KJV: And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.
YLT: and then shall appear the sign of the Son of Man in the heaven; and then shall all the tribes of the earth smite the breast, and they shall see the Son of Man coming upon the clouds of the heaven, with power and much glory;
Darby: And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven; and then shall all the tribes of the land lament, and they shall see the Son of man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.
ASV: and then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.
| φανήσεται | will appear |
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Parse: Verb, Future Indicative Passive, 3rd Person Singular Root: φαίνω Sense: to bring forth into the light, cause to shine, shed light. |
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| σημεῖον | sign |
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Parse: Noun, Nominative Neuter Singular Root: σημεῖον Sense: a sign, mark, token. |
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| τοῦ | of the |
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Parse: Article, Genitive Masculine Singular Root: ὁ Sense: this, that, these, etc. |
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| Υἱοῦ | Son |
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Parse: Noun, Genitive Masculine Singular Root: υἱός Sense: a son. |
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| τοῦ | - |
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Parse: Article, Genitive Masculine Singular Root: ὁ Sense: this, that, these, etc. |
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| ἀνθρώπου | of Man |
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Parse: Noun, Genitive Masculine Singular Root: ἄνθρωπος Sense: a human being, whether male or female. |
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| ‹τῷ› | - |
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Parse: Article, Dative Masculine Singular Root: ὁ Sense: this, that, these, etc. |
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| οὐρανῷ | heaven |
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Parse: Noun, Dative Masculine Singular Root: οὐρανός Sense: the vaulted expanse of the sky with all things visible in it. |
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| κόψονται | will mourn |
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Parse: Verb, Future Indicative Middle, 3rd Person Plural Root: κόπτω Sense: to cut, strike, smite. |
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| φυλαὶ | tribes |
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Parse: Noun, Nominative Feminine Plural Root: φυλή Sense: a tribe. |
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| τῆς | of the |
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Parse: Article, Genitive Feminine Singular Root: ὁ Sense: this, that, these, etc. |
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| γῆς | earth |
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Parse: Noun, Genitive Feminine Singular Root: γῆ Sense: arable land. |
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| ὄψονται | they will see |
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Parse: Verb, Future Indicative Middle, 3rd Person Plural Root: εἶδον Sense: to see with the eyes. |
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| Υἱὸν | Son |
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Parse: Noun, Accusative Masculine Singular Root: υἱός Sense: a son. |
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| ἐρχόμενον | coming |
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Parse: Verb, Present Participle Middle or Passive, Accusative Masculine Singular Root: ἔρχομαι Sense: to come. |
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| νεφελῶν | clouds |
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Parse: Noun, Genitive Feminine Plural Root: νεφέλη Sense: a cloud. |
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| οὐρανοῦ | of heaven |
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Parse: Noun, Genitive Masculine Singular Root: οὐρανός Sense: the vaulted expanse of the sky with all things visible in it. |
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| δυνάμεως | power |
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Parse: Noun, Genitive Feminine Singular Root: δύναμις Sense: strength power, ability. |
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| δόξης | glory |
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Parse: Noun, Genitive Feminine Singular Root: δόξα Sense: opinion, judgment, view. |
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| πολλῆς | great |
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Parse: Adjective, Genitive Feminine Singular Root: πολύς Sense: many, much, large. |
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Greek Commentary for Matthew 24:30
Many theories have been suggested like the cross in the sky, etc. Bruce sees a reference to Daniel 7:13 “one like the Son of man” and holds that Christ himself is the sign in question (the genitive of apposition). This is certainly possible. It is confirmed by the rest of the verse: “They shall see the Son of man coming.” See Matthew 16:27; Matthew 26:64. The Jews had repeatedly asked for such a sign (Broadus) as in Matthew 12:38; Matthew 16:1; John 2:18. [source]
Stronger: beat their breasts in anguish [source]
Reverse Greek Commentary Search for Matthew 24:30
The phrase is employed in the Old Testament as a circumlocution for man, with special reference to his frailty as contrasted with God (Numbers 23:19; Psalm 8:4; Job 25:6; Job 35:8; and eighty-nine times in Ezekiel). It had also a Messianic meaning (Daniel 7:13 sq.), to which our Lord referred in Matthew 24:30; Matthew 26:64. It was the title which Christ most frequently applied to himself; and there are but two instances in which it is applied to him by another, viz., by Stephen (Acts 7:56) and by John (Revelation 1:13; Revelation 14:14:); and when acquiescing in the title “Son of God,” addressed to himself, he sometimes immediately after substitutes “Son of Man” (John 1:50, John 1:51; Matthew 26:63, Matthew 26:64). The title asserts Christ's humanity - his absolute identification with our race: “his-DIVIDER- having a genuine humanity which could deem nothing human strange, and could be touched with a feeling of the infirmities of the race which he was to judge” (Liddon, “Our Lord's Divinity”). It also exalts him as the representative ideal man. “All-DIVIDER- human history tends to him and radiates from him; he is the point in which humanity finds its unity; as St. Irenaeus says, ' He recapitulates it.' He closes the earlier history of our race; he inaugurates its future. Nothing local, transient, individualizing, national, sectarian dwarfs the proportions of his world-embracing character. He rises above the parentage, the blood, the narrow horizon which bounded, as it seemed, his human life. He is the archetypal man, in whose presence distinction of race, intervals of ages, types of civilization, degrees of mental culture are as nothing” (Liddon). -DIVIDER- -DIVIDER- But the title means more. As Son of Man he asserts the authority of judgment over all flesh. By virtue of what he is as Son of Man, he must be more. “The absolute relation to the world which he attributes to himself demands an absolute relation to God … .He is the Son of Man, the Lord of the world, the Judge, only because he is the Son of God” (Luthardt). Christ's humanity can be explained only by his divinity. A humanity so unique demands a solution. Divested of all that is popularly called miraculous, viewed simply as a man, under the historical conditions of his life, he is a greater miracle than all his miracles combined. The solution is expressed in Hebrews 1:1-14. -DIVIDER- -DIVIDER- [source]
As much as to say that it will be not till then. Clearly the promise of the second coming of the Son of man in glory here (Mark 13:26.; Matthew 24:30.) is pictured as not one certain of immediate realization. The time element is left purposely vague. [source]
For glory see on 1 Thessalonians 2:12. Ἱσχὺς powernot often in Paul. It is indwelling power put forth or embodied, either aggressively or as an obstacle to resistance: physical power organized or working under individual direction. An army and a fortress are both ἰσχυρὸς. The power inhering in the magistrate, which is put forth in laws or judicial decisions, is ἰσχὺς , and makes the edicts ἰσχυρὰ validand hard to resist. Δύναμις is the indwelling power which comes to manifestation in ἰσχὺς The precise phrase used here does not appear elsewhere in N.T. In lxx, Isaiah 2:10, Isaiah 2:19, Isaiah 2:21. The power ( δύναμις ) and glory of God are associated in Matthew 24:30; Mark 13:26; Luke 21:27; Revelation 4:11; Revelation 19:1. Comp. κράτος τῆς δόξης αὐτοῦ strengthof his glory, Colossians 1:11. Additional Note on ὄλεθρον αἰώνιον eternaldestruction, 2 Thessalonians 1:9 Ἁιών transliterated eon is a period of time of longer or shorter duration, having a beginning and an end, and complete in itself. Aristotle ( περὶ οὐρανοῦ , i. 9,15) says: “The period which includes the whole time of each one's life is called the eon of each one.” Hence it often means the life of a man, as in Homer, where one's life ( αἰών ) is said to leave him or to consume away (Il. v. 685; Od. v. 160). It is not, however, limited to human life; it signifies any period in the course of events, as the period or age before Christ; the period of the millennium; the mytho-logical period before the beginnings of history. The word has not “a stationary and mechanical value” (De Quincey). It does not mean a period of a fixed length for all cases. There are as many eons as entities, the respective durations of which are fixed by the normal conditions of the several entities. There is one eon of a human life, another of the life of a nation, another of a crow's life, another of an oak's life. The length of the eon depends on the subject to which it is attached. It is sometimes translated world; world representing a period or a series of periods of time. See Matthew 12:32; Matthew 13:40, Matthew 13:49; Luke 1:70; 1 Corinthians 1:20; 1 Corinthians 2:6; Ephesians 1:21. Similarly οἱ αἰῶνες theworlds, the universe, the aggregate of the ages or periods, and their contents which are included in the duration of the world. 1 Corinthians 2:7; 1 Corinthians 10:11; Hebrews 1:2; Hebrews 9:26; Hebrews 11:3. -DIVIDER- -DIVIDER- The word always carries the notion of time, and not of eternity. It always means a period of time. Otherwise it would be impossible to account for the plural, or for such qualifying expressions as this age, or the age to come. It does not mean something endless or everlasting. To deduce that meaning from its relation to ἀεί is absurd; for, apart from the fact that the meaning of a word is not definitely fixed by its derivation, ἀεί does not signify endless duration. When the writer of the Pastoral Epistles quotes the saying that the Cretans are always ( ἀεί ) liars (Titus 1:12), he surely does not mean that the Cretans will go on lying to all eternity. See also Acts 7:51; 2 Corinthians 4:11; 2 Corinthians 6:10; Hebrews 3:10; 1 Peter 3:15. Ἁεί means habitually or continually within the limit of the subject's life. In our colloquial dialect everlastingly is used in the same way. “The boy is everlastingly tormenting me to buy him a drum.”-DIVIDER- In the New Testament the history of the world is conceived as developed through a succession of eons. A series of such eons precedes the introduction of a new series inaugurated by the Christian dispensation, and the end of the world and the second coming of Christ are to mark the beginning of another series. See Ephesians 3:11. Paul contemplates eons before and after the Christian era. Ephesians 1:21; Ephesians 2:7; Ephesians 3:9, Ephesians 3:21; 1 Corinthians 10:11; comp. Hebrews 9:26. He includes the series of eons in one great eon, ὁ αἰὼν τῶν αἰώνων theeon of the eons (Ephesians 3:21); and the author of the Epistle to the Hebrews describes the throne of God as enduring unto the eon of the eons (Hebrews 1:8). The plural is also used, eons of the eons, signifying all the successive periods which make up the sum total of the ages collectively. Romans 16:27; Galatians 1:5; Philemon 4:20, etc. This plural phrase is applied by Paul to God only. -DIVIDER- -DIVIDER- The adjective αἰώνιος in like manner carries the idea of time. Neither the noun nor the adjective, in themselves, carry the sense of endless or everlasting. They may acquire that sense by their connotation, as, on the other hand, ἀΐ̀διος , which means everlasting, has its meaning limited to a given point of time in Judges 1:6. Ἁιώνιος means enduring through or pertaining to a period of time. Both the noun and the adjective are applied to limited periods. Thus the phrase εἰς τὸν αἰῶνα , habitually rendered forever, is often used of duration which is limited in the very nature of the case. See, for a few out of many instances, lxx, Exodus 21:6; Exodus 29:9; Exodus 32:13; Joshua 14:9; 1 Samuel 8:13; Leviticus 25:46; Deuteronomy 15:17; 1 Chronicles 28:4. See also Matthew 21:19; John 13:8; 1 Corinthians 8:13. The same is true of αἰώνιος . Out of 150 instances in lxx, four-fifths imply limited duration. For a few instances see Genesis 48:4; Numbers 10:8; Numbers 15:15; Proverbs 22:28; Jonah 2:6; Habakkuk 3:6; Isaiah 61:8. -DIVIDER- -DIVIDER- Words which are habitually applied to things temporal or material can not carry in themselves the sense of endlessness. Even when applied to God, we are not forced to render αἰώνιος everlastingOf course the life of God is endless; but the question is whether, in describing God as αἰώνιος , it was intended to describe the duration of his being, or whether some different and larger idea was not contemplated. That God lives longer than men, and lives on everlastingly, and has lived everlastingly, are, no doubt, great and significant facts; yet they are not the dominant or the most impressive facts in God's relations to time. God's eternity does not stand merely or chiefly for a scale of length. It is not primarily a mathematical but a moral fact. The relations of God to time include and imply far more than the bare fact of endless continuance. They carry with them the fact that God transcends time; works on different principles and on a vaster scale than the wisdom of time provides; oversteps the conditions and the motives of time; marshals the successive eons from a point outside of time, on lines which run out into his own measureless cycles, and for sublime moral ends which the creature of threescore and ten years cannot grasp and does not even suspect. -DIVIDER- -DIVIDER- There is a word for everlasting if that idea is demanded. That αἰώνιος occurs rarely in the New Testament and in lxx does not prove that its place was taken by αἰώνιος . It rather goes to show that less importance was attached to the bare idea of everlastingness than later theological thought has given it. Paul uses the word once, in Romans 1:20, where he speaks of “the everlasting power and divinity of God.” In Romans 16:26he speaks of the eternal God ( τοῦ αἰωνίου θεοῦ ); but that he does not mean the everlasting God is perfectly clear from the context. He has said that “the mystery” has been kept in silence in times eternal ( χρόνοις αἰωνίοις ), by which he does not mean everlasting times, but the successive eons which elapsed before Christ was proclaimed. God therefore is described as the God of the eons, the God who pervaded and controlled those periods before the incarnation. To the same effect is the title ὁ βασιλεὺς τῶν αἰώνων theKing of the eons, applied to God in 1 Timothy 1:17; Revelation 15:3; comp. 2Timothy href="/desk/?q=2ti+1:9&sr=1">2 Timothy 1:9; Titus 1:2), cannot mean before everlasting times. To say that God bestowed grace on men, or promised them eternal life before endless times, would be absurd. The meaning is of old, as Luke 1:70. The grace and the promise were given in time, but far back in the ages, before the times of reckoning the eons. -DIVIDER- -DIVIDER- Ζωὴ αἰώνιος eternallife, which occurs 42 times in N.T., but not in lxx, is not endless life, but life pertaining to a certain age or eon, or continuing during that eon. I repeat, life may be endless. The life in union with Christ is endless, but the fact is not expressed by αἰώνιος . Κόλασις αἰώνιος , rendered everlasting punishment (Matthew 25:46), is the punishment peculiar to an eon other than that in which Christ is speaking. In some cases ζωὴ αἰώνιος does not refer specifically to the life beyond time, but rather to the eon or dispensation of Messiah which succeeds the legal dispensation. See Matthew 19:16; John 5:39. John says that ζωὴ αἰώνιος is the present possession of those who believe on the Son of God, John 3:36; John 5:24; John 6:47, John 6:64. The Father's commandment is ζωὴ αἰώσιος , John 12:50; to know the only true God and Jesus Christ is ζωὴ αἰώνιος , John 17:3. -DIVIDER- -DIVIDER- Bishop Westcott very justly says, commenting upon the terms used by John to describe life under different aspects: “In considering these phrases it is necessary to premise that in spiritual things we must guard against all conclusions which rest upon the notions of succession and duration. 'Eternal life' is that which St. Paul speaks of as ἡ ὄντως ζωὴ thelife which is life indeed, and ἡ ζωὴ τοῦ θεοῦ thelife of God. It is not an endless duration of being in time, but being of which time is not a measure. We have indeed no powers to grasp the idea except through forms and images of sense. These must be used, but we must not transfer them as realities to another order.”-DIVIDER- Thus, while αἰώνιος carries the idea of time, though not of endlessness, there belongs to it also, more or less, a sense of quality. Its character is ethical rather than mathematical. The deepest significance of the life beyond time lies, not in endlessness, but in the moral quality of the eon into which the life passes. It is comparatively unimportant whether or not the rich fool, when his soul was required of him (Luke 12:20), entered upon a state that was endless. The principal, the tremendous fact, as Christ unmistakably puts it, was that, in the new eon, the motives, the aims, the conditions, the successes and awards of time counted for nothing. In time, his barns and their contents were everything; the soul was nothing. In the new life the soul was first and everything, and the barns and storehouses nothing. The bliss of the sanctified does not consist primarily in its endlessness, but in the nobler moral conditions of the new eon, - the years of the holy and eternal God. Duration is a secondary idea. When it enters it enters as an accompaniment and outgrowth of moral conditions. -DIVIDER- -DIVIDER- In the present passage it is urged that ὄλεθρον destructionpoints to an unchangeable, irremediable, and endless condition. If this be true, if ὄλεθρος isextinction, then the passage teaches the annihilation of the wicked, in which case the adjective αἰώνιος is superfluous, since extinction is final, and excludes the idea of duration. But ὄλεθρος does not always mean destruction or extinction. Take the kindred verb ἀπόλλυμι todestroy, put an end to, or in the middle voice, to be lost, to perish. Peter says, “the world being deluged with water, perished ” ( ἀπολοῦνται 2 Peter 3:6); but the world did not become extinct, it was renewed. In Hebrews 1:11, Hebrews 1:12quoted from Isaiah href="/desk/?q=isa+51:6&sr=1">Isaiah 51:6, Isaiah 51:16; Isaiah 65:17; Isaiah 66:22; 2 Peter 3:13; Revelation 21:1. Similarly, “the Son of man came to save that which was lost ” ( ἀπολωλός ), Luke 19:10. Jesus charged his apostles to go to the lost ( ἀπολωλότα ) sheep of the house of Israel, Matthew 10:6, comp. Matthew 15:24. “He that shall lose ( ἀπολέσῃ ) his life for my sake shall find it,” Matthew 16:25. Comp. Luke 15:6, Luke 15:9, Luke 15:32. -DIVIDER- -DIVIDER- In this passage the word destruction is qualified. It is “destruction from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his power, “ at his second coming, in the new eon. In other words, it is the severance, at a given point of time, of those who obey not the gospel from the presence and the glory of Christ. Ἁιώνιος may therefore describe this severance as continuing during the millennial eon between Christ's coming and the final judgment; as being for the wicked prolonged throughout that eon and characteristic of it, or it may describe the severance as characterizing or enduring through a period or eon succeeding the final judgment, the extent of which period is not defined. In neither case is αἰώνιος to be interpreted as everlasting or endless.sa180 [source]
Lit. “from my right hand.” The usual formula is ἐν δεξίᾳ . The genitive indicates moving from the right hand and taking the seat. The meaning is, “be associated with me in my royal dignity.” Comp. Daniel 7:13, Daniel 7:14, and the combination of the Psalm and Daniel in Christ's words, Mark 14:62. Comp. also Matthew 24:30; Acts 2:34; 1 Corinthians 15:25; 1 Peter 3:22. [source]
“Shepherding themselves.” Cf. Revelation 7:17 for this use of ποιμαινω poimainō Clouds without water Νεπελη Nephelē common word for cloud (Matthew 24:30). 2 Peter 2:17 has πηγαι ανυδροι pēgai anudroi (springs without water) and then ομιχλαι homichlai (mists) and ελαυνομεναι elaunomenai (driven) rather than περιπερομεναι peripheromenai here (borne around, whirled around, present passive participle of περιπερω peripherō to bear around), a powerful picture of disappointed hopes. [source]
See 2 Peter 2:13 for this very word and form. Masculine gender with ουτοι οι houtoi hoi rather than with the feminine σπιλαδες spilades Cf. Revelation 11:4. Construction according to sense.Shepherds that feed themselves (εαυτους ποιμαινοντες heautous poimainontes). “Shepherding themselves.” Cf. Revelation 7:17 for this use of ποιμαινω poimainō Clouds without water (νεπελαι ανυδροι nephelai anudroi). Νεπελη Nephelē common word for cloud (Matthew 24:30). 2 Peter 2:17 has πηγαι ανυδροι pēgai anudroi (springs without water) and then ομιχλαι homichlai (mists) and ελαυνομεναι elaunomenai (driven) rather than περιπερομεναι peripheromenai here (borne around, whirled around, present passive participle of περιπερω peripherō to bear around), a powerful picture of disappointed hopes.Autumn trees Late adjective (Aristotle, Polybius, Strabo) from πτινω phthinō to waste away, and οπωρα opōra autumn, here only in N.T. For ακαρπα akarpa (without fruit) see 2 Peter 1:8.Twice dead (δις αποτανοντα dis apothanonta). Second aorist active participle of αποτνησκω apothnēskō Fruitless and having died. Having died and also “uprooted” (εκριζωτεντα ekrizōthenta). First aorist passive participle of εκριζοω ekrizoō late compound, to root out, to pluck up by the roots, as in Matthew 13:29. [source]
“The Apocalypse is molded by the great discourse of our Lord upon 'the last things' which has been preserved for us in the first three Gospels (Matthew 24:4; 25.; Luke 21:8-36; compare 17:20-37). The parallelism between the two is, to a certain extent, acknowledged by all inquirers, and is indeed, in many respects, so obvious, that it can hardly escape the notice of even the ordinary reader. Let any one compare, for example, the account of the opening of the sixth seal with the description of the end (Matthew href="/desk/?q=mt+24:29&sr=1">Matthew 24:29, Matthew 24:30), and he will see that the one is almost a transcript of the other. It is remarkable that we find no account of this discourse in the Gospel of St. John; nor does it seem as sufficient explanation of the omission that the later Evangelist was satisfied with the records of the discourse already given by his predecessors” (Milligan). [source]
More correctly, tribes. The word used of the true Israel in Revelation 5:5; Revelation 7:4-8; Revelation 21:12. As the tribes of Israel are the figure by which the people of God, Jew or Gentile, are represented, so unbelievers are here represented as tribes, “the mocking counterpart of the true Israel of God.” Compare Matthew 24:30, Matthew 24:31. [source]
The clouds are frequently used in the descriptions of the Lord's second coming. See Daniel 7:13; Matthew 24:30; Matthew 26:64; Mark 14:62. Compare the manifestation of God in the clouds at Sinai, in the cloudy pillar, the Shekinah, at the transfiguration, and see Psalm 97:2; Psalm 18:11; Nahum 1:3; Isaiah 19:1. [source]
Futuristic present middle indicative of ερχομαι erchomai a reminiscence of Daniel 7:13 (Theodotion). “It becomes a common eschatological refrain” (Beckwith) as in Mark 13:26; Mark 14:62; Matthew 24:30; Matthew 26:64; Luke 21:27. Compare the manifestation of God in the clouds at Sinai, in the cloudy pillar, the Shekinah, at the transfiguration” (Vincent). [source]
Like the “bright cloud” of Matthew 17:5 (Transfiguration), a familiar object in the Mediterranean lands. See Daniel 7:13; Matthew 24:30; Matthew 26:64; Acts 1:9, Acts 1:11 for the picture of Christ‘s return. [source]
Future middle of οραω horaō a reminiscence of Zechariah 12:10 according to the text of Theodotion (Aquila and Symmachus) rather than the lxx and like that of Matthew 24:30 (similar combination of Daniel and Zechariah) and Matthew 26:64. This picture of the victorious Christ in his return occurs also in Revelation 14:14, Revelation 14:18-20; Revelation 19:11-21; Revelation 20:7-10.And they which (και οιτινες kai hoitines). “And the very ones who,” Romans and Jews, all who shared in this act.Pierced First aorist active indicative of εκκεντεω ekkenteō late compound (Aristotle, Polybius, lxx), from εκ ek and κεντεω kenteō (to stab, to pierce), in N.T., only here and John 19:37, in both cases from Zechariah 12:10, but not the lxx text (apparently proof that John used the original Hebrew or the translation of Theodotion and Aquila).Shall mourn (κοπσονται kopsontai). Future middle (direct) of κοπτω koptō old verb, to cut, “they shall cut themselves,” as was common for mourners (Matthew 11:17; Luke 8:52; Luke 23:27). From Zechariah 12:12. See also Revelation 18:9.Tribes Not just the Jewish tribes, but the spiritual Israel of Jews and Gentiles as in Revelation 7:4-8. No nation had then accepted Christ as Lord and Saviour, nor has any yet done so. [source]