Matthew 24:21

Matthew 24:21 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be.
• New International Version (NIV)For then there will be great distress, unequaled from the beginning of the world until now—and never to be equaled again.
• English Standard Version (ESV)For then there will be great tribulation, such as has not been from the beginning of the world until now, no, and never will be.
• New King James Version (NKJV)For then there will be great tribulation, such as has not been since the beginning of the world until this time, no, nor ever shall be.

Context of Matthew 24:21

19Woe to pregnant women and nursing mothers in those days! 20Pray that your escape may not be in winter or on a Sabbath. For at that time there will be great distress, the kind that hasn’t taken place from the beginning of the world until now and never will again. 22Unless those days were cut short, no one would be saved. But those days will be cut short because of the elect. 23“If anyone tells you then, ‘See, here is the Messiah!’ or, ‘Over here!’ do not believe it.

Matthew 24:21 word by word

ἔσται γὰρ τότε θλῖψις μεγάλη οἵα οὐ γέγονεν ἀπ᾽ ἀρχῆς κόσμου ἕως τοῦ νῦν οὐδ᾽ οὐ μὴ γένηται.Read the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• ·ὁho hē to · the/this/whoG3588
• Forγάρgar · forG1063
• thenτότεtote · thenG5119
• shall beεἰμίeimi · to beG1510
• greatμέγαςmegas · greatG3173
• tribulationθλῖψιςthlipsis · pressureG2347
• such asοἷοςoios · such asG3634
• wasγίνομαιginomai · to beG1096
• notοὐou · noG3756
• sinceἀπόapo · away fromG575
• the beginningἀρχήarchē · beginningG746
• of the worldκόσμοςkosmos · worldG2889
• toἕωςheōs · untilG2193
• this timeνῦνnun · nowG3568
• noοὐδέoude · norG3761
• everμήmē · notG3361

Cross-references for Matthew 24:21

• Psalms 69:22Let their table set before them be a snare, and let it be a trap for their allies.
• Isaiah 65:12I will destine you for the sword, and all of you will kneel down to be slaughtered, because I called and you did not answer, I spoke and you did not hear; you did what was evil in my sight and chose what I did not delight in.”
• Isaiah 66:15Look, the Lord will come with fire — his chariots are like the whirlwind — to execute his anger with fury and his rebuke with flames of fire.
• Daniel 9:26After those sixty-two weeks the Anointed One will be cut off and will have nothing. The people of the coming ruler will destroy the city and the sanctuary. The end will come with a flood, and until the end there will be war; desolations are decreed.
• Daniel 12:1At that time Michael, the great prince who stands watch over your people, will rise up. There will be a time of distress such as never has occurred since nations came into being until that time. But at that time all your people who are found written in the book will escape.
• Joel 1:2Hear this, you elders; listen, all you inhabitants of the land. Has anything like this ever happened in your days or in the days of your ancestors?
• Joel 2:2a day of darkness and gloom, a day of clouds and total darkness, like the dawn spreading over the mountains; a great and strong people appears, such as never existed in ages past and never will again in all the generations to come.
• Zechariah 11:8In one month I got rid of three shepherds. I became impatient with them, and they also detested me.
• Zechariah 14:2I will gather all the nations against Jerusalem for battle. The city will be captured, the houses looted, and the women raped. Half the city will go into exile, but the rest of the people will not be removed from the city.
• Malachi 4:1“For look, the day is coming, burning like a furnace, when all the arrogant and everyone who commits wickedness will become stubble. The coming day will consume them,” says the Lord of Armies, “not leaving them root or branches.
• Mark 13:9“But you, be on your guard! They will hand you over to local courts, and you will be flogged in the synagogues. You will stand before governors and kings because of me, as a witness to them.
• Luke 19:43For the days will come on you when your enemies will build a barricade around you, surround you, and hem you in on every side.
• Luke 21:24They will be killed by the sword and be led captive into all the nations, and Jerusalem will be trampled by the Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled.
• 1 Thessalonians 2:16by keeping us from speaking to the Gentiles so that they may be saved. As a result, they are constantly filling up their sins to the limit, and wrath has overtaken them at last.
• Hebrews 10:26For if we deliberately go on sinning after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins,

Commentaries on Matthew 24:21

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 21For then shall be great tribulation - No history can furnish us with a parallel to the calamities and miseries of the Jews: - rapine, murder, famine, and pestilence within: fire and sword, and all the horrors of war, without. Our Lord wept at the foresight of these calamities; and it is almost impossible for any humane person to read the relation of them in Josephus without weeping also. St. Luke, Luke 21:22, calls these the days of vengeance, that all…Read the comment
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 21There shall be great tribulation - The word “tribulation” means calamity or “suffering.” Luke Luke 21:24 has specified in what this tribulation would consist: “They shall fall by the edge of the sword, and shall be led away captive into all nations, and Jerusalem shall be trodden down of the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles shall be fulfilled.” That is, until the time allotted for the Gentiles “to do it” shall be fully accomplished, or as long as…Read the comment
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 4-28Verses 4-28 The disciples had asked concerning the times, When these things should be? Christ gave them no answer to that; but they had also asked, What shall be the sign? This question he answers fully. The prophecy first respects events near at hand, the destruction of Jerusalem, the end of the Jewish church and state, the calling of the Gentiles, and the setting up of Christ's kingdom in the world; but it also looks to the general judgment; and toward…Read the comment
• Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 21great tribulation, unmatched: Similar language appears in Nehemiah 9:37; Jeremiah 11:16; Daniel 12:1; Joel 2:1–17. The Jewish historian Josephus documented the extreme violence of the times (see War 5.10.2–3).Read the comment

Topics related to Matthew 24:21

• Faith
• Israel, Prophecies Concerning
• Jesus Continued
• Righteous

In the dictionaries

• Deceive
• Desolation
• Elect
• Flight
• Goodman
• Learn
• Lo
• Matthew, Gospel according to
• Olves, Mount of
• Tribulation

Commentaries on Matthew 24

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
• Tyndale Open Study Notes
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
• Calvin’s Commentaries
• John Wesley’s Notes
• Catena Aurea
• Illustrated New Testament
• Burkitt’s Expository Notes
• Darby Translation Notes
• Family Bible Notes
• Geneva Bible Translation Notes
• Kingcomments
• John Lightfoot Commentary
• Luther’s Commentary on Selected Bible Passages
• Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
• Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
• The People’s New Testament
• Robertson’s Word Pictures
• Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
• The Fourfold Gospel and Commentary on Acts
• Original Douay–Rheims Annotations
• Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
• EGW Writings