The Meaning of Luke 21:9 Explained

Luke 21:9

KJV: But when ye shall hear of wars and commotions, be not terrified: for these things must first come to pass; but the end is not by and by.

YLT: and when ye may hear of wars and uprisings, be not terrified, for it behoveth these things to happen first, but the end is not immediately.'

Darby: And when ye shall hear of wars and tumults, be not terrified, for these things must first take place, but the end is not immediately.

ASV: And when ye shall hear of wars and tumults, be not terrified: for these things must needs come to pass first; but the end is not immediately.

KJV Reverse Interlinear

But  when  ye shall hear  of wars  and  commotions,  be  not  terrified:  for  these things  must  first  come to pass;  but  the end  [is] not  by and by. 

What does Luke 21:9 Mean?

Context Summary

Luke 21:5-19 - Days That Try Men's Souls
When we ask speculative questions, the Master bids us take heed to ourselves. His predictions in this passage were literally fulfilled in the events which culminated in the siege and fall of Jerusalem, forty years afterward. "The whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together," and through these throes and agonies mankind steps up to a new level of experience. The devil will not surrender his kingdom, any more than the bodies of men, without a grievous rending first: but there is a mightier than he.
The Church is called to follow her Lord. No easier path than His may she choose. Where there is no outward suffering there may be the inner cross and the death to all that the soul had once prized. Jesus has always stood beside His own wherever they have been called to witness for the truth; and the testimony given by His witnesses has reached the great ones of the earth and reverberated through courts and palaces. In suffering our souls become searched as by fire. We learn to know ourselves and to come into possession of an experience and a self-knowledge with which only suffering could have endowed us. [source]

Chapter Summary: Luke 21

1  Jesus commends the poor widow
5  He foretells the destruction of the temple, and of the city Jerusalem;
25  the signs also which shall be before the last day
34  He exhorts them to be watchful

Greek Commentary for Luke 21:9

Be not terrified [μη πτοητητε]
First aorist passive subjunctive with μη — mē from πτοεω — ptoeō an old verb to terrify, from πτοα — ptoa terror. In the N.T. only here and Luke 24:37. [source]
First [Πρωτον]
It is so easy to forget this and to insist that the end is “immediately” in spite of Christ‘s explicit denial here. See notes on Matthew 24:4-42; note on Mark 13:1-37 for discussion of details for Luke 21:8-36, the great eschatological discourse of Jesus [source]
Commotions [ἀκαταστασίας]
From ἀ , not, and καθίστημι , to establish. Hence disestablishments; unsettlements. Rev., tumults. [source]
Be not terrified [μὴ πτοηθῆτε]
Only here and Luke 24:37. [source]
By and by [εὐθέως]
Better as Rev., immediately. [source]

Reverse Greek Commentary Search for Luke 21:9

Mark 6:25 By and by [ἐξαυτῆς]
Obsolete in the old sense of immediately. The A. V. translates αὐθὺς ,straightway, in Matthew 13:21, by and by: εὐθέως , Mark 4:17, immediately: and the same word in Luke 21:9, by and by. Ἐξαυτῆς is rendered immediately, Acts 10:33; Acts 11:11: straightway, Acts 23:30: presently, Philemon 2:23. Rev., forthwith. The expression by and by in older English was sometimes used of place. Thus Chaucer.“Right in the same chamber by and by” (close by).and“Two young knights lying by and by” (near together).Edward IV. is reported to have said on his death-bed: “I wote (know) not whether any preacher's words ought more to move you than I that is going by and by to the place that they all preach of.” [source]
Luke 24:37 Terrified [πτοητεντες]
First aorist passive participle of πτοεω — ptoeō old verb and in the N.T. only here and Luke 21:9 which see. [source]
1 Corinthians 14:33 Confusion [ἀκαταστασίας]
See on commotions, Luke 21:9; and see on unruly, James 3:8. Compare 2 Corinthians 6:5. [source]
2 Corinthians 6:5 Tumults [ἀκαταστασίαις]
See on Luke 21:9, and compare ἀκατάστατος unstable James 1:8. This is one of the words which show the influence of political changes. From the original meaning of unsettledness, it developed, through the complications in Greece and in the East after the death of Alexander, into the sense which it has in Luke - political instability. One of the Greek translators of the Old Testament uses it in the sense of dread or anxious care. [source]
1 Peter 3:6 Amazement [πτόησιν]
Rev., terror. Compare the kindred verb πτοηθῆτε , be terrified, Luke 21:9; Luke 24:37; on which, see note. The word means a scare, or nervous excitem ent. [source]
1 Peter 3:6 Obeyed Abraham [υπηκουεν τωι Αβρααμ]
Imperfect active of υπακουω — hupakouō “used to obey” (with dative).Calling him lord (κυριον αυτον καλουσα — kurion auton kalousa). Present active participle of καλεω — kaleō See Genesis 18:12.Whose children ye now are First aorist passive indicative of γινομαι — ginomai “whose children ye became.”If ye do well (αγατοποιουσαι — agathopoiousai). Present active feminine plural participle of αγατοποιεω — agathopoieō (1 Peter 2:15), “doing good.”And are not put in fear by any terror Free quotation from Proverbs 3:25, “and not fearing any terror” (cognate accusative of πτοησις — ptoēsis after ποβουμεναι — phoboumenai present middle participle, late and rare word from πτοεω — ptoeō to terrify, as in Luke 21:9, here only in N.T.). Perhaps Peter regards Sarah‘s falsehood as the yielding to a sudden terror (Hart). Hannah could also be named along with Sarah. The women somehow do not organize “daughters of Sarah” societies. [source]
1 Peter 3:6 Whose children ye now are [ης εγενητητε τεκνα]
First aorist passive indicative of γινομαι — ginomai “whose children ye became.”If ye do well (αγατοποιουσαι — agathopoiousai). Present active feminine plural participle of αγατοποιεω — agathopoieō (1 Peter 2:15), “doing good.”And are not put in fear by any terror Free quotation from Proverbs 3:25, “and not fearing any terror” (cognate accusative of πτοησις — ptoēsis after ποβουμεναι — phoboumenai present middle participle, late and rare word from πτοεω — ptoeō to terrify, as in Luke 21:9, here only in N.T.). Perhaps Peter regards Sarah‘s falsehood as the yielding to a sudden terror (Hart). Hannah could also be named along with Sarah. The women somehow do not organize “daughters of Sarah” societies. [source]
1 Peter 3:6 And are not put in fear by any terror [και μη ποβουμεναι μηδεμιαν πτοησιν]
Free quotation from Proverbs 3:25, “and not fearing any terror” (cognate accusative of πτοησις — ptoēsis after ποβουμεναι — phoboumenai present middle participle, late and rare word from πτοεω — ptoeō to terrify, as in Luke 21:9, here only in N.T.). Perhaps Peter regards Sarah‘s falsehood as the yielding to a sudden terror (Hart). Hannah could also be named along with Sarah. The women somehow do not organize “daughters of Sarah” societies. [source]

What do the individual words in Luke 21:9 mean?

When then you should hear of wars and commotions not be terrified it behooves for these things to take place first but not immediately [is] the end
ὅταν δὲ ἀκούσητε πολέμους καὶ ἀκαταστασίας μὴ πτοηθῆτε δεῖ γὰρ ταῦτα γενέσθαι πρῶτον ἀλλ’ οὐκ εὐθέως τὸ τέλος

ἀκούσητε  you  should  hear  of 
Parse: Verb, Aorist Subjunctive Active, 2nd Person Plural
Root: ἀκουστός 
Sense: to be endowed with the faculty of hearing, not deaf.
πολέμους  wars 
Parse: Noun, Accusative Masculine Plural
Root: πόλεμος  
Sense: a war.
ἀκαταστασίας  commotions 
Parse: Noun, Accusative Feminine Plural
Root: ἀκαταστασία  
Sense: instability, a state of disorder, disturbance, confusion.
πτοηθῆτε  be  terrified 
Parse: Verb, Aorist Subjunctive Passive, 2nd Person Plural
Root: πτοέω  
Sense: to terrify.
δεῖ  it  behooves 
Parse: Verb, Present Indicative Active, 3rd Person Singular
Root: δεῖ  
Sense: it is necessary, there is need of, it behooves, is right and proper.
ταῦτα  these  things 
Parse: Demonstrative Pronoun, Accusative Neuter Plural
Root: οὗτος  
Sense: this.
γενέσθαι  to  take  place 
Parse: Verb, Aorist Infinitive Middle
Root: γίνομαι  
Sense: to become, i.
πρῶτον  first 
Parse: Adverb, Superlative
Root: πρῶτον 
Sense: first in time or place.
εὐθέως  immediately  [is] 
Parse: Adverb
Root: εὐθέως  
Sense: straightway, immediately, forthwith.
τέλος  end 
Parse: Noun, Nominative Neuter Singular
Root: τέλος  
Sense: end.