For wheresoever the carcase is, there will the eagles be gathered together.
Parallel translations
- WEB For wherever the carcass is, there is where the vultures gather together.
- BSB Wherever there is a carcass, there the vultures will gather.
- NKJV For wherever the carcass is, there the eagles will be gathered together.
- NASB Wherever the corpse is, there the vultures will gather.
- NLT Just as the gathering of vultures shows there is a carcass nearby, so these signs indicate that the end is near.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Where the carcass is, the vultures gather. This proverb signals that judgment will fall surely and unmistakably where it is due.
Overview
Like vultures inevitably drawn to a body, judgment will surely come where conditions warrant it. The saying reinforces that Christ's coming and the accompanying judgment will be evident and certain, not hidden. It assures believers of God's sure justice and the unmistakable nature of the day to come.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 5
- Luke 17:37And they answered and said unto him, Where, Lord? And he said unto them, Wheresoever the body is, thither will the eagles be gathered together.
- Job 39:27–30Doth the eagle mount up at thy command, and make her nest on high?
- Amos 9:1–4I saw the LORD standing upon the altar: and he said, Smite the lintel of the door, that the posts may shake: and cut them in the head, all of them; and I will slay the last of them with the sword: he that fleeth of them shall not flee away, and he that escapeth of them shall not be delivered.
- Deut 28:49The LORD shall bring a nation against thee from far, from the end of the earth, as swift as the eagle flieth; a nation whose tongue thou shalt not understand;
- Jer 16:16Behold, I will send for many fishers, saith the LORD, and they shall fish them; and after will I send for many hunters, and they shall hunt them from every mountain, and from every hill, and out of the holes of the rocks.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Christ at the center
Matthew presents Jesus as the promised King — son of David, son of Abraham — the new Moses and true Israel in whom every prophecy reaches 'that it might be fulfilled.'
How Matthew 24:28 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Greek word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.