, we have distinct accounts of a pestilence at Rome (A.D. 65) in Suetonius, Nero 39, and Tacitus, Ann. xvi. 13, which in a single autumn carried off 30,000 persons at Rome. But such matters as these are not often related by historians, unless of more than usual severity.
[164] When, in the Gospels, and in the Evangelic statement, 1Co 11:23-25 , the sign () occurs in a reference, it is signified that the word occurs in the parallel place in the other Gospels, which will always be found indicated at the head of the note on the paragraph. When the sign () is qualified , thus, ‘ Mk.,’ or ‘ Mt. Mk.,’ &c., it is signified that the word occurs in the parallel place in that Gospel or Gospels, but not in the other or others .
] The principal earthquakes occurring between this prophecy and the destruction of Jerusalem were, (1) a great earthquake in Crete, A.D. 46 or 47 [Philostr. Vita Apollonii iv. 34]; (2) one at Rome on the day when Nero assumed the toga virilis, A.D. 51 [Zonaras xi. 10, p. 565]; (3) one at Apama in Phrygia, mentioned by Tacitus (Ann. xii. 58), A.D. 53; (4) one at Laodicea in Phrygia (Tacitus, Ann. xiv. 27), A.D. 60; (5) one in Campania (Tacitus, Ann. xv. 22). Seneca, Ep. 91, 9, in the year A.D. 58, writes: ‘Quoties Asi, quoties Achai urbes uno tremore ceciderunt! quot oppida in Syria, quot in Macedonia devorata sunt! Cyprum quoties vastavit hc clades! quoties in se Paphus corruit; frequenter nobis nuntiati sunt totarum urbium interitus.’ The prophecy, mentioning ( place for place, i.e. here and there, each in its particular locality; as we say, “up and down”), does not seem to imply that the earthquakes should be in Juda or Jerusalem. We have an account of one in Jerusalem, in Josephus, B. J. iv. 4. 5, which Mr. Greswell [Parr. ver. 259 note] places about Nov. A.D. 67. On the additions in Luk 21:11 , see notes there; and on this whole passage see the prophecies in 2Ch 15:5-7 , and Jer 51:45-46 .
] in reference to the (ch. Mat 19:28 ), which is to precede the . So Paul in Rom 8:22 , . . The death-throes of the Jewish state precede the ‘regeneration’ of the universal Christian Church, as the death-throes of this world the new heavens and new earth.
Fuente: Henry Alford’s Greek Testament
Mat 24:6 . econd sign: wars . .: vague phrase suitable to the prophetic style, not ex eventu ; well rendered in A. V [132] “wars and rumours of wars” = wars near and remote (Bengel, Meyer), or better: “actual and threatened” (Speaker’s Com. ). The reference is not to wars anywhere in the world, but to those in the Holy Land, arising, as they were sure sooner or later to do, out of Messianic fanaticisms. Christ speaks not out of foreknowledge of the actual facts as reported by contemporary historians and collected by modern commentators (Grotius, etc.), but by prophetic logic: given Messianic hopes misdirected, hence wars, hence ruin. , future of a verb, whose very meaning points to the future: ye will be about to hear, by-and-by, not for a while; often delusive times of peace before tragic times of war. Vide Carlyle’s French Revolution , book i. , , see, be not scared out of your wits ( , originally = cry aloud; later use = to terrify, as if with a scream; here passive in neuter sense). This reference to coming wars of liberation was natural, and necessary if the aim was to fortify disciples against future events. Nevertheless at this point, in the opinion of many critics, begins the so-called “Jewish apocalypse,” which Mk. and after him Mt. and Lk. have interwoven with the genuine utterance of Jesus. The latter embraces all about false Christs and apostolic tribulations (Mat 24:4-5 ; Mat 24:9-14 ; Mat 24:22-23 ), the former all about war, flight, and the coming of the Son of Man with awful accompaniments (Mat 24:7-8 ; Mat 24:15-22 ; Mat 24:29-31 ). Vide Wendt, L. J., i., p. 10 f., where the two series are given separately, from Mk., following in the main Weiffenbach. This critical analysis is ingenious but not convincing. Pseudo-Christs in the sense explained and wars of liberation went together in fact, and it was natural they should go together in prophetic thought. The political Messiahs divorced from the politics become mere ghosts, which nobody need fear. . Their eventual coming is a divine necessity, let even that consideration act as a sedative; and for the rest remember that the beginning of the tragedy is not the end . .: the end being the thing inquired about the destruction of the temple and all that went along with it.
[132] Authorised Version.
Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson
shall hear = will be about to hear.
see. Greek. horao. App-133. Not the same word as in verses: Mat 24:2, Mat 24:15, Mat 24:30.
must = it is necessary [for them to].
come to pass = arise (as in Mat 24:34).
the end. Greek. telos. Not the same as in Mat 24:3. This marks the beginning, not the end. The “many Christs” would be the very first sign. See note on 1Jn 2:18.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
6-8.] and there certainly were during this period; but the prophecy must be interpreted rather of those of which the Hebrew Christians would be most likely to hear as a cause of terror. Such undoubtedly were the three threats of war against the Jews by Caligula, Claudius, and Nero; of the first of which Josephus says, Antt. xix. 1. 2, , () . Luke couples with ., ,-and to this seems also to point. There were serious disturbances,-(1) at Alexandria, which gave rise to the complaint against and deposition of Flaccus, and Philos work against him (A.D. 38), in which the Jews as a nation were the especial objects of persecution; (2) at Seleucia about the same time (Jos. Antt. xviii. 9. 8, 9), in which more than 50,000 Jews were killed; (3) at Jamnia, a city on the coast of Juda near Joppa (Philo, legat. ad Caium, 30, vol. ii. p. 575 f.). Many other such national tumults are recorded by Josephus. See especially B. J. ii. 17. 10; 18. 1-8, in the former of which places, he calls the sedition , and says that : and adds, , .
, and , which is coupled to it in [164] Luke, are usual companions: a proverb says, . With regard to the first, Greswell (Parr. vol. v. p. 261 note) shews that the famine prophesied of in the Acts (Mat 11:28) happened in the ninth of Claudius, A.D. 49. It was great at Rome,-and therefore probably Egypt and Africa, on which the Romans depended so much for supplies, were themselves much affected by it. Suetonius (Claud. 18) speaks of assidu sterilitates; and Tacitus (Ann. xii. 43) of frugum egestas, et orta ex eo fames, about the same time. There was a famine in Juda in the reign of Claudius (the true date of which however Mr. Greswell believes (Diss. vol. ii. p. 5) to be the third of Nero), mentioned by Josephus, Antt. iii. 15. 3. And as to , though their occurrence might, as above, be inferred from the other, we have distinct accounts of a pestilence at Rome (A.D. 65) in Suetonius, Nero 39, and Tacitus, Ann. xvi. 13, which in a single autumn carried off 30,000 persons at Rome. But such matters as these are not often related by historians, unless of more than usual severity.
[164] When, in the Gospels, and in the Evangelic statement, 1Co 11:23-25, the sign () occurs in a reference, it is signified that the word occurs in the parallel place in the other Gospels, which will always be found indicated at the head of the note on the paragraph. When the sign () is qualified, thus, Mk., or Mt. Mk., &c., it is signified that the word occurs in the parallel place in that Gospel or Gospels, but not in the other or others.
] The principal earthquakes occurring between this prophecy and the destruction of Jerusalem were, (1) a great earthquake in Crete, A.D. 46 or 47 [Philostr. Vita Apollonii iv. 34]; (2) one at Rome on the day when Nero assumed the toga virilis, A.D. 51 [Zonaras xi. 10, p. 565]; (3) one at Apama in Phrygia, mentioned by Tacitus (Ann. xii. 58), A.D. 53; (4) one at Laodicea in Phrygia (Tacitus, Ann. xiv. 27), A.D. 60; (5) one in Campania (Tacitus, Ann. xv. 22). Seneca, Ep. 91, 9, in the year A.D. 58, writes: Quoties Asi, quoties Achai urbes uno tremore ceciderunt! quot oppida in Syria, quot in Macedonia devorata sunt! Cyprum quoties vastavit hc clades! quoties in se Paphus corruit; frequenter nobis nuntiati sunt totarum urbium interitus. The prophecy, mentioning (place for place,-i.e. here and there, each in its particular locality; as we say, up and down), does not seem to imply that the earthquakes should be in Juda or Jerusalem. We have an account of one in Jerusalem, in Josephus, B. J. iv. 4. 5, which Mr. Greswell [Parr. ver. 259 note] places about Nov. A.D. 67. On the additions in Luk 21:11, see notes there; and on this whole passage see the prophecies in 2Ch 15:5-7, and Jer 51:45-46.
] in reference to the (ch. Mat 19:28), which is to precede the . So Paul in Rom 8:22, . . The death-throes of the Jewish state precede the regeneration of the universal Christian Church, as the death-throes of this world the new heavens and new earth.
Fuente: The Greek Testament
Mat 24:6. , but ye shall be about to hear) A compound future. The writings of the Evangelists having been published before the fulfilment of this prediction, were greatly confirmed when it took place. About to hear: Christians rather hear of than wage wars.-, wars) sc. close at hand.- , rumours of wars) sc. at a distance.- , be ye not troubled) A case of metonymy of the antecedent; i.e. do not immediately take to flight. The verb (to be troubled) is peculiarly appropriate in this place, for [1034] is from ,[1035] which signifies , i.e. to cry, or speak with tumult.- , for all these things must come to pass) This is the ground of the believers tranquility.-, not yet) The godly are always prone to think that evils have reached their utmost limit: therefore they are warned.- , the end) mentioned in Mat 24:2; Mat 24:14, is not yet; nor is it yet time to fly; see Mat 24:15; Mat 24:18; Luk 21:20-21. The beginning is only mentioned in Mat 24:8.
[1034] A noise as of many voices, a murmuring of discontented people, a report. Lat., Rumor.-Liddell and Scott.-(I. B.)
[1035] Whence comes , a dirge.-ED.
Fuente: Gnomon of the New Testament
ye shall hear: Jer 4:19-22, Jer 6:22-24, Jer 8:15, Jer 8:16, Jer 47:6, Eze 7:24-26, Eze 14:17-21, Eze 21:9-15, Eze 21:28, Dan 11:1-45, Mar 13:7, Mar 13:8, Luk 21:9
see: Psa 27:1-3, Psa 46:1-3, Psa 112:7, Isa 8:12-14, Isa 12:2, Isa 26:3, Isa 26:4, Isa 26:20, Isa 26:21, Hab 3:16-18, Luk 21:19, Joh 14:1, Joh 14:27, 2Th 2:2, 1Pe 3:14, 1Pe 3:15
must: Mat 26:54, Luk 22:37, Act 27:24-26
but: Mat 24:14, Dan 9:24-27
Reciprocal: 1Sa 14:15 – the earth quaked 2Ch 15:5 – great vexations Job 5:20 – in war Psa 91:6 – destruction Pro 3:25 – Be Isa 7:4 – fear not Jer 49:14 – heard Jer 51:46 – lest Dan 9:26 – and the end Oba 1:1 – We Mat 24:13 – General 1Th 2:16 – for
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
24:6
The destruction of Jerusalem was brought about by the war between the Jews and the Romans. That conflict did not begin in Judea but was going on farther up in Palestine for some time before. The report of the battles in the distance reached the ears of the people In Judea, and that is why Jesus said they would hear of wars and rumors of wars. Be not troubled . . . end is not yet. The first rumors of war will not mean that the end of Jerusalem is right upon them.
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
Mat 24:6. Of wars and rumours of wars. The primary reference is to the threats of war against the Jews before the campaign which ended in the destruction of Jerusalem. During this period there were unusual commotions among the Jews in all countries, and in Rome too. It is also a prediction of unexampled convulsions before the second coming of Christ. As wars have been well-nigh continuous, something greater than ordinary war is probably meant.
Be not troubled. Be watchful (Mat 24:5), but be not disturbed. There will be nothing even in the last days to terrify the Lords people.
The end is not yet, i.e., this state of commotion is to continue.
Fuente: A Popular Commentary on the New Testament
The next sign which our Saviour gives his disciples of Jerusalem’s destruction, is the many broils and commotions, civil discords and dissensions, that should be found amongst the Jews: famines, pestilences, and earthquakes, fearful sights and signs in the air.
And Josephus declares, that there appeared in the air chariots and horses, men skirmishing in the clouds, and encompassing the city; and that a blazing star, in fashion of a sword, hung over the city for a year together.
Learn, 1. That war, pestilence, and famine, are judgments and calamities inflicted by God upon a sinful people for their contempt of Christ and gospel-grace. Ye shall hear of wars, famine, and pestilence.
2. That although these be mighty and terrible judgments, yet are they the forerunners of worse judgments. All these are the beginning of sorrows.
Fuente: Expository Notes with Practical Observations on the New Testament
Mat 24:6-8. And ye shall hear of wars, &c. This is the second sign. That there were wars and rumours of wars, appears by all the historians of those times, and above all by Josephus. To relate the particulars would be to transcribe a great part of his history of the Jewish wars. There were more especially rumours of wars when Caligula, the Roman emperor, ordered his statue to be set up in the temple at Jerusalem, which the Jews refused to suffer, and persisted in their refusal: and having therefore reason to apprehend a war from the Romans, were in such a consternation, that they omitted even the tilling of their lands. But this storm was soon blown over, and their fear dissipated by the timely death of that emperor. For nation shall rise against nation, &c. Here Christ declares that greater disturbances than those which happened under Caligula, should fall out in the latter times of Claudius, and in the reign of Nero. The rising of nation against nation portended the dissensions, insurrections, and mutual slaughters of the Jews, and those of other nations, who dwelt in the same cities together; as particularly at Cesarea, where the Jews and Syrians contended about the right of the city, which contention at length proceeded so far that above twenty thousand Jews were slain, and the city was cleared of the Jewish inhabitants. At this blow the whole nation of the Jews was exasperated; and, dividing themselves into parties, they burned and plundered the neighbouring cities and villages of the Syrians, and made an immense slaughter of the people. The Syrians, in revenge, destroyed not a less number of Jews, and every city was divided into two armies. At Scythopolis the inhabitants compelled the Jews who resided among them to fight against their own countrymen, and, after the victory, basely setting upon them by night, murdered above thirteen thousand of them, and spoiled their goods. At Ascalon they killed two thousand five hundred; at Ptolemais two thousand, and made not a few prisoners. The Tyrians put many to death, and imprisoned more. The people of Gadara did likewise; and all the other cities of Syria, in proportion as they hated or feared the Jews. At Alexandria the old enmity was revived between the Jews and heathen, and many fell on both sides, but of the Jews to the number of fifty thousand. The people of Damascus, too, conspired against the Jews of the same city, and, assaulting them unarmed, killed ten thousand of them. The rising of kingdom against kingdom portended the open wars of different tetrarchies and provinces against one another: as that of the Jews who dwelt in Pera against the people of Philadelphia, concerning their bounds, while Cuspius Fadus was procurator; and that of the Jews and Galileans against the Samaritans, for the murder of some Galileans going up to the feast at Jerusalem, while Cumanus was procurator; and that of the whole nation of the Jews against the Romans and Agrippa, and other allies of the Roman empire. But there was not only sedition and civil war throughout Judea, but likewise in Italy, Otho and Vitellius contending for the empire. There shall be famines and pestilences The third sign. There were famines, as particularly that prophesied of by Agabus, and mentioned Act 11:28; and by Suetonius, and other profane historians referred to by Eusebius, which came to pass in the days of Claudius Cesar, and was so severe at Jerusalem, that many perished for want of victuals And pestilences, the usual attendants upon famine. Scarcity and badness of provisions almost always end in some epidemical distemper. Many died by reason of the famine in the reign of Claudius: and when Niger was killed by the Jewish zealots, he imprecated, besides other calamities, famine and pestilence upon them, ( , the very words used by the evangelist,) all which, says Josephus, God ratified and brought to pass against the ungodly And earthquakes in divers places The fourth sign. In the time of Claudius and Nero there were great earthquakes at Smyrna, Miletus, Chios, Samos, Laodicea, Hierapolis, and Colosse; in Crete also and Campania, and one at Rome in the reign of Galba. In Judea, likewise, there were judgments of the same kind. For Josephus tells us, Bell., 4. cap. 4, There happened a most terrible tempest and violent winds, with the most vehement showers, and continual lightnings, and horrid thunderings, and prodigious bellowings of the shaken earth; so that many were led to believe that these things portended no common calamity. St. Luke mentions a fifth sign, namely, Fearful sights and great signs from heaven, Luk 21:11; where see the notes, as also on Isa 66:6. All these are the beginning of sorrows Gr. , a word which is properly used of the pains of travailing women. As if he had said, All these are only the first pangs and throes; and are nothing to that hard labour that shall follow.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
24:6 And ye shall hear of wars and rumours of wars: see that ye be not troubled: for all [these things] must come to pass, but the {a} end is not yet.
(a) That is, when those things are fulfilled, yet the end will not come.
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes
The presence of wars and rumors of wars should likewise not mislead the disciples into thinking that the prophesied destruction of Jerusalem was near (cf. Rev 6:3-4). Wars and rumors of wars would come, but they would not necessarily be the fulfillment of the prophecies about Messiah’s destroying His enemies when He returns (Zec 14:2-5). The disciples should not let the presence of wars and rumors of wars deceive them into thinking that Messiah’s return to reign was imminent.