Discovery BoxMatthew 11:7 
Context11:7 While they were going away, Jesus began to speak to the crowd about John: “What did you go out into the wilderness 1 to see? A reed shaken by the wind? 2
Matthew 24:29
Context24:29 “Immediately 3 after the suffering 4 of those days, the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light; the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of heaven will be shaken. 5
1 tn Or “desert.”
2 tn There is a debate as to whether one should read this figuratively (“to see someone who is easily blown over?”) or literally (Grk “to see the wilderness vegetation?… No, to see a prophet”). Either view makes good sense, but the following examples suggest the question should be read literally and understood to point to the fact that a prophet drew them to the desert.
3 tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated.
4 tn Traditionally, “tribulation.”
5 sn An allusion to Isa 13:10, 34:4 (LXX); Joel 2:10. The heavens were seen as the abode of heavenly forces, so their shaking indicates distress in the spiritual realm. Although some take the powers as a reference to bodies in the heavens (like stars and planets, “the heavenly bodies,” NIV) this is not as likely.
