Word Studies¶

G3952 — παρουσία (parousia) — "coming/presence"¶

Original: παρουσία Transliteration: parousia Definition: "a being near, i.e. advent; often return; specifically, of Christ to punish Jerusalem, or finally the wicked" (Strong's). Feminine noun. BLB Count: 24.

Translations¶

"coming" — 18x (94.7%)
"presence" — 1x (5.3%) — 2 Cor 10:10 only (Paul's physical presence)

Key Verses¶

In the Olivet Discourse (4x — all in Matt 24): - Matt 24:3 — "what shall be the sign of thy COMING [parousia]?" - Matt 24:27 — "so shall also the COMING [parousia] of the Son of man be" - Matt 24:37 — "as the days of Noe were, so shall also the COMING [parousia] of the Son of man be" - Matt 24:39 — "so shall also the COMING [parousia] of the Son of man be"

Paul's eschatological uses: - 1 Cor 15:23 — "they that are Christ's at his COMING [parousia]" - 1 Th 2:19 — "in the presence of our Lord Jesus Christ at his COMING [parousia]" - 1 Th 3:13 — "at the COMING [parousia] of our Lord Jesus Christ" - 1 Th 4:15 — "we which are alive and remain unto the COMING [parousia] of the Lord" - 1 Th 5:23 — "unto the COMING [parousia] of our Lord Jesus Christ" - 2 Th 2:1 — "the COMING [parousia] of our Lord Jesus Christ" - 2 Th 2:8 — "destroy with the brightness of his COMING [parousia]" - 2 Th 2:9 — "whose COMING [parousia] is after the working of Satan"

Other uses: - Jas 5:7 — "Be patient therefore, brethren, unto the COMING [parousia] of the Lord" - 2 Pe 1:16 — "the power and COMING [parousia] of our Lord Jesus Christ" - 2 Pe 3:4 — "Where is the promise of his COMING [parousia]?" - 2 Pe 3:12 — "looking for and hasting unto the COMING [parousia] of the day of God" - 1 Jn 2:28 — "when he shall appear, we may have confidence... at his COMING [parousia]"

Significance¶

parousia is the standard technical term for Christ's Second Coming throughout the NT. In Matt 24:3, the disciples use this specific word to ask about the eschatological event, not merely a local visitation. The term carries the sense of royal arrival/advent. All four uses in Matthew 24 refer to the same event: Christ's visible, personal return.

G1074 — γενεά (genea) — "generation/race/age"¶

Original: γενεά Transliteration: genea Definition: "a generation; by implication, an age." Feminine noun. BLB Count: 42.

Translations¶

"generation" — 30x (73.2%)
"generations" — 6x (14.6%)
"ages" — 2x (4.9%)
"to generation" — 1x; "times" — 1x; "time" — 1x

Key Verses — Jesus's Uses of "this generation" (he genea haute)¶

In Matthew (characterizing contemporaries): - Matt 11:16 — "whereunto shall I liken THIS GENERATION?" - Matt 12:39 — "An evil and adulterous GENERATION seeketh after a sign" - Matt 12:41 — "The men of Nineveh shall rise in judgment with THIS GENERATION" - Matt 12:42 — "The queen of the south shall rise up in the judgment with THIS GENERATION" - Matt 12:45 — "so shall it be also unto this wicked GENERATION" - Matt 16:4 — "A wicked and adulterous GENERATION" - Matt 17:17 — "O faithless and perverse GENERATION" - Matt 23:36 — "All these things shall come upon THIS GENERATION" - Matt 24:34 — "This GENERATION shall not pass, till all these things be fulfilled"

In Mark: - Mark 8:12 — "Why doth THIS GENERATION seek after a sign? there shall no sign be given unto this GENERATION" - Mark 8:38 — "in this adulterous and sinful GENERATION" - Mark 9:19 — "O faithless GENERATION" - Mark 13:30 — "this GENERATION shall not pass, till all these things be done"

In Luke: - Luke 7:31 — "the men of THIS GENERATION" - Luke 9:41 — "O faithless and perverse GENERATION" - Luke 11:29 — "This is an evil GENERATION" - Luke 11:30-32 — "a sign unto THIS GENERATION... rise up in the judgment with THIS GENERATION" - Luke 11:50-51 — "the blood of all the prophets... be required of THIS GENERATION" - Luke 16:8 — "children of this world are in their GENERATION wiser" - Luke 17:25 — "be rejected of THIS GENERATION" - Luke 21:32 — "This GENERATION shall not pass away, till all be fulfilled"

Other NT uses: - Acts 2:40 — "Save yourselves from this untoward GENERATION" - Acts 13:36 — "David, after he had served his own GENERATION" - Heb 3:10 — "I was grieved with that GENERATION"

Semantic Range for Matt 24:34¶

Three possible meanings: 1. Contemporaries — the people alive at the time of speaking (most common usage in Jesus's discourse) 2. Type/kind — a moral category: "this kind of people" (cf. Matt 12:39 "evil and adulterous generation" = a character type that persists) 3. Race/nation — the Jewish people who will endure until fulfillment

Contextual Observations¶

In every other use by Jesus, "this generation" refers to his contemporaries characterized by a moral quality (faithless, wicked, adulterous, perverse)
Matt 23:36 is the closest parallel: "All these things shall come upon THIS GENERATION" — judgment on the generation that rejected the prophets; fulfilled in AD 70
The contrast between "all these things" (panta tauta, v.34) and "that day and hour" (v.36) creates a structural distinction: the signs can be observed by "this generation" but the specific day remains unknown

G2347 — θλῖψις (thlipsis) — "tribulation/affliction"¶

Original: θλῖψις Transliteration: thlipsis Definition: "pressure (literally or figuratively): affliction, tribulation." Feminine noun. BLB Count: 45.

Translations¶

"tribulation" — 14x (35.0%)
"affliction" — 6x (15.0%)
"afflictions" — 6x (15.0%)
"tribulations" — 3x; "trouble" — 3x; + 8 other

Key Verses — Olivet Discourse and Revelation Chain¶

Olivet Discourse: - Matt 24:9 — "deliver you up to be afflicted [thlipsin]" - Matt 24:21 — "then shall be great tribulation [thlipsis megale]" - Matt 24:29 — "immediately after the tribulation [thlipsin] of those days" - Mark 13:19 — "in those days shall be affliction [thlipsis]" - Mark 13:24 — "after that tribulation [thlipsin]"

Revelation: - Rev 1:9 — "I John... companion in tribulation [thlipsei]" - Rev 2:9 — "I know thy works, and tribulation [thlipsin]" - Rev 2:10 — "ye shall have tribulation [thlipsin] ten days" - Rev 2:22 — "I will cast them... into great tribulation [thlipsin megalen]" - Rev 7:14 — "These are they which came out of great tribulation [thlipseos megales]"

Key link: Matt 24:21 "thlipsis megale" = Rev 7:14 "thlipsis megale" — identical Greek phrase connecting the Olivet great tribulation to Revelation's.

G946 — βδέλυγμα (bdelygma) — "abomination"¶

Original: βδέλυγμα Transliteration: bdelygma Definition: "a detestation, i.e. (specially) idolatry: abomination." Neuter noun. BLB Count: 6.

Translations¶

"abomination" — 4x; "abominations" — 1x; "ABOMINATIONS" — 1x

All NT Occurrences¶

Matt 24:15 — "the ABOMINATION [bdelygma] of desolation"
Mark 13:14 — "the ABOMINATION [bdelygma] of desolation"
Luke 16:15 — "that which is highly esteemed among men is ABOMINATION [bdelygma] before God"
Rev 17:4 — "full of ABOMINATIONS [bdelygmaton]"
Rev 21:27 — "worketh ABOMINATION [bdelygma]"

Hebrew Counterpart: H8251 (shiqquts)¶

The Greek bdelygma translates Hebrew shiqquts, which occurs 28x in the OT — ALL referring to idolatrous objects/practices. This restricts the "abomination of desolation" to something connected with false worship, not generic sin.

G4930 — συντέλεια (synteleia) — "consummation/end"¶

Original: συντέλεια Transliteration: synteleia Definition: "entire completion, i.e. consummation (of a dispensation)." Feminine noun. BLB Count: 6.

Translations¶

"end" — 4x; "the end" — 2x

All NT Occurrences (distinctively Matthean)¶

Matt 13:39 — "The harvest is the END [synteleia] of the world [aionos]"
Matt 13:40 — "so shall it be in the END [synteleia] of this world [aionos]"
Matt 13:49 — "So shall it be at the END [synteleia] of the world [aionos]"
Matt 24:3 — "the sign of thy coming, and of the END [synteleia] of the world [aionos]?"
Matt 28:20 — "I am with you alway, even unto the END [synteleia] of the world [aionos]"
Heb 9:26 — "now once in the END [synteleia] of the world [aionon]"

Significance¶

synteleia is stronger than telos (G5056). Where telos means "end/termination," synteleia means "entire completion, consummation, winding up." It appears 5x in Matthew, ALL in the phrase synteleia tou aionos — the consummation of the age. In Matt 24:3, the disciples ask about the ultimate consummation, not merely the destruction of Jerusalem.

G5604 — ὠδίν (odin) — "birth-pang/sorrow"¶

Original: ὠδίν Transliteration: odin Definition: "a pang or throe, especially of childbirth." Feminine noun. BLB Count: 4.

All 4 NT Occurrences¶

Matt 24:8 — "All these are the beginning of SORROWS [odinon]"
Mark 13:8 — "these are the beginnings of SORROWS [odinon]"
Acts 2:24 — "having loosed the PAINS [odinas] of death"
1 Th 5:3 — "as TRAVAIL [odin] upon a woman with child"

Significance¶

The birth-pang metaphor frames the Olivet Discourse events as progressive labor: wars, famines, earthquakes are merely the BEGINNING (arche) of birth-pangs — they intensify toward the final event (the birth/coming). 1 Th 5:3 explicitly links this metaphor to the day of the Lord, and uses "sudden destruction... as travail upon a woman with child" — connecting Pauline eschatology to the Olivet pattern.

G4105 — πλανάω (planao) — "to deceive/lead astray"¶

Original: πλανάω Transliteration: planao Definition: "to (properly, cause to) roam (from safety, truth, or virtue)." Verb. BLB Count: 39.

Key Verse Groups¶

Olivet Discourse (7x): - Matt 24:4 — "Take heed that no man DECEIVE [planese] you" - Matt 24:5 — "shall DECEIVE [planesousin] many" - Matt 24:11 — "false prophets shall rise, and shall DECEIVE [planesousin] many" - Matt 24:24 — "so as to DECEIVE [planesai], if possible, even the elect" - Mark 13:5 — "lest any man DECEIVE [planese] you" - Mark 13:6 — "shall DECEIVE [planesousin] many" - Luke 21:8 — "that ye be not DECEIVED [planethete]"

Revelation (9x): - Rev 2:20 — Jezebel "to teach and to SEDUCE [plana]" - Rev 12:9 — "that old serpent... which DECEIVETH [planon] the whole world" - Rev 13:14 — "DECEIVETH [plana] them that dwell on the earth" - Rev 18:23 — "by thy sorceries were all nations DECEIVED [eplanethesen]" - Rev 19:20 — "the false prophet that... DECEIVED [eplanesen] them" - Rev 20:3 — "that he should DECEIVE [planese] the nations no more" - Rev 20:8 — "shall go out to DECEIVE [planesai] the nations" - Rev 20:10 — "the devil that DECEIVED [planon] them"

NOTE: planao appears in BOTH Olivet Discourse AND Revelation, but NOT in Rev 6:2 (first seal). The deception theme links the two prophecies, but the first horseman lacks deception vocabulary.

G5580 — ψευδόχριστος (pseudochristos) — "false Christ"¶

Original: ψευδόχριστος Transliteration: pseudochristos Definition: "a spurious Messiah: false Christ." Masculine noun. BLB Count: 2.

All 2 NT Occurrences¶

Matt 24:24 — "there shall arise FALSE CHRISTS [pseudochristoi], and false prophets"
Mark 13:22 — "FALSE CHRISTS [pseudochristoi] and false prophets shall rise"

Significance¶

pseudochristos is EXCLUSIVELY Olivet Discourse vocabulary. It does NOT appear in Revelation, Pauline epistles, or anywhere else in the NT. This makes it distinctive to Jesus's eschatological teaching.

G5578 — ψευδοπροφήτης (pseudoprophetes) — "false prophet"¶

Original: ψευδοπροφήτης Transliteration: pseudoprophetes Definition: "a spurious prophet, i.e. pretended foreteller or religious impostor." Masculine noun. BLB Count: 11.

Key Occurrences¶

Olivet Discourse (3x): - Matt 24:11 — "many FALSE PROPHETS [pseudoprophetai] shall rise" - Matt 24:24 — "false Christs, and FALSE PROPHETS [pseudoprophetai]" - Mark 13:22 — "false Christs and FALSE PROPHETS [pseudoprophetai]"

Revelation (3x): - Rev 16:13 — "out of the mouth of the FALSE PROPHET [pseudoprophetou]" - Rev 19:20 — "the beast was taken, and with him the FALSE PROPHET [pseudoprophetes]" - Rev 20:10 — "where the beast and the FALSE PROPHET [pseudoprophetes] are"

Other (4x): - Matt 7:15 — "Beware of FALSE PROPHETS [pseudopropheton]" - Luke 6:26 — "so did their fathers to the FALSE PROPHETS [pseudoprophetais]" - Acts 13:6 — "a FALSE PROPHET [pseudopropheten], a Jew" - 2 Pet 2:1 — "there were FALSE PROPHETS [pseudoprophetai] also among the people" - 1 John 4:1 — "many FALSE PROPHETS [pseudoprophetai] are gone out into the world"

Significance¶

Unlike pseudochristos, pseudoprophetes bridges the Olivet Discourse and Revelation. The "false prophet" of Rev 16:13; 19:20; 20:10 may be the Revelation counterpart to the false prophets Jesus warned about in Matt 24:11,24.

G5119 — τότε (tote) — "then/at that time"¶

Original: τότε Transliteration: tote Definition: "the when, i.e. at the time that (implying sequence)." Adverb. BLB Count: 159 (147 in KJV translation data).

Matt 24 Sequence¶

tote marks temporal progression through the discourse: - Matt 24:9 — "THEN [tote] shall they deliver you up" - Matt 24:10 — "And THEN [tote] shall many be offended" - Matt 24:14 — "and THEN [tote] shall the end come" - Matt 24:16 — "THEN [tote] let them... flee" - Matt 24:21 — "for THEN [tote] shall be great tribulation" - Matt 24:23 — "THEN [tote] if any man shall say" - Matt 24:30 — "and THEN [tote] shall appear the sign... and THEN [tote] shall all the tribes mourn" - Matt 24:40 — "THEN [tote] shall two be in the field"

Significance¶

The repeated tote creates a temporal chain: each event follows the previous one. This sequence structure is one of the primary grammatical indicators that the discourse spans an extended period rather than describing simultaneous events.

H8251 — שִׁקּוּץ (shiqquts) — "abomination/detestable thing"¶

Original: שִׁקּוּץ Transliteration: shiqquts Definition: "disgusting, i.e. filthy; especially idolatrous or (concretely) an idol: abominable filth (idol, -ation), detestable (thing)." Masculine noun. BLB Count: 28.

Daniel Occurrences¶

Dan 9:27 — "for the overspreading of ABOMINATIONS [shiqqutsim, PLURAL]"
Dan 11:31 — "they shall place THE ABOMINATION [ha-shiqquts] that maketh desolate"
Dan 12:11 — "THE ABOMINATION [shiqquts] that maketh desolate set up"

Significance¶

ALL 28 OT uses refer to idolatrous objects/practices (Milcom, Chemosh, Molech, Ashtoreth, pagan idols, detestable idolatrous things). shiqquts is NEVER used for generic moral sin (that is toevah, H8441) or ritual uncleanness (sheqets, H8263). This restricts the "abomination of desolation" to something connected with false worship.

H8074 — שָׁמֵם (shamem) — "to be desolate/appalled"¶

Original: שָׁמֵם Transliteration: shamem Definition: "to stun or devastate; make amazed, be astonished, make/be/lay desolate, destroy, waste, wonder." Verb. BLB Count: 92.

The Piel-Qal Distinction in Daniel¶

Piel meshomem (Dan 9:27a, 11:31): CAUSATIVE — "the one causing desolation," "the desolator"
Qal shomem (Dan 8:13, 12:11): Ambiguous — "desolating" (active) or "desolated/appalling" (stative)

Daniel 9:27 — The Reversal¶

Dan 9:27 contains BOTH forms: - meshomem (Piel: the desolator) — at the beginning - shomem (Qal: the desolate one) — at the end This creates a grammatical reversal: the one who causes desolation will himself become desolate when God's judgment is poured out.

G3625 — οἰκουμένη (oikoumene) — "inhabited world"¶

Original: οἰκουμένη Transliteration: oikoumene Definition: Feminine participle of oikeo used as noun; the inhabited earth, the world. BLB Count: 15.

Translations¶

"world" — 14x (93.3%)
"earth" — 1x (6.7%)

Key Occurrences¶

Matt 24:14 — "this gospel... shall be preached in all the WORLD [oikoumene]"
Luke 2:1 — "all the WORLD [oikoumene] should be taxed" (Roman Empire)
Luke 21:26 — "things which are coming on the EARTH [oikoumene]"
Acts 17:6 — "These that have turned the WORLD [oikoumene] upside down"
Rev 3:10 — "the hour of temptation, which shall come upon all the WORLD [oikoumene]"
Rev 12:9 — "that old serpent... which deceiveth the whole WORLD [oikoumene]"
Rev 16:14 — "the kings of the earth and of the whole WORLD [oikoumene]"

Significance¶

In Matt 24:14, the gospel must be preached "in all the oikoumene" — the entire inhabited world, not just the Roman Empire. This scope requires extended time for fulfillment.