There will be great earthquakes, famines, and plagues in various places. There will be terrors and great signs from heaven.
Parallel Translations
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There will be great earthquakes, famines, and plagues in various places. There will be terrors and great signs from heaven.
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and greate erthquakes shall be in all quarters and honger and pestilence: and fearfull thinges. And greate signes shall therbe from heven.
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And great earthquakes shall be in diuers places, and hunger, and pestilence, and fearefull things, and great signes shall there be from heauen.
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Contradictions (1)
Questions where the Bible appears to say two different things, with the passages on each side set together.
Cross-references (2)
Passages linked to Luke 21:11 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- Matthew 24:29-30 But immediately after the suffering of those days, the sun will be darkened, the moon will not give its light, the stars will fall from the sky, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken; and then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky. Then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of the sky with power and great glory.
- Luke 21:25-27 There will be signs in the sun, moon, and stars; and on the earth anxiety of nations, in perplexity for the roaring of the sea and the waves; men fainting for fear, and for expectation of the things which are coming on the world: for the powers of the heavens will be shaken. Then they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory.
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
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John Gill 1763 · Public Domain But before all these,.... Before all these things come…
But before all these,.... Before all these things come to pass:
they shall lay their hands on you; as the high priest, the priests, and the captain of the temple did upon the apostles, Act 4:1
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and persecute you; as upon the death of Stephen, Act 8:1
delivering you up to the synagogues; to be scourged there; or to the courts of judicature, the consistories of the Jews, their great sanhedrim; before these the apostles were brought, Act 4:6
and into prisons; as were all the apostles together, and Peter at another time separately, Act 4:3
being brought before kings and rulers, for my name's sake; for being called by his name, and calling upon it; for professing, and preaching his Gospel; See Gill on Mat 10:18.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain Fearful sights and signs from heaven - Of which…
Fearful sights and signs from heaven - Of which Josephus gives a circumstantial account.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain Verse 11. Fearful sights] What these were the reader…
Verse 11. Fearful sights] What these were the reader will find in detail on Mt 24:7.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain Luk 21:11. Fearful sights and great signs shall there…
Luk 21:11. Fearful sights and great signs shall there be from heaven — Of these, Josephus has given us a particular account, Bell., Luk 7:12. “There was a comet in the form of a fiery sword, which for a year together did hang over the city. Before the first revolt and war, the people being gathered together to the feast of unleavened bread, on the 8th of April, at the 9th hour of the night, there was as much light about the altar and temple as if it had been bright day. This remained half an hour. At the same festival, the inner gate of the temple on the east side, being of massy brass, which required at least twenty men to shut it, was seen at midnight to open of its own accord. Not long after the feast-days, on the 21st of May, before the sun set, were seen in the air chariots and armies in battle array, passing along in the clouds and investing the city. And upon the feast of pentecost, at night, the priests, going into the inner temple to attend their wonted service, said, they first felt the place to move and tremble: after that they heard a voice which said, Let us depart hence. But that which was most wonderful of all, one Jesus, the son of Ananus, of the common people, four years before the war began, when the city flourished in peace and riches, coming to the celebration of the feast of tabernacles at Jerusalem, suddenly began to cry out thus: A voice from the east, a voice from the west, a voice from the four winds, a voice against Jerusalem and the temple, a voice against men and women newly married, a voice against all this people. And thus crying, day and night, he went about all the streets of the city.” Josephus adds, “that he was scourged by some of the nobility, but, without speaking a word for himself, he persevered crying as before; that he was carried before Albinus, the Roman general, who caused him to be beaten till his bones appeared. But that he neither entreated nor wept, but, as well as he could, framing a weeping voice, he cried at every stroke, Wo, wo to Jerusalem:” that he went on thus crying, chiefly upon holydays, for the space of seven years and five months, till in the time of the siege, beholding what he had foretold, he ceased. And that then, once again going about the city, on the wall, “he cried with a loud voice, Wo, wo to the city, temple, and people; and lastly he said, Wo also to myself. Which words were no sooner uttered, than a stone thrown out of an engine smote him, and so he yielded up the ghost, lamenting them all.” See note on Isa 66:6.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain Terrors from heaven. Josephus, in his history of this…
Terrors from heaven. Josephus, in his history of this war, in which Jerusalem was destroyed by Titus, (lib. vii. chap. 12) relates, at length, many of the prodigies which were the forerunners of the dreadful end of this unfortunate city. During a whole year a meteor, like a flaming sword, was seen impending over the city. There were likewise seen in the air, appearances of chariots and numerous armies, which pressed one upon another. On the night of Pentecost, the priests, after a confused noise, heard distinctly these words, "Let us go hence;" which are supposed to have been spoken by the angels, who had hitherto guarded and protected the holy city, but now were taking their leave of it. Josephus was in the Roman camp, before the city, during the siege, and an eye-witness of what passed on the occasion. (Haydock)
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain 11. earthquakes] Tac. Hist. I. 2. For such physical…
11. earthquakes] Tac. Hist. I. 2. For such physical portents at great crises see Thuc. i. 23; Tac. Ann. xii. 43, 64, Hist. i. 56; Liv. xliii. 13, &c.
famines] Act_11:28. The original gives the common paronomasia (play on words) limoi kai loimoi.
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pestilences] Josephus (B. J. vi. 9, § 3) mentions both pestilence and famine as the immediate preludes of the storming of Jerusalem. They were due, like the plague at Athens, to the vast masses of people— Passover pilgrims—who were at the time crowded in the city.
fearful sights] See Wis_17:1-21. The word phobetra, ‘terrors,’ occurs here alone. Among these would be the “Abomination of Desolation,” or “desolating wing of Abomination,” which seems best to correspond with the foul and murderous orgies of the Zealots which drove all worshippers in horror from the Temple (Jos. B. J. iv. 3, § 7, V. 6, § 1, &c.). Such too would be the rumour of monstrous births (id. vi. 5, § 3); the cry ‘woe, woe’ for seven and a half years of the peasant Jesus, son of Hanan; the voice and sound of departing guardian-angels (Tac. Hist. 13), and the sudden opening of the vast brazen Temple-gate which required twenty men to move it (Jos. ib.).
signs., from heaven] Josephus mentions a sword-shaped comet. Both Tacitus and Josephus mention the portent that
“Fierce fiery warriors fought upon the clouds,
In rank, and squadron, and right form of war;”
and Tacitus tells us how the blind multitude of Jews interpreted these signs in their own favour (Hist. v. 13).
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain (11) Famines and pestilences.—The mention of the latter is,…
(11) Famines and pestilences.—The mention of the latter is, as far as the best MSS. are concerned, a feature peculiar to St. Luke. Others, however, give the same combination in Mat_24:7. The Greek nouns are all but identical in sound (limos = famine, and loimos = pestilence), and there is accordingly a kind of rhythmical emphasis of sound which cannot be reproduced in English.
Fearful sights.—The Greek word, literally things of terror, is peculiar to St. Luke. He omits here “the beginning of troubles.” or “travail-pangs,” which we find in St. Matthew and St. Mark.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain Great earthquakes. These seem to have been very frequent…
Great earthquakes. These seem to have been very frequent during the period; we hear of them in Palestine, Italy, Greece, Asia Minor, Crete, Syria. Famines and pestilences. The Jewish and pagan historians of this time Josephus, Suetonius, Taecitus, and others enumerate several memorable instances of these scourges in this eventful time. Fearful sights and great signs. Among the former may be especially enumerated the foul and terrible scenes connected with the proceedings of the Zealots (see Josephus, Bell. Jud:," 4:3. v. 6. etc.). Among the great signs "would be the rumor of monstrous births; the cry, "Woe! woe!" for seven and a half years of the peasant Jesus, son of Hanan; the voice and sound of departing guardian-angels; and the sudden opening of the vast brazen temple gate which required twenty men to move it" (Farrar).
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 21:11 Cataclysmic events such as these are often associated…
21:11 Cataclysmic events such as these are often associated with the judgment of God (1 Sam 14:15; Ps 18:7-8; Isa 2:19, 21; 5:25; 13:13; 24:18; 29:5-6; Jer 14:12; 21:6-7; Ezek 14:21; Amos 1:1) and the end of the age (Isa 24:18; 29:5-6; Ezek 38:19; Joel 2:10; Hag 2:6, 21; Zech 14:4; cp. Rev 6:12; 8:5; 11:13, 19; 16:18). • great miraculous signs from heaven: See study note on 21:25.
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.