English · KJV

Matthew 24:8

“Signs of the Beginning of Sorrows”Matthew 24:4–14

King James Version
All these are the beginning of sorrows.

Bible text: King James Version (1769 Blayney text) · Public domain

KJV (with Strong's)
All G1161 G3956 these G5023 are the beginning G746 of sorrows G5604.

Bible text: King James Version with Strong's numbers · Public domain

Berean Standard Bible
All these are the beginning of birth pains.

Bible text: Berean Standard Bible · Public domain

American Standard Version
But all these things are the beginning of travail.

Bible text: American Standard Version (1901) · Public domain

World English Bible Messianic
But all these things are the beginning of birth pains.

Bible text: World English Bible, Messianic edition · Public domain

Geneva Bible (1599)
All these are but ye beginning of sorowes.

Bible text: Geneva Bible (1599) · Public domain

Young's Literal Translation
and all these are the beginning of sorrows;

Bible text: Young's Literal Translation · Public domain

King James Version — Interlinear
5 Greek words
  1. πάνταpantaAllG3956A-NPNAdjective Nominative Plural Neuter
  2. δὲdethenG1161CONJConjunction
  3. ταῦταtautathese [are]G3778D-NPNDemonstrative pronoun Nominative Plural Neuter
  4. ἀρχὴarchē[the] beginningG746N-NSFNoun Nominative Singular Feminine
  5. ὠδίνωνōdinōnof birth painsG5604N-GPFNoun Genitive Plural Feminine
English is a literal word-by-word gloss of the Greek, not the KJV's wording. Why?

This is the original text the KJV's translators worked from — each Greek word with its own literal English meaning in this verse, prepared by scholars at Tyndale House, Cambridge. The KJV translates whole sentences, not word by word, so its wording differs: one Greek word can become several English words, and the KJV may choose “charity” where the gloss reads “love”. Both are faithful — they answer different questions. For the KJV's own rendering, switch to the KJV text.

Words in [ ] are added by the English.

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In the KJVVerse 23,966 of 31,102 · 77.1%

Study this verse

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This verse

All these troubles are only the beginning, the first pains of a birth that God will bring to its appointed end.

“All these”

Every sign named in verses 5 to 7.

“are the beginning”

Only the first stage (archḗ).

“of sorrows.”

Birth pangs (ōdín), pains that grow and lead to a birth.

Passage studyMatthew 24:4–14

Endure Through the Beginning of Sorrows

Summary

The disciples have asked Jesus when the temple will fall and what sign will mark his coming and the end of the world. His first words are a warning: “Take heed that no man deceive you.” Then he tells them what to expect. False Christs and false prophets will lead many astray. Wars, famines, pestilences and earthquakes will come, and he calls them the beginning of sorrows, the first pains of a birth. His followers will be handed over, killed and hated for his name, many will stumble and turn on one another, and love will grow cold as lawlessness spreads. Through all of it he gives a promise and a mission. The one who endures to the end will be saved, and the gospel of the kingdom will be preached to all nations before the end comes.

What the disciples asked on the Mount of Olives

Jesus has just foretold the destruction of the temple (Matthew 24:2). On the Mount of Olives, overlooking Jerusalem and the temple, the disciples come to him privately with their question: “Tell us, when shall these things be? and what shall be the sign of thy coming, and of the end of the world?” (Matthew 24:3, within Matthew 24:1–3). His answer fills the rest of Matthew 24 and all of Matthew 25, and Mark and Luke record the same teaching (Mark 13, Luke 21). He gave it shortly before his crucifixion.

For the disciples the temple stood at the heart of their faith and their nation, and its fall, which came in A.D. 70, was almost beyond imagining. Judea lay under Roman rule, and many of their people longed for a Messiah who would free them from foreign rule and set up God’s kingdom at once. That hope gave room to impostors and rebels who claimed to be him. The disciples wanted a timetable. Jesus begins with what they will need in order to stay faithful: a warning, an honest account of what is coming, a promise to hold on to and a work to do. Later in the same discourse he tells them that no one knows the day or the hour of his coming (Matthew 24:36).

Take heed that no man deceive you

Jesus’ first words in answer are a warning. “Take heed” translates blépō, the ordinary verb for looking at something, which also means to perceive, to regard and to beware. Jesus uses it as a command in the plural, blépete, so the whole group is to keep watch together, with eyes open. “Deceive” is planáō, which comes from plánē, a wandering. It means to cause someone to roam, to lead them astray from safety, truth or goodness and off the true path of faith. “No man”, mē tis, means anyone at all, so the danger may come from any quarter.

Deception comes first because it does the deepest harm. Wars and earthquakes strike from outside, while deception works on the mind and the heart. A believer who has been deceived will misread every other sign, may follow a false Christ or prophet, and can end by leaving the faith altogether. That is why the warning comes back again and again in this chapter: in verse 5, in verse 11, and in Matthew 24:24, where false Christs and false prophets show great signs and wonders. Everything that follows is meant to keep us alert, and the call to watch leads straight on to the call to endure in Matthew 24:13.

False Christs who come in his name

Jesus says that “many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many.” The word polýs, “many”, comes twice, once for the deceivers and once for those they deceive, so this is a widespread danger. “In my name” is epí with ónoma, “upon” or “by” a name, the way someone acts under another’s authority and reputation. These people will present themselves as Christ’s representatives, or as Christ himself, and use the reverence that belongs to his name to win a following. Their claim is “I am Christ”, with an emphatic egṓ eimí, “I myself am”, and the title Christós, the Anointed One, the Messiah Israel was waiting for. They take for themselves the place that belongs to Jesus alone.

In the first century the longing for a deliverer gave rise to men who gathered followings by claiming to be God’s anointed leaders, and history has seen many more since. Jesus is speaking first of individuals who openly claim to be the Christ. The same warning reaches any teacher or movement that pushes the true Christ aside, makes less of what he alone has done, or claims a false anointing that leads people away from the Jesus of Scripture. Mark and Luke give the same warning (Mark 13:6, Luke 21:8).

Every false Christ is measured against the one true Christ. When Andrew found Jesus he told his brother, “We have found the Messias” (John 1:41), and Peter confessed, “Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God” (Matthew 16:16). Jesus fulfils all that was written of him in the law, the prophets and the psalms (Luke 24:44), and he was declared to be the Son of God with power by his resurrection (Romans 1:4). His is the only name under heaven given among men whereby we must be saved (Acts 4:12), and he is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world (John 1:29). His authority was always his own. He came in humility and sacrifice, where the false Christs come proclaiming themselves.

False prophets who rise and deceive

Verse 11 widens the warning: “many false prophets shall rise, and shall deceive many.” The word pseudoprophḗtēs joins pseudos, “false” or “lying”, to prophētēs, “prophet”. A false prophet falsely claims to speak for God or to explain his will. He is an impostor, often with selfish motives, who spreads error and leads others away from God’s truth. “Rise” is egeírō, to waken or rouse, the same verb used of nation rising against nation in verse 7. These people will come forward and become prominent, and planáō appears again for what they do to the many who listen. They rise into the very scene of stumbling, betrayal and hatred that verse 10 describes.

False Christs claim to be the Anointed One himself. False prophets claim to speak for God or to bring new revelation, and false teachers twist doctrine that has already been given. All three lead people away from God’s word, and the false Christ strikes deepest because he attacks who Jesus is.

Israel had always faced this danger. The LORD said through Jeremiah, “The prophets prophesy lies in my name: I sent them not” (Jeremiah 14:14), and the law taught Israel how to test a prophet (Deuteronomy 13:1–5). Jesus warned of false prophets “which come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves” (Matthew 7:15). The apostles say the same. John tells us to “try the spirits whether they are of God” (1 John 4:1), Peter warns of false prophets and false teachers among God’s people (2 Peter 2:1–3), and Paul describes the perilous times of the last days (2 Timothy 3:1–5).

Today false prophets may work through churches, through media of every kind, or through the wider culture. Their methods are often subtle. They mix truth with error, appeal to what people want to feel, promise health or prosperity apart from repentance, or teach doctrines that make less of the person and work of Christ. What marks them is that they lead people away from the true gospel and sound doctrine.

How we keep from being led astray

Jesus himself is our safety. He is “the way, the truth, and the life” (John 14:6), the standard every claim must be measured by. He is the good shepherd (John 10:11), whose sheep hear his voice and follow him, and he gives them eternal life (John 10:27–28). His sheep follow him because they know his voice, and they flee from a stranger (John 10:4–5). In him “are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge” (Colossians 2:3), his words “are spirit, and they are life” (John 6:63), and the truth he gives makes us free (John 8:32). “The light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not” (John 1:5).

So we guard ourselves by knowing him well: by studying Scripture until it is the measure of everything we hear, by prayer, and by relying on the Holy Spirit, who guides us into all truth. Any teaching that leads away from his person, his finished work or his word is a deception to be refused, however much charisma, feeling or wonder comes with it.

Wars and rumours of wars

Jesus turns next to events in the world. “Ye shall hear of wars and rumours of wars.” Wars (pólemos) are actual fighting, and the “rumours” are the reports and threats of war, from akoḗ, a hearing, something heard. Together they describe a world unsettled by conflict near and far. The disciples lived under Roman occupation, where unrest, revolt and its suppression were never far away, and the destruction of Jerusalem and its temple lay ahead of them.

Then comes a command: “see that ye be not troubled.” The verb throéō, here in the passive, means to be alarmed or terrified, as by a great noise or uproar. Jesus forbids his disciples that inner panic, and he gives his reason: “for all these things must come to pass.” The word deî, “must”, expresses necessity, and here it is God’s necessity. These wars belong to his appointed plan for history, and he remains in control of them.

The verse ends, “but the end is not yet.” Télos, the end, is the goal or limit something moves toward, the conclusion it reaches. Here it means the completion of the age at Christ’s return. Wars are early signs, and further events and a span of time lie between them and the end. Jesus says so to keep his people from declaring the end too soon, and Mark records the same words: “be ye not troubled: for such things must needs be; but the end shall not be yet” (Mark 13:7).

Why the disciples can be at peace

The same Jesus said, “Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid” (John 14:27). He is the Prince of Peace (Isaiah 9:6), who reconciles us to God, and “the peace of God, which passeth all understanding” (Philippians 4:7) keeps his people even while the wars he foretold go on. The end that is “not yet” will come with his return, when he ends all conflict and God wipes away all tears, and death, sorrow, crying and pain are gone (Revelation 21:4). So we can hear the news soberly, with neither panic nor date-setting, and keep at the work he has given us.

Nation against nation, and famine, pestilence and earthquake

Verse 7 explains the wars: “For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom.” The word for nation, éthnos, means a race or people, and it is often used of foreign or non-Jewish peoples, the Gentiles. So Jesus speaks of strife between peoples as well as between states, including the hostility of one tribe or race toward another. “Rise”, egeírō, is to waken or rouse, and here it is a people rousing itself to attack another. “Kingdom against kingdom” says the same thing again of organized powers, and the doubling stresses how widespread the conflict will be.

Then come disasters: “famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places.” Famines often follow war, which ruins harvests and trade. Pestilences, loimós, are plagues and epidemics, which spread among people weakened by war and hunger. Ancient manuscripts of Matthew differ over whether this word belongs in the verse, and the KJV includes it. Earthquakes were a known danger around the Mediterranean, and the Roman Empire of Jesus’ day had its share of revolts, famines and local disasters. “In divers places”, katá tópos, means place after place. These troubles will appear in many separate regions, though they need not strike everywhere at once.

Jesus’ hearers knew the prophets’ pictures of the day of the LORD, with judgment, upheaval among the nations and signs in the heavens (Isaiah 13:9–13, Joel 2:30–31). Mark and Luke record this verse too (Mark 13:8, Luke 21:10–11), and the same picture returns with the four horsemen of Revelation 6:3–8. These sorrows show a world broken by sin, in human conflict and in a creation that groans, and they show how badly the world needs its King. Christ will bring them to an end, when “the kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ” (Revelation 11:15).

Is every war or earthquake a sign of the end?

Wars, famines and earthquakes have happened throughout history, and Jesus calls them only the beginning. Their meaning lies in the whole pattern, in their spread across the earth and their growing weight, as part of the birth pains that lead to the end of the age. We are to watch for his coming (Matthew 24:42) and read the pattern of the times, and leave the date with God.

The beginning of sorrows, the first pains of birth

Verse 8 tells us how to read all of this: “All these are the beginning of sorrows.” Pâs, “all”, gathers up every sign so far: the false Christs, the wars and rumours of wars, nation against nation, famines, pestilences and earthquakes. Archḗ is a beginning, the first stage of something. These events start the process. The end itself, and the great tribulation Jesus describes later (Matthew 24:21), are still to come.

The word the KJV renders “sorrows” is ōdín, which means birth pangs, the pains of labour, so the Greek phrase archē ōdinōn is “the beginning of birth pains”. The picture carries three truths. Labour pains grow stronger and come more often, and so will these troubles. Labour pains have a purpose, which is a birth, and through these troubles God is bringing forth his kingdom in its fullness. And once labour has begun the birth will surely follow, as surely as Christ will return and reign.

Jesus’ Jewish hearers knew this picture. The prophets used a woman in labour for the anguish of God’s judgment and the dawn of a new era (Isaiah 13:8, Jeremiah 30:6–7), and Jewish hope spoke of the “birth pangs of the Messiah” (chevlei Mashiach), a time of suffering expected before the Messiah’s kingdom. Paul uses the image twice. Sudden destruction will come as travail upon a woman with child (1 Thessalonians 5:3), and “the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now” (Romans 8:22) as it waits for the revealing of the children of God (Romans 8:18–25). The pain is real, and it leads to the new heaven and new earth, where God will wipe away every tear (Revelation 21:1–4).

Christ himself bore the deepest sorrows on the cross, and his resurrection brought new life to a redeemed people. So we can meet these pains with hope. Jesus said, “when these things begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption draweth nigh” (Luke 21:28).

Hated of all nations for his name’s sake

With “Then” (tóte) Jesus turns from troubles that fall on everyone to suffering aimed at his own followers: “Then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted, and shall kill you: and ye shall be hated of all nations for my name’s sake.” To deliver up, paradídōmi, is to hand someone over, often to the authorities for judgment and punishment, as Jesus himself was delivered up to be crucified (John 19:16). “To be afflicted” is literally “into affliction”, eis with thlîpsis, a word for pressure. It covers anguish, distress and tribulation of body, mind and spirit, and the New Testament uses it often for what God’s people suffer. “Shall kill you”, apokteínō, foretells martyrdom plainly. Stephen was the first of many (Acts 7:54–60).

The verb for hate, miséō, means to detest, especially to persecute, and by extension to love less. It is active hostility that seeks to harm. “Of all nations” is hypó pâs éthnos, hated “by” all the peoples, so the opposition reaches across every culture and border. The reason is “for my name’s sake”, diá moû ónoma, “because of my name”. A name stands for the whole person, with his authority, reputation and teaching. Believers are hated because they belong to Christ, follow him as Lord and proclaim his gospel, and the world’s hatred of them is hatred of him.

This came true quickly. The first believers were at first taken for a sect within Judaism, and as the church grew it met hostility from Jewish authorities and from Rome. Roman officials accused Christians of atheism, because they refused to worship Rome’s gods and its emperors, and of other evils, and fierce persecutions broke out under Nero around A.D. 64 and later under Domitian.

Jesus had told his disciples, “If the world hate you, ye know that it hated me before it hated you” (John 15:18), and “The servant is not greater than his lord. If they have persecuted me, they will also persecute you” (John 15:20, in John 15:18–20). The world hated him without a cause (John 15:25), and following him means bearing the cross (Luke 14:27). Peter tells believers who suffer as Christians to glorify God for it (1 Peter 4:12–16), and he points to Christ, who suffered and left us an example (1 Peter 2:21–23). Paul speaks of his own sufferings as sharing in the afflictions of Christ for the sake of the church (Colossians 1:24). The risen Lord promises, “be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life” (Revelation 2:10), and the name we suffer for is the name above every name, at which every knee shall bow (Philippians 2:9–11).

Does every nation hate Christ’s people?

Jesus is describing how widespread the hostility will be, and he speaks of every people without saying that each person in it will hate believers. The world’s ways and values stand against the gospel, and wherever the gospel is faithfully preached and lived, it meets resistance. In some places that means prison and death, and in others social exclusion, discrimination, ridicule or legal limits. The verse found its first fulfilment in the early church, and it describes the experience of believers in every generation until Christ returns. Jesus foretold this suffering, he endured it first, and he promises vindication and reward, so persecution is no sign that God has abandoned his people. The Holy Spirit gives courage and peace in it, and the fellowship of other believers strengthens us to bear it.

Many stumble, betray and hate one another

Verse 10 turns inward: “And then shall many be offended, and shall betray one another, and shall hate one another.” The KJV’s “offended” means far more than annoyed. The verb skandalízō comes from skandalon, the bait-stick of a trap, a snare, or anything a person trips over. To be offended in this sense is to stumble and fall away, from faith, from moral integrity or from loyalty to Christ. Jesus described the same thing in the parable of the sower, where the seed on stony ground springs up quickly, and when tribulation or persecution arises because of the word, “by and by he is offended” (Matthew 13:20–21).

“Betray” is paradídōmi, from para, “alongside”, and didomi, “to give”, the same verb as “deliver you up” in verse 9. The handing over now comes from within, as people give one another up to enemies or authorities, out of fear, for gain, or to save themselves. Judas did this to Jesus himself (Matthew 26:47–50). Last comes hatred, miséō again, where love and unity once stood. The three steps go steadily downward, from stumbling, to betraying, to hating.

Jesus’ Jewish hearers knew how persecution and national crisis could split a people, as had happened in the time of the Maccabees and would happen again in the wars with Rome. Jesus warns that the trust holding families and communities together, even among those who profess faith, will give way under pressure. The verse leads straight into the cold love of Matthew 24:12.

Christ himself became the stone of stumbling and rock of offence (Isaiah 8:14, 1 Peter 2:8), the one betrayed by his own disciple and hated by the world. Through his death he broke the power of the sin that shows itself in stumbling, betrayal and hatred, and by his Spirit his people can keep his new commandment, “That ye love one another; as I have loved you” (John 13:34). “Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of God” (1 John 4:7–8).

When iniquity abounds, love grows cold

Verse 12 gives a cause and its effect: “because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold.” Iniquity is anomía, lawlessness, the breaking of law and wickedness in general. It is a settled disregard of God’s law and a rebellion against his order, far more than a scattering of separate sins. “Abound” is plēthýnō, to increase or multiply, so the lawlessness will spread and grow. Jesus had already spoken of an evil generation that sought a sign (Matthew 12:39).

The effect falls on love, agápē, the self-giving love God shows and asks of his people. “Wax cold” is psýchō, a verb that first means to breathe gently and then, figuratively, to chill. Love that once burned will cool, the way a fire dies down to embers. The chill shows itself in fading devotion to God, in less compassion and care among believers, and in indifference to the needs of others.

Love lies at the heart of what God asks, for on love of God and love of neighbour hang all the law and the prophets (Matthew 22:37–40). When lawlessness spreads and love fails, the very centre of discipleship is under attack. The risen Lord warned the church at Laodicea that it had become lukewarm (Revelation 3:15–16).

Whose love grows cold?

“Many” (polýs) points to something widespread that stops short of everyone. It includes believers whose love for God and one another fades within the professing church, and it reaches the wider world too, where ordinary compassion for others wears away as lawlessness abounds.

Against that cold, Christ shows a love that never cooled: “Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends” (John 15:13). He came to fulfil the law (Matthew 5:17), and his Spirit bears love in us as the first of his fruit (Galatians 5:22). Love for one another is the mark by which all will know his disciples (John 13:34–35). His people are the light of the world (Matthew 5:14–16), and nothing can separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord (Romans 8:38–39).

He that shall endure unto the end

Verse 13 stands against all that has gone before: “But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved.” To endure is hypoménō, to stay under, to remain, and so to bear trials, show fortitude and persevere. Its noun, hypomonē, is the word for patient perseverance. It means holding firm with courage under pressure, suffering and temptation, and keeping faith with Christ for a whole lifetime. “The same” points back to that one person. “Shall be saved” is sṓzō, to save, deliver or protect, a word that can also mean to heal and to make whole. It can include being kept through trials, and here it speaks above all of eternal salvation, deliverance from God’s wrath and entry into his kingdom.

The rest of Scripture says the same. Paul writes that “tribulation worketh patience”, and that hope follows (Romans 5:3–5). “For ye have need of patience, that, after ye have done the will of God, ye might receive the promise” (Hebrews 10:36). The crown of life is promised to those faithful unto death (Revelation 2:10). The way that leads to life is narrow (Matthew 7:13–14), and those who walk it to the end show that their faith is real.

Which end does Jesus mean?

The word is télos again, as in verse 6, and believers differ on what it refers to here. Some take it as the end of a time of great tribulation, whether the fall of Jerusalem in A.D. 70 or the great tribulation before Christ returns. Some take it as the end of a believer’s own life, so that enduring to the end means staying faithful until death. Others take it as the end of the age, when Christ returns in glory, the end the disciples asked about (Matthew 24:3). On every reading Jesus asks the same steadfastness of each believer, whatever end he or she faces.

Is salvation earned by enduring?

Salvation is the gift of God’s grace, received through faith in Christ: “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast” (Ephesians 2:8–9). Endurance is the fruit and evidence of saving faith, the work God has begun in us, carried on by his Spirit. Jesus is our example, “who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame” (Hebrews 12:2), and he is also the source of our strength to endure: “I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me” (Philippians 4:13). Christ intercedes for us at the right hand of God (Romans 8:34), and he “is able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy” (Jude 1:24). Those he has called, he keeps, and so they endure.

The gospel of the kingdom preached to all nations

Last comes a sign of hope: “And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come.” The gospel, euangélion, is the good news. Matthew calls it “the gospel of the kingdom” (euangelion tēs basileias), the message at the centre of Jesus’ own ministry: God’s reign has broken into the world through Jesus Christ, and it will be fully and visibly established when he returns. Jesus began preaching with it: “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand: repent ye, and believe the gospel” (Mark 1:15). Through his cross God has delivered us from the power of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of his dear Son (Colossians 1:13–14). So the gospel is good news of forgiveness for each person who believes, and it is also the announcement that God is King over all.

To preach, kērýssō, is to proclaim as a herald does, in public and with authority. “The world” is oikouménē, the inhabited earth. The word sometimes meant the Roman Empire, but joined to “all nations” it reaches every land. “All nations”, panta ta ethnē, means every people and ethnic group, and recalls God’s promise that in Abraham all families of the earth would be blessed (Genesis 12:3). For disciples raised to think of Israel first, this opened the way to a mission among the Gentiles, which the early church soon took up.

The preaching is “for a witness”, martýrion, a testimony that makes God’s truth known. Every people will hear, and that establishes their accountability before God and the justice of his final judgment.

Every person, or every people?

The emphasis falls on every people group having the message. Jesus promises a witness to all nations, and he leaves each hearer to respond. Revelation shows the harvest: “a great multitude, which no man could number, of all nations, and kindreds, and people, and tongues” standing before the throne (Revelation 7:9–10).

When the gospel goes out, and when the end comes

Jesus speaks of this preaching in the same breath as the persecution, falling away and lawlessness of verses 9 to 13, so the gospel goes out during these troubles. Even while believers are hated and killed, the mission goes on to its completion. The risen Lord gave the charge, “Go ye therefore, and teach all nations” (Matthew 28:19–20), and promised his disciples power when the Holy Spirit came upon them, to be his witnesses to the uttermost part of the earth (Acts 1:8).

“And then shall the end come.” This télos is the end the disciples asked about, the completion of the age, when the Son of man comes in his glory (Matthew 25:31) and Christ appears as King of kings and Lord of lords (Revelation 19:11–16), and God makes all things new in a new heaven and a new earth (Revelation 21:1–4). Christ is the content of the message, he sends its messengers, and he brings it to its glorious end.

Living through the beginning of sorrows

Jesus told his disciples these things to prepare them, and his words prepare us in the same way. Keep watch, and test every voice by Christ and his word, however impressive the voice may be. When news of war or disaster comes, you can grieve and pray in peace, because Jesus said these things must happen and God holds them in his hand. Where following Christ costs you something, remember that he was hated first, and that the name you bear is the name above every name. Guard your love for God and for his people while lawlessness spreads, and stay close to Christ, who keeps those who are his to the end. And take your part in the work Jesus says will go on through all of it, praying, giving and speaking, so that the gospel of the kingdom reaches every nation. The sorrows are only the beginning, and the end belongs to him.

Last revised

Historical interpretation

Ten Centuries of Reception

11 surviving comments on this verse. Each one is dated, so this reads as a timeline rather than a list.

11 quotes · AD 100–1107
Ante-NicenePost-NiceneEarly MedievalMedieval
10020030040050060070080090010001100

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AD 100DidacheAnte-NiceneSourceThe Didache, Chapter 16
Watch for your life's sake. Let not your lamps be quenched, nor your loins unloosed; but be ye ready, for ye know not the hour in which our Lord cometh. But often shall ye come together, seeking the things which are befitting to your souls: for the whole time of your faith will not profit you, if ye be not made perfect in the last time. For in the last days false prophets and corrupters shall be multiplied, and the sheep shall be turned into wolves, and love shall be turned into hate; for when lawlessness increaseth, they shall hate and persecute and betray one another, and then shall appear the world-deceiver as Son of God, and shall do signs and wonders, and the earth shall be delivered into his hands, and he shall do iniquitous things which have never yet come to pass since the beginning. Then shall the creation of men come into the fire of trial, and many shall be made to stumble and shall perish; but they that endure in their faith shall be saved from under the curse itself. And then shall appear the signs of the truth; first, the sign of an out-spreading in heaven; then the sign of the sound of the trumpet; and the third, the resurrection of the dead; yet not of all, but as it is said: The Lord shall come and all His saints with Him. Then shall the world see the Lord coming upon the clouds of heaven.
d. AD 253Origen of Alexandriaas quoted by Aquinas, AD 1274Ante-NiceneSourceCatena Aurea by Aquinas
They that are deceived are many, because wide is the gate that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat. (Mat. 7:13.) This one thing is enough to detect the Antichrists and seducers that they shall say, I am Christ, which Christ Himself is no where read to have said: for the works of God, and the word which He taught, and His power, were enough to produce belief that He is Christ. For every discourse which professes to expound Scripture faithfully, and has not the truth, is Antichrist. For the truth is Christ, that which feigns itself to be the truth is Antichrist. So also all virtues are Christ, all that feigns itself to be virtue is Antichrist; for Christ has in Himself in truth all manner of good for the edification of men, but the devil has forged resemblances of the same for the deceiving of the saints. We have need therefore of God to help us, that none deceive us, neither word nor power. It is a bad thing to find any one erring in his course of life; but I esteem it much worse not to think according to the most true rule of Scripture.

To hear the shouts raised in the battles, is to hear wars; to hear rumours of wars, is to hear accounts of wars waged afar off.

Or otherwise; As the body sickens before the death of the man, so it must needs be that before the consummation of this world the earth should be shaken, as though it were palsied, with frequent earthquakes, the air should gather a deadly quality and become pestilential, and that the vital energy of the soil should fail, and its fruits wither. And by consequence of this scarcity, men are stirred up to robbery and war. But because war and strife arise sometimes from covctousness, and sometimes from desire of power and empty glory, of these which shall happen before the end of the world a yet deeper cause shall be assignable. For as Christ's coming brought through His divine power peace to divers nations, so it shall be on the other hand, that when iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold, and God and His Christ shall desert them; wars shall be again when actions which beget wars are not hindered by holiness; and hostile powers when they are not restrained by the Saints and by Christ shall work unchecked in the hearts of men, stirring up nation against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. But if, as some will have it, famine and pestilence are from the Angels of Satan, these shall then gather might from opposite powers, when the salt of the earth, and the lights of the world, Christ's disciples, shall be no longer, destroying those things which the malice of dæmons hatches. Ofttimes in Israel famines and pestilences were caused by sin, and removed by the prayers of the Saints. (1 Kings 17:1. Jer. 14. James 5:17, 18.) Well is that said, In divers places, for God will not destroy the whole race of men at once, but judging them in portions, He gives opportunity of repentance. But if some stop be not put to these evils in their commencement, they will progress to worse, as it follows, These all are the beginnings of sorrows, that is, sorrows common to the whole world, and those which are to come upon the wicked who shall be tormented in most sharp pains.

This must come to pass before we can see the perfection of that wisdom which is in Christ; but not yet shall be that end which we seek, for a peaceful end is far from those men.
AD 380Apostolic ConstitutionsPost-NiceneSourceApostolic Constitutions (Book VII), Section 2, XXXII
For in the last days false prophets shall be multiplied, and such as corrupt the word; and the sheep shall be changed into wolves, and love into hatred: for through the abounding of iniquity the love of many shall wax cold. For men shall hate, and persecute, and betray one another. And then shall appear the deceiver of the world, the enemy of the truth, the prince of lies, [2 Thessalonians 2:3-12] whom the Lord Jesus "shall destroy with the spirit of His mouth, who takes away the wicked with His lips; and many shall be offended at Him. But they that endure to the end, the same shall be saved. And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven;" [Isaiah 11:4; Matthew 24:1-51] and afterwards shall be the voice of a trumpet by the archangel; and in that interval shall be the revival of those that were asleep. And then shall the Lord come, and all His saints with Him, with a great concussion above the clouds, with the angels of His power, [Matthew 16:27] in the throne of His kingdom, to condemn the devil, the deceiver of the world, and to render to every one according to his deeds. "Then shall the wicked go away into everlasting punishment, but the righteous shall go into life eternal," [Matthew 25:46] to inherit those things "which eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor have entered into the heart of man, such things as God has prepared for them that love Him;" [1 Corinthians 2:9] and they shall rejoice in the kingdom of God, which is in Christ Jesus.
d. AD 407John ChrysostomPost-NiceneSourceHomily on the Gospel of Matthew 75
For the war, saith He, shall be twofold that of the deceivers, and that of the enemies, but the former far more grievous, as coming upon them in the confusion and turmoils, and when men were terrified and troubled. For indeed great was the storm then, when the Roman power was beginning to flourish, and cities were taken, and camps and weapons were set in motion, and many were readily believed.

But of wars in Jerusalem is He speaking; for it is not surely of those without, and everywhere in the world; for what did they care for these? And besides, He would thus say nothing new, if He were speaking of the calamities of the world at large, which are happening always. For before this, were wars, and tumults, and fightings; but He speaks of the Jewish wars coming upon them at no great distance, for henceforth the Roman arms were a matter of anxiety. Since then these things also were sufficient to confound them, He foretells them all.

Then to show that He Himself also will assail the Jews with them, and war on them, He speaks not of battles only, but also of plagues sent from God, famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, showing that the wars also He Himself permitted to come upon them, and that these things do not happen for no purpose according to what has been before the accustomed course of things amongst men, but proceed from the wrath on high.

Therefore He saith, they shall come not by themselves or at once, but with signs. For that the Jews may not say, that they who then believed were the authors of these evils, therefore hath He told them also of the cause of their coming upon them. "For verily I say unto you," He said before, "all these things shall come upon this generation," having made mention of the stain of blood on them.

Then lest on hearing of the showers of evils, they should suppose the gospel to be broken through, He added, "See, be not troubled, for all things must come to pass," i.e which I foretold, and the approach of the temptations will set aside none of the things which I have said; but there shall indeed be tumults and confusion, but nothing shall shake my predictions.

Then since He had said to the Jews, "Ye shall not see me, till ye shall say, Blessed is He that cometh in the name of the Lord;" and the disciples supposed that together with the destruction would be the end also; to set right this secret thought of theirs, He said, "But the end is not yet." For that they did suspect even as I said, you may learn from their question. For, what did they ask? When shall these things be? i.e. when shall Jerusalem be destroyed? And what is the sign of Thy coming, and of the end of the world?

But He answered nothing directly to this question, but first speaks of those other things that are urgent, and which it was needful for them to learn first. For neither concerning Jerusalem straightway, nor of His own second coming, did He speak, but touching the ills that were to meet them at the doors. Wherefore also He makes them earnest in their exertions, by saying, "Take heed that no man deceive you; for many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ."

Afterwards, when He hath roused them to listen about these things (for, "take heed," saith He, "that no man deceive you"); and having made them energetic, and prepared them to be watchful, and hath spoken first of the false Christs, then He speaks of the ills of Jerusalem, assuring them ever by the things already past, foolish and contentious though they were, of those which were yet to come.

But by "wars and rumors of wars," He meaneth, what I before said, the troubles coming upon them. After this, because, as I have already said, they supposed after that war the end would come, see how He warns them, saying, "But the end is not yet. For nation," He saith, "shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom." Of the preludes to the ills of the Jews doth He speak. "All these are the beginning of sorrows," that is, of those that befall them.
d. AD 407John ChrysostomPost-NiceneSourceHomily on the Gospel of Matthew 75
"All these are the beginning of sorrows," that is, of those that befall them.

Seest thou in what a state things were then, and how manifold was the war? And this is the beginning, when each of the things to be effected most required quiet. In what state then were they? for nothing hinders us from resuming the same things again. The first war was that of the deceivers; "For there shall come," He saith, "false Christs and false prophets:" the second, that of the Romans, "For ye shall hear," He saith, "of wars:" the third, that which bringeth on the "famines:" the fourth, "the pestilences" and "the earthquakes:" the fifth, "they shall deliver you into afflictions:" the sixth, "ye shall be hated of all men:" the seventh, "They shall betray one another, and hate one another" (an intestine war doth He here make known); then, "false Christs," and false brethren; then, "the love of the most shall wax cold," which is the cause of all the ills.

Seest thou numberless kinds of war, new and strange? Yet nevertheless in the midst of these things, and much more (for with the intestine wars was mingled also that of kinsmen), the gospel prevailed over the whole earth. "For the gospel," He saith, "shall be preached in the whole world."
d. AD 407John Chrysostomas quoted by Aquinas, AD 1274Post-NiceneSourceCatena Aurea by Aquinas
Here He speaks of the battles which should be fought at Jerusalem; when He says, Ye shall hear wars, and rumours of wars.

And because this might alarm the disciples, He continues, See that ye be not troubled. And because they supposed that the end of the world would follow immediately after the war in which Jerusalem should be destroyed, He corrects their suspicions concerning this, These things must come to pass, but the end is not yet.

And to show that He also should fight against the Jews, He tells them not only of wars, but of calamities inflicted by Providence, And there shall be pestilences, and famines, and earthquakes in divers places.

And these things shall not happen according to the order of nature before established among men, but shall come of wrath from heaven, and therefore He said not that they should come only, or come suddenly, but adds significantly, These all are the beginnings of troubles, that is, of the Jewish troubles.
d. AD 420JeromePost-NiceneSourceCommentary on Matthew
(Verses 7, 8.) For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and there shall be pestilences and famines, and earthquakes in various places. But all these things are the beginnings of sorrows. I do not doubt that these things indeed shall come to pass literally as they are written. But it seems to me that the kingdom against kingdom and their pestilence, whose speech spreads like cancer (2 Timothy 2), and the famine to hear the word of God, and the commotion of the whole earth, and the separation from true faith, are more understood in heretics who fight against each other, making victory for the Church. But what he said: These things, however, are the beginnings of sorrows, are better translated as birth pains, so that it may be understood as a kind of conception of the coming of the Antichrist, not as childbirth.
d. AD 420Jeromeas quoted by Aquinas, AD 1274Post-NiceneSourceCatena Aurea by Aquinas
That is, Think not that the day of judgment is at hand, but that it is reserved against another time; the sign of which is plainly put in what follows, For nation shall rise against-nation, and kingdom against kingdom.

Figuratively; Kingdom rising against kingdom and pestilence of that discourse which spreadeth as a plague-spot, and hunger of hearing the word of God, and commotion throughout the earth, and separation from the true faith, my be rather understood of the heretics, who fighting among themselves give the victory to the Church.

These all are the beginnings of sorrows, is better understood of pains of labour, as it were the conception of the coming of Antichrist, and not of the birth.
d. AD 430Augustine of Hippoas quoted by Aquinas, AD 1274Post-NiceneSourceCatena Aurea by Aquinas
(Ep. 199. 25.) To this enquiry of the disciples the Lord makes answer, declaring all things which were to come to pass from that time forwards, whether relating to the destruction of Jerusalem, which had given occasion to their enquiry; or to His coming through the Church, in which He ceases not to come to the end of time; for He is acknowledged as coming among His own, while new members are daily born to Him; or relating to the end itself when He shall appear to judge the quick and the dead. When then He describes the signs which shall attend these three events, we must carefully consider which signs belong to which events, lest perchance we refer to one that which belongs to another.
d. AD 856Rabanus Maurusas quoted by Aquinas, AD 1274Early MedievalSourceCatena Aurea by Aquinas
RABANUS.b Or, this is a warning to the Apostles not to flee from Jerusalem and Judæa in terror of these things, when they should begin to come upon them; because the end was not immediately, but the desolation of the province, and the destruction of the city and temple should not come till the fortieth year. And we know that most grievous woes, which spread over the whole province, fell out to the very letter.

Nation shall rise against nation, shows the disquietude of men's minds; pestilences, the affliction of their bodies; famines, the barrenness of the soil; earthquakes in dicers places, wrath from heaven above.
d. AD 1107Theophylact of OhridMedieval
He is speaking of the wars conducted by the Romans in Jerusalem. Not only does He say that there will be wars, but famines and plagues as well, showing that the wrath directed against the Jews is sent by God. For while it can be said that wars are caused by the violence of men, famines and plagues have no other cause than God. Then He says, lest they think that the world will come to an end before they have preached the Gospel, "Be not troubled, the end is not yet." For the destruction of Jerusalem and the end of the whole world will not be at the same time. But "nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom," He says, on account of the calamities soon to befall the Jews. And these calamities are the beginning of the pangs of labor; for just as the expectant mother goes into labor but does not give birth yet, so too this present age will first suffer turmoil and wars and then give birth to the things that shall be.
Source: Quotations drawn from early Church Fathers and historical Christian theologians (AD 100–1500). Some quotes address the surrounding passage context rather than this verse alone.

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