Bible Strands
Luke 5:35
But the time will come when the bridegroom will be taken from them; then they will fast.”
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — Jesus addresses questioners about fasting, responding to their inquiry while standing in a teaching moment about wedding customs. He speaks this immediately after asking whether wedding guests can mourn while the bridegroom remains with them.
The words — ἀπαρθῆ (aparthē) translates literally to “may be taken away,” and ἡμέραι (hēmerai) means “days.” The text states that a specific period will arrive when the bridegroom departs, after which fasting will take place.
The thread — This expectation of a coming time appears in Luke 17:22, John 16:4, and Acts 3:21. Each reference marks a divinely appointed moment when present visibility gives way to absence or fulfillment.
Why it lands — The passage demands recognition that current celebration has a defined limit and that future sorrow will naturally follow the bridegroom’s departure. It requires a reader to align their spiritual practices with the actual presence or absence of the central figure.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Greek words
King James Version
But the days will come, when the bridegroom shall be taken away from them, and then shall they fast in those days.
Cross-references
- Luke 17:22 Then He said to the disciples, “The time is coming when you will long to see one of the days of the Son of Man, but you will not see it.
- John 16:4 But I have told you these things so that when their hour comes, you will remember that I told you about them. I did not tell you these things from the beginning, because I was with you.
- Acts 3:21 Heaven must take Him in until the time comes for the restoration of all things, which God announced long ago through His holy prophets.
- Acts 14:23 Paul and Barnabas appointed elders for them in each church, praying and fasting as they entrusted them to the Lord, in whom they had believed.
- Isaiah 22:12 On that day the Lord GOD of Hosts called for weeping and wailing, for shaven heads and the wearing of sackcloth.
- Daniel 9:26 Then after the sixty-two weeks the Messiah will be cut off and will have nothing. Then the people of the prince who is to come will destroy the city and the sanctuary. The end will come like a flood, and until the end there will be war; desolations have been decreed.
- Zechariah 13:7 Awake, O sword, against My Shepherd, against the man who is My Companion, declares the LORD of Hosts. Strike the Shepherd, and the sheep will be scattered, and I will turn My hand against the little ones.
- Matthew 6:17 But when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face,
- Luke 24:17 He asked them, “What are you discussing so intently as you walk along?” They stood still, with sadness on their faces.
- John 12:8 The poor you will always have with you, but you will not always have Me.”