Luke 17:26

And as it was in the days of Noe, so shall it be also in the days of the Son of man.

EXPOSITORY (ENGLISH BIBLE)

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers

(26) As it was in the days of Noe.—See Notes on Matthew 24:26-27. Here, also, the “days” of the Son of Man take the place of the parousia.

Benson Commentary

Luke 17:26-30. As it was in the days of Noe, &c. — In the next place, he foretold the stupidity of the generation he should come to destroy, comparing it to that of the old world, about the time of the flood; who, being wholly unaffected with the admonitions which Noah gave them, while building the ark, and with the threatenings which he then denounced, went on as usual, following their ordinary occupations, and pursuing their pleasures, both lawful and unlawful, in great security. The consequence of which was, that, ere they were aware, the flood came and destroyed them all. See on Matthew 24:37; Matthew 24:39. Likewise, as it was in the days of Lot — The Jewish people shall be sunk in carnal security at the coming of the Son of man to execute judgment upon them, as the Sodomites were, when they were unexpectedly destroyed by fire and brimstone from heaven.

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

17:20-37 The kingdom of God was among the Jews, or rather within some of them. It was a spiritual kingdom, set up in the heart by the power of Divine grace. Observe how it had been with sinners formerly, and in what state the judgments of God, which they had been warned of, found them. Here is shown what a dreadful surprise this destruction will be to the secure and sensual. Thus shall it be in the day when the Son of man is revealed. When Christ came to destroy the Jewish nation by the Roman armies, that nation was found in such a state of false security as is here spoken of. In like manner, when Jesus Christ shall come to judge the world, sinners will be found altogether regardless; for in like manner the sinners of every age go on securely in their evil ways, and remember not their latter end. But wherever the wicked are, who are marked for eternal ruin, they shall be found by the judgments of God.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

See the notes at Matthew 24:37-39.

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

26-30. eat … married … planted—all the ordinary occupations and enjoyments of life. Though the antediluvian world and the cities of the plain were awfully wicked, it is not their wickedness, but their worldliness, their unbelief and indifference to the future, their unpreparedness, that is here held up as a warning. Note.—These recorded events of Old Testament history—denied or explained away nowadays by not a few—are referred to here as facts.

Matthew Poole's Commentary

Ver. 26-30. See Poole on "Matthew 24:37", and following verse to Matthew 24:39. Our blessed Lord in these verses doth both declare the surprisal of the Jews with that judgment which was coming upon them, and of the world with his coming in the day of judgment, (of which the destruction of Jerusalem was a type), and also forewarns them to take heed that they might not be surprised; he tells them, that

in the days of the Son of man, ( so that he speaketh of more than one day), the day of his power in the destruction of the Jews, and in the day of judgment, the antitype to the former, it shall be as in the days of Noah and of Lot. In the days of those men, neither the men of the old world, nor the men of Sodom, would hearken either to Noah or Lot, who were preachers of righteousness to them, and gave them examples of sober and holy lives; but gave up themselves to luxury, and lived in a careless regard of any thing God was doing, until the very day that Noah went into the ark, with his family, and the flood destroyed all the rest; and till the day that Lot went out of Sodom, and fire and brimstone came down and destroyed all those who were left in Sodom. So it would be before the final ruin of the world. Till the very days came, and men felt it, the generality of men would not believe it, nor make any preparation for it. But in our Lord’s propounding these two great examples to them, he also lets them know their duty and wisdom, viz. to watch, and be upon their guard, with Lot to get ready to go out of Sodom, with Noah to prepare an ark upon this admonition which he gave them. There are no such signs of approaching ruin to persons or nations, as security, and the abounding of sin and wickedness, notwithstanding the warnings which God giveth them by his messengers.

Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

And as it was in the days of Noe,.... Whilst he was building the ark, and before he went into it; for this respects the days of Noah before the flood, and not after it; for he lived after the flood three hundred and fifty years, Genesis 9:28

so shall it be also in the days of the son of man; some time before, and at his coming in power, and great glory, to destroy the Jews, their nation, city, and temple; and as then, so it will be when he shall come in person, at the last day, to destroy the world: the times of Noah's flood, of Jerusalem's destruction, and of the end of the world, bear a great resemblance to each other: and when the son of man comes in either of these senses, then will the kingdom of God come; or then will it appear that the Messiah is come, and has took to himself his great power, and reigns.

Geneva Study Bible

{10} And as it was in the days of Noe, so shall it be also in the days of the Son of man.

(10) The world will be taken by surprise with the sudden judgment of God, and therefore the faithful ought to continually watch.

EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)

Meyer's NT Commentary

Luke 17:26-27. Comp. Matthew 24:37 f.

καθὼς ἐγένετο κ.τ.λ.] to wit, that men carelessly and securely pursued their accustomed striving till they were overtaken by the flood.

ἐν ταῖς ἡμέραις τ. υἱοῦ τ. ἀνθρώπου] in the days in which the appearance of the Messiah will come.

Luke 17:27. ἤσθιον, ἔπινον κ.τ.λ.] a vividly graphic asyndeton.

καὶ ἦλθεν] not to be connected with ἄχρι ἧς ἡμέρας (Bleek). See Genesis 7:4; Genesis 7:10.

Expositor's Greek Testament

Luke 17:26-30. The advent will be a surprise (Matthew 24:37-41).

Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

26. as it was in the days of Noe] as described in Genesis 7:11-23. The Second Advent should flame upon a sensual and unexpectant world.

Bengel's Gnomen

Luke 17:26. Καθὼς, even as) The last times of all correspond with the deluge, in respect to the universality of the catastrophe; and with the destruction of Sodom, in respect to the fact of fire being the agency employed.—καὶ ἐν ταῖς ἡμέραις, also in the days) In the first instance, the actual day of the revelation of the Son of man in Luke 17:30 is called “the Day of the Son of man;” then afterwards also those days, which precede it, receive that appellation: the last days of [His] expectation: Hebrews 10:13 [From henceforth expecting till His enemies be made His footstool]. Comp. the phrase, Psalms 119(118):84, πόσαι εἰσὶν αἱ ἡμέραι τοῦ δούλου σου, “How many are the days of thy servant?” So also, before His coronation or nuptials, some time is assigned to the King or Bridegroom. A similar plural occurs, ch. Luke 9:51 [ἐν τῷ συμπληροῦσθαι τὰς ἡμέρας τῆς ἀναλήψεως αὐτοῦ], where see the note. [Though the day of His assumption or ascension was one day, yet the forty days before it and after His resurrection were equivalent to a παρασκευή, or Preparation for it.]

Pulpit Commentary

Verses 26-28. - As it was in the days of Nee (Noah)... as it was in the days of Lot. The prominent sin of the antediluvian, he reminds them, was sensuality in its varied forms. The torch of religious feeling will have waned in that unknown and possibly distant future when Messiah shall reappear, and will be burning with a pale, faint light. The bulk of mankind will be given up to a sensuality which the higher culture then generally reached will have been utterly powerless to check or even to modify. Men, just as in the days when the ark was building and Noah was preaching, as in the days when the dark cloud was gathering over the doomed cities of the plain and Abraham was praying, will be entirely given up to their pursuits, their pleasures, and their sins. They will argue that the sun rose yesterday and on many yesterdays; of course it will rise to-morrow. Perfect security will have taken possession of the whole race, just as, on a smaller scale, was the case in the days of Noah and of Lot, when the floods came and the fire, and did their stern, pitiless work; so will that day of the second coming of Messiah, with its' bloody and fiery dawn, assuredly come on man when he is utterly unprepared. Luke 17:26