| Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible And when ye shall hear of wars, and rumours of wars,.... Among the Jews themselves, and with the Romans: be not troubled; keep your place, abide by your work, go on preaching the Gospel, without distressing yourselves about the event of things: for such things must needs be: being decreed by God, foretold by Christ, and made necessary by the sins of the people: but the end shall not be yet; of the temple, of Jerusalem, and of the Jewish state and nation; See Gill on Matthew 24:6. Vincent's Word StudiesRumors of wars Wyc., opinions of battles. Such as would be a cause of terror to the Hebrew Christians; as the three threats of war against the Jews by Caligula, Claudius, and Nero. There were serious disturbances at Alexandria, a.d. 38, in which the Jews were the especial objects of persecution; at Seleucia about the same time, in which more than fifty thousand Jews were killed; and at Jamnia, near Joppa. Troubled (θροεῖσθε) Θροέω is, literally, to cry aloud. Earthquakes Between the prophecy and the destruction of Jerusalem (a.d. 70) occurred: A great earthquake in Crete, a.d. 46 or 47: at Rome, on the day on which Nero entered his majority, a.d. 51: at Apameia, in Phrygia, a.d. 53; "on account of which," says Tacitus, "they were exempted from tribute for five years:" at Laodicea, in Phrygia, a.d. 60: in Campania, a.d. 63, by which, according to Tacitus, the city of Pompeii was largely destroyed. Famines During the reign of Claudius, a.d. 41-54:, four famines are recorded: One at Rome, a.d. 41, 42; one in Judaea, a.d. 44; one in Greece, a.d. 50; and again at Rome, a.d. 52, when the people rose in rebellion and threatened the life of the emperor. Tacitus says that it was accompanied by frequent earthquakes, which levelled houses. The famine in Judaea was probably the one prophesied by Agabus, Acts 11:28. Of the year 65 a.d., Tacitus says: "This year, disgraced by so many deeds of horror, was further distinguished by the gods with storms and sicknesses. Campania was devastated by a hurricane which overthrew buildings, trees, and the fruits of the soil in every direction, even to the gates of the city, within which a pestilence thinned all ranks of the population, with no atmospheric disturbance that the eye could trace. The houses were choked with dead, the roads with funerals: neither sex nor age escaped. Slaves and freemen perished equally amid the wailings of their wives and children, who were often hurried to the pyre by which they had sat in tears, and consumed together with them. The deaths of knights and senators, promiscuous as they were, deserved the less to be lamented, inasmuch as, falling by the common lot of mortality, they seemed to anticipate the prince's cruelty" ("Annals," xvi., 10-13). Geneva Study BibleAnd when ye shall hear of wars and rumours of wars, be ye not troubled: for such things must needs be; but the end shall not be yet. Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary7. And when ye shall hear of wars and rumours of wars, be ye not troubled-(See on [1490]Mr 13:13, and compare Isa 8:11-14). for such things must needs be; but the end shall not be yet-In Luke (Lu 21:9), "the end is not by and by," or "immediately." Worse must come before all is over. Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary13:5-13 Our Lord Jesus, in reply to the disciples' question, does not so much satisfy their curiosity as direct their consciences. When many are deceived, we should thereby be awakened to look to ourselves. And the disciples of Christ, if it be not their own fault, may enjoy holy security and peace of mind, when all around is in disorder. But they must take heed that they are not drawn away from Christ and their duty to him, by the sufferings they will meet with for his sake. They shall be hated of all men: trouble enough! Yet the work they were called to should be carried on and prosper. Though they may be crushed and borne down, the gospel cannot be. The salvation promised is more than deliverance from evil, it is everlasting blessedness. |