Limitless Word
For the coming of the Son of Man will be just like the days of Noah.
Matthew 24:37 · New American Standard Bible
Parallel translations
  • WEB “As the days of Noah were, so will be the coming of the Son of Man.
  • KJV But as the days of Noe were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.
  • BSB As it was in the days of Noah, so will it be at the coming of the Son of Man.
  • NKJV But as the days of Noah were, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be.
  • NLT “When the Son of Man returns, it will be like it was in Noah’s day.

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

As in Noah's days, so will the coming of the Son of Man be. Life will seem ordinary until sudden judgment arrives.

Overview

Jesus compares his return to the era before the flood, when people lived unaware of impending judgment. The point is not gross wickedness alone but spiritual carelessness amid normal life. As the flood came suddenly upon the unprepared, so will the Son of Man come. The warning calls hearers to repentance and watchfulness before the door closes.

Cross-references & the web

Cross-references · 9

  • Luke 17:26–27As it was in the days of Noah, even so will it be also in the days of the Son of Man.
  • Gen 6:1–7When men began to multiply on the surface of the ground, and daughters were born to them,
  • 2 Pet 3:6by which means the world that then was, being overflowed with water, perished.
  • Heb 11:7By faith, Noah, being warned about things not yet seen, moved with godly fear, prepared a ship for the saving of his house, through which he condemned the world, and became heir of the righteousness which is according to faith.
  • 2 Pet 2:5and didn’t spare the ancient world, but preserved Noah with seven others, a preacher of righteousness, when he brought a flood on the world of the ungodly;
  • Matt 24:39and they didn’t know until the flood came, and took them all away, so will be the coming of the Son of Man.
  • 1 Pet 3:20–21who before were disobedient, when God waited patiently in the days of Noah, while the ship was being built. In it, few, that is, eight souls, were saved through water.
  • Gen 7:6–23Noah was six hundred years old when the flood of waters came on the earth.
  • Job 22:15–17Will you keep the old way, which wicked men have trodden,

Themes, concepts, people & topics

Topics (2)

Resources, by level

Commentaries & study tools

  • VideoBibleProject — Matthew videosBibleProject · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.

  • VideoWatch teaching on Matthew 24:37YouTube · Lay · Free

    Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.

  • CommentaryEnduring Word — verse-by-verseDavid Guzik · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.

  • CommentaryClassic commentaries for this verseBibleHub (20+ works) · Pastoral · Free

    Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.

  • CommentaryMatthew Henry on MatthewMatthew Henry · Pastoral · Free · evangelical

    The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).

  • ReferenceInterlinear, lexicon & Strong'sBlue Letter Bible · Seminary · Free

    Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.

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 24:37 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.