Matthew Chapter 24 verse 40 Holy Bible

Pulpit Commentary

Pulpit CommentaryVerse 40. - The Lord gives two examples of the suddenness of his advent, and its effect in private life. Shall two be in the field. They shall be working together at their ordinary agricultural occupations, with nothing outwardly to distinguish one from the other, good and bad being mingled together. The one shall be taken (παραλαμβανεται is taken, the present implying certainty), and the other left (ἀφίεται, is deft). Christ speaks as though he saw the scene before him. The "taking" implies separation from companions, as Matthew 17:1; Matthew 18:16, etc. This is the work of the angels (ver. 31). There is some doubt as to the destiny of the two classes named. Are the good "taken" and the evil "left"? or are the evil "taken" and the good "left"? Some suppose that the terms allude to the sudden approach of a hostile army by which some are taken prisioners and others allowed to escape; or, since in the parable the tares are first gathered for the burning, those taken must be the wicked, those left are for storing in the everlasting garner. On the other hand, many commentators understand the verbs in a sense opposite to that mentioned above. As (ver. 31) the angels are sent forth to gather the elect, the "taken" are of this class, who are caught away to meet the Lord and his saints (1 Thessalonians 4:17; John 14:3), while the others are left for judgment and reprobation (2 Thessalonians 1:7-9). Bengel, continuing the reference to the Flood, writes, "Assumitur in tutelam (ver. 31), ut Noachus cum domo sua; sinitur in periculis, quicquid obveniat, ut homines in diluvio." The latter interpretation of the two seems to be the correct one. At any rate, it is plain that the nicest discrimination is exercised, and that among men and women, in all conditions of life, a final severance shall then be made, which shall apportion their lot in the other world.

Ellicott's Commentary

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers(40) The one shall be taken.--Literally, the present tense being used to express the certainty of the future, one is taken, and one is left. The form of the expression is somewhat obscure, and leaves it uncertain which of the two alternatives is the portion of the chosen ones. Is the man who is "taken" received into fellowship with Christ, while the other is abandoned? or is he carried away as by the storm of judgment, while the other is set free? On the whole, the use of the Greek word in other passages (as, e.g., in Matthew 1:20; Matthew 1:24; Matthew 12:45; John 1:11; John 14:3) is in favour of the former interpretation. What is taught in any case is that the day of judgment will be, as by an inevitable law, a day of separation, according to the diversity of character which may exist in the midst of the closest fellowship in outward life.