Luke 17:24-37

17:24 For just like the lightning flashes¹ and lights up the sky from one side to the other, so will the Son of Man be in his day.² 17:25 But first he must³ suffer many things and be rejected by this generation. 17:26 Just⁴ as it was⁵ in the days of Noah,⁶ so too it will be in the days of the Son of Man. 17:27 People⁷ were eating,⁸ they were drinking, they were marrying, they were being given in marriage – right up to the day Noah entered the ark. Then⁹ the flood came and destroyed them all.¹⁰ 17:28 Likewise, just as it was¹¹ in the days of Lot, people¹² were eating, drinking, buying, selling, planting, building; 17:29 but on the day Lot went out from Sodom, fire and sulfur rained down from heaven and destroyed them all.¹³ 17:30 It will be the same on the day the Son of Man is revealed. 17:31 On that day, anyone who is on the roof,¹⁴ with his goods in the house, must not come down¹⁵ to take them away, and likewise the person in the field must not turn back. 17:32 Remember Lot’s wife!¹⁶ 17:33 Whoever tries to keep¹⁷ his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life¹⁸ will preserve it. 17:34 I tell you, in that night there will be two people in one bed; one will be taken and the other left.¹⁹ 17:35 There will be two women grinding grain together;²⁰ one will be taken and the other left.”

17:36 [[EMPTY]]²¹

17:37 Then²² the disciples²³ said²⁴ to him, “Where,²⁵ Lord?” He replied to them, “Where the dead body²⁶ is, there the vultures²⁷ will gather.”²⁸

¹sn The Son of Man’s coming in power will be sudden and obvious like lightning. No one will need to point it out.

²tc Some very important mss (Ì⁷⁵ B D it sa) lack the words ἐν τῇ ἡμέρα αὐτοῦ (en th Jhmera autou, “in his day”), but the words are included in א A L W Θ Ψ Ë^1,13 Ï lat sy bo. On the one hand, the shorter reading is impressive because it has some of the best Alexandrian and Western witnesses in support; on the other hand, the expression ἐν τῇ ἡμέρα αὐτοῦ is unusual (found nowhere else in the NT), and may be considered the harder reading. A decision is difficult, but it is probably best to retain the words. NA²⁷ rightly has the words in brackets, expressing doubt as to their authenticity.

³sn The Son of Man’s suffering and rejection by this generation is another “it is necessary” type of event in God’s plan (Luke 4:43; 24:7, 26, 44) and the fifth passion prediction in Luke’s account (9:22, 44; 12:50; 13:32-33; for the last, see 18:32-33).

⁴tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

⁵tn Or “as it happened.”

⁶sn Like the days of Noah, the time of the flood in Gen 6:5-8:22, the judgment will come as a surprise as people live their day to day lives.

⁷tn Grk “They.” The plural in Greek is indefinite, referring to people in general.

⁸tn These verbs (“eating… drinking… marrying… being given in marriage”) are all progressive imperfects, describing action in progress at that time.

⁹tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the narrative.

¹⁰sn Like that flood came and destroyed them all, the coming judgment associated with the Son of Man will condemn many.

¹¹tn Or “as it happened.”

¹²tn Grk “they.” The plural in Greek is indefinite, referring to people in general.

¹³sn And destroyed them all. The coming of the Son of Man will be like the judgment on Sodom, one of the most immoral places of the OT (Gen 19:16-17; Deut 32:32-33; Isa 1:10).

¹⁴sn Most of the roofs in the NT were flat roofs made of pounded dirt, sometimes mixed with lime or stones, supported by heavy wooden beams. They generally had an easy means of access, either a sturdy wooden ladder or stone stairway, sometimes on the outside of the house.

¹⁵sn The swiftness and devastation of the judgment will require a swift escape. There is no time to come down from one’s roof and pick up anything from inside one’s home.

¹⁶sn An allusion to Gen 19:26. The warning about Lot’s wife is not to look back and long to be where one used to be. The world is being judged, and the person who delays or turns back will be destroyed.

¹⁷tn Or “tries to preserve”; Grk “seeks to gain.”

sn If there is no willingness to suffer the world’s rejection at this point, then one will not respond to Jesus (which is trying to keep his life) and then will be subject to this judgment (which is losing it).

¹⁸sn Whoever loses his life. Suffering and persecution caused by the world, even to death, cannot stop God from saving (Luke 12:4-6).

¹⁹sn There is debate among commentators and scholars over the phrase one will be taken and the other left about whether one is taken for judgment or for salvation. If the imagery is patterned after the rescue of Noah from the flood and Lot from Sodom, as some suggest, the ones taken are the saved (as Noah and Lot were) andthose left behind are judged. The imagery, however, is not directly tied to theidentification of the two groups. Its primary purposein context is topicture the sudden, surprisingseparation of the righteous and the judged (i.e., condemned) at the return of the Son of Man.

²⁰tn Grk “at the same place.” According to L&N 46.16, this refers to a hand mill normally operated by two women.

²¹tc Several mss (D Ë¹³ [579] 700 al lat sy) add (with several variations among these witnesses) 17:36 “There will be two in the field; one will be taken and the other left.” It is not well enough attested to be original. Further, it is an assimilation to the parallel in Matt 24:40, which marks the addition as secondary. The present translation follows NA²⁷ in omitting the verse number, a procedure also followed by a number of other modern translations.

²²tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the narrative.

²³tn Grk “they”; the referent (the disciples, v. 22) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

²⁴tn Grk “answering, they said to him.” This is redundant in contemporary English and has been simplified in the translation.

²⁵sn The question “Where, Lord?” means, “Where will the judgment take place?”

²⁶tn Or “corpse.”

²⁷tn The same Greek term can refer to “eagles” or “vultures” (L&N 4.42; BDAG 22 s.v. ἀετός), but in this context it must mean vultures, because the gruesome image is one of dead bodies being consumed by scavengers.

sn Jesus’ answer is that when the judgment comes, the scenes of death will be obvious and so will the location of the judgment.

²⁸tn Grk “will be gathered.” The passive construction has been translated as an active one in English.