Bible Strands
Matthew 24:38
For in the days before the flood, people were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, up to the day Noah entered the ark.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — Jesus addresses his disciples on the Mount of Olives, responding to their question about the sign of his coming and the end of the age. He uses the historical period before the flood to describe the conditions that will accompany his return.
The words — The Greek ἦσαν (ēsan) means “they were,” establishing the continuous past action of the pre-flood generation. The particle γὰρ (gar) translates as “for,” grounding the subsequent warning in this historical observation.
The thread — The same Noah comparison appears in Luke 17:26, while Romans 13:13 and Luke 14:18 offer contrasting calls to daytime decency and warnings against excuse-making. These references frame the passage within a broader biblical pattern of ordinary life intersecting with divine intervention.
Why it lands — The text states that people continued eating, drinking, and arranging marriages right up to the day Noah entered the ark. It requires readers to recognize that uninterrupted daily routine does not indicate safety and demands immediate spiritual vigilance.
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
For as in the days that were before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark,
Cross-references
- Luke 17:26 Just as it was in the days of Noah, so also will it be in the days of the Son of Man:
- Romans 13:13 Let us behave decently, as in the daytime, not in carousing and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and debauchery, not in dissension and jealousy.
- Luke 14:18 But one after another they all began to make excuses. The first one said, ‘I have bought a field, and I need to go see it. Please excuse me.’
- Genesis 6:2 the sons of God saw that the daughters of men were beautiful, and they took as wives whomever they chose.
- Luke 12:45 But suppose that servant says in his heart, ‘My master will be a long time in coming,’ and he begins to beat the menservants and maidservants, and to eat and drink and get drunk.
- Isaiah 22:12 On that day the Lord GOD of Hosts called for weeping and wailing, for shaven heads and the wearing of sackcloth.
- Amos 6:3 You dismiss the day of calamity and bring near a reign of violence.
- Matthew 22:30 In the resurrection, people will neither marry nor be given in marriage. Instead, they will be like the angels in heaven.
- Luke 12:19 Then I will say to myself, “You have plenty of good things laid up for many years. Take it easy. Eat, drink, and be merry!”’
- Luke 21:34 But watch yourselves, or your hearts will be weighed down by dissipation, drunkenness, and the worries of life—and that day will spring upon you suddenly like a snare.