And they were oblivious, until the flood came and swept them all away. So will it be at the coming of the Son of Man.
Parallel translations
- WEB and they didn’t know until the flood came, and took them all away, so will be the coming of the Son of Man.
- KJV And knew not until the flood came, and took them all away; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.
- NKJV and did not know until the flood came and took them all away, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be.
- NASB and they did not understand until the flood came and took them all away; so will the coming of the Son of Man be.
- NLT People didn’t realize what was going to happen until the flood came and swept them all away. That is the way it will be when the Son of Man comes.
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
They did not know until the flood swept them all away; so will Christ's coming be. Sudden judgment falls on those who refuse to watch.
Overview
The flood generation remained ignorant until destruction overtook them, illustrating the suddenness of the Son of Man's coming. 'Took them all away' here describes those swept off in judgment, while Noah's family was preserved. The contrast urges hearers to be among the saved, not the swept-away. Only those sheltered in God's provision, ultimately in Christ, are secure.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 13
- John 3:20Everyone who does evil hates the Light, and does not come into the Light for fear that his deeds will be exposed.
- Matt 24:37As it was in the days of Noah, so will it be at the coming of the Son of Man.
- Acts 13:41‘Look, you scoffers, wonder and perish! For I am doing a work in your days that you would never believe, even if someone told you.’”
- Prov 24:12If you say, “Behold, we did not know about this,” does not He who weighs hearts consider it? Does not the One who guards your life know? Will He not repay a man according to his deeds?
- Isa 44:18–19They do not comprehend or discern, for He has shut their eyes so they cannot see and closed their minds so they cannot understand.
- Prov 29:7The righteous consider the cause of the poor, but the wicked have no regard for such concerns.
- 2 Pet 3:5But they deliberately overlook the fact that long ago by God’s word the heavens existed and the earth was formed out of water and by water,
- Matt 13:13–15This is why I speak to them in parables: ‘Though seeing, they do not see; though hearing, they do not hear or understand.’
- Isa 42:25So He poured out on them His furious anger and the fierceness of battle. It enveloped them in flames, but they did not understand; it consumed them, but they did not take it to heart.
- Rom 1:28Furthermore, since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, He gave them up to a depraved mind, to do what ought not to be done.
- Luke 19:44They will level you to the ground—you and the children within your walls. They will not leave one stone on another, because you did not recognize the time of your visitation from God.”
- Judg 20:34Then 10,000 select men from all Israel made a frontal assault against Gibeah, and the battle was fierce. But the Benjamites did not realize that disaster was upon them.
- Prov 23:35“They struck me, but I feel no pain! They beat me, but I did not know it! When can I wake up to search for another drink?”
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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 24:39 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.