Matthew 24:43

24:42-51 To watch for Christ's coming, is to maintain that temper of mind which we would be willing that our Lord should find us in. We know we have but a little time to live, we cannot know that we have a long time to live; much less do we know the time fixed for the judgment. Our Lord's coming will be happy to those that shall be found ready, but very dreadful to those that are not. If a man, professing to be the servant of Christ, be an unbeliever, covetous, ambitious, or a lover of pleasure, he will be cut off. Those who choose the world for their portion in this life, will have hell for their portion in the other life. May our Lord, when he cometh, pronounce us blessed, and present us to the Father, washed in his blood, purified by his Spirit, and fit to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light.

43–45 . The Lord cometh as a Thief in the Night Luke 12:39-40 43 . know this ] The same word as in Matthew 24:33 , see note. The word is probably indicative, “ye know this,” not imperative. the goodman of the house ] “The master of the house.” “Goodman” is probably a corruption for gummann or A. S. guma , a man ( Bible Word Book ). in what watch ] See ch. Matthew 14:25 . the thief would come ] Cp. “For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night,” 1 Thessalonians 5:2 ; see also 2 Peter 3:10 . would come ] Rather, doth come , as in the preceding verse. to be broken up ] Rather, dug through ; see ch. Matthew 6:19-20 .

(43) But know this. —The verses from Matthew 24:42 to Matthew 24:51 have nothing corresponding to them in the reports of the discourse given by St. Mark and St. Luke, but are found almost verbatim in another discourse reported by St. Luke 12:42 , et seq. Here, as elsewhere, we have to choose between the assumption of a repetition of the same words, or of a transfer of what was spoken on one occasion to another; and of the two, the former hypothesis seems the more probable. It may be noted, however, that the variations in the three reports of this discourse indicate a comparatively free treatment of it, the natural result, probably, of its having been often reproduced, wholly or in part, orally before it was committed to writing. On ordinary grounds of evidence, St. Mark’s report, assuming his connection with St. Peter, would seem likely to come nearest to the very words spoken by our Lord. The goodman of the house.—Better, as in Matthew 20:1., householder. In what watch.—The night-watches were four in number, of three hours each. So in Luke 12:38, we have “the second or the third watch” specified. The allusion to the “thief coming” would seem to have passed into the proverbial saying, that the day of the Lord would come “as a thief in the night,” quoted by St. Paul in 1Thessalonians 5:2.

Matthew 24:43 .[1069] Γινώσκετε , ye know .[1070]— εἰ ᾔδει , if he had known ) He would have watched; and that care on his part would not have been much to be wondered at.— ποίᾳ φυλακῇ , in what (Lat. quali ) watch ) It is supposed that the goodman of the house has been warned of the coming of the thief. In carnal concerns we are vigilant, even though we know not in what portion of the night our goods will be endangered, if we know only that the danger will occur either on this, or on one of the next few nights.— φυλακῇ , watch ) although a watch is longer than an hour.— ὁ κλέπτης , the thief ) The last temptation, arising from the concealment of that hour, accompanied by other circumstances of difficulty, is the most severe. For the nearer that the actual accomplishment of anything approaches, so much the more keen become both hope and fear; and, generally speaking, so much the more impatient of any, even the least, delay.

And thus will it be with those who live during the last small portion of time, when the other events which precede it in Revelation 20 shall have come to pass.— οὐκ ἂν εἴασε , κ . τ . λ ., he would not have allowed , etc.) by yielding to sleepiness.— διορυγῆναι , to be dug through [1071]) which would take some time to accomplish. [1069] Three parables in Matthew refer to watchfulness, or else careless security; a fourth refers to faithfulness, or else the want of it.— Harm. , p. 484. [1070] The word in the original of St Matthew may be either Indicative or Imperative. Bengel renders it as the former in the Gnomon, by “ scitis ,” and in his German Version by “ das ist euch aber bekannt .” E. V. in the latter, by “ know ye ;” in which it is supported by the Vulgate, which has “ scitote .”—(I. B.) [1071] E. V. “ broken up .”—(I. B.)

Matthew 24:43 . But (that I may show you by means of a warning example how you may risk your salvation by allowing yourselves to be betrayed into a state of unpreparedness) know this, that if , etc. ὁ οἰκοδεσπότης ] the particular one whom the thief has anticipated. εἰ ᾔδει … ἐγρηγόρησεν ἄν ] if he had been aware at what watch in the night the thief comes , to break into his house, he would have watched . But as he does not know the hour which the thief chooses (it being different in different cases), he is found off his guard when the burglary is being committed. The rendering vigilaret (Luther, Kuinoel, Bleek, after the Vulg.) is incorrect. For the illustration of the thief, comp. 1 Thessalonians 5:2 ; 1 Thessalonians 5:4 ; 2 Peter 3:10 ; Revelation 3:3 ; Revelation 16:15 .

But know this ... - If a man knew the hour, or "about the hour," when a robber would come, he would be ready for him. So you know not the exact hour, but you know it is near, when the Son of man will come. He will come suddenly, as a thief comes, without giving previous warning, 1 Thessalonians 5:2 ; 2 Peter 3:10 ; Revelation 3:3 ; Revelation 16:15 . "Goodman." See the notes at Matthew 20:11 . Thief - A robber. A thief, with us, means one who takes goods without doing violence - secretly, silently. The original word means one who does it by housebreaking, or by highway violence, Luke 10:30. Broken up - Broken into either by the doors or windows. See the notes at Matthew 6:19. In what watch - In which of the four quarters of the night. See the notes at Matthew 14:25.