The Meaning of Luke 21:32 Explained

Luke 21:32

KJV: Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass away, till all be fulfilled.

YLT: verily I say to you -- This generation may not pass away till all may have come to pass;

Darby: Verily I say unto you, that this generation shall in no wise pass away until all come to pass.

ASV: Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass away, till all things be accomplished.

Discover Luke 21:32

CONTEXT: What is the Context of Luke 21:32?

MEANING: What does Luke 21:32 Mean?

WORDS: What do the individual words in Luke 21:32 mean?

RELATIONS: What do the major concepts mean in Luke 21:32?

KJV Reverse Interlinear

Verily  I say  unto you,  This  generation  shall  not  pass away,  till  all  be fulfilled. 

What does Luke 21:32 Mean?

Verse Meaning

This verse begins Jesus" final word confirming the certainty of His prophecy. He introduced it with the solemn "Truly I say to you" or "I tell you the truth."
"This generation" refers to the unbelieving Jews who were alive when Jesus spoke, as it usually does in the Gospels (cf. Luke 3:7; Luke 7:31; Luke 9:41; Luke 11:29-32; Luke 11:50-51; Luke 17:25; Mark 11:14; 2 Samuel 5:6-109). Jesus may have meant that that generation would not disappear until the fulfillment of all that He had predicted had begun. A better interpretation is that "this generation" refers to the generation referred to in Luke 21:25 that will see the beginning of the end in the cosmic signs. [1] The destruction of Jerusalem was the beginning of the fulfillment of what Jesus had predicted in this discourse. Obviously all the things that He predicted here did not happen within the lifetime of His hearers. He evidently regarded the beginning of fulfillment as a guarantee of complete fulfillment. This was a common Semitic viewpoint. The Semites regarded a part of the whole as the whole (cf. Deuteronomy 26:5-10; 1 Kings 13:32; Jeremiah 31:5; 1713626925_78; Revelation 14:1; Revelation 22:1; Romans 15:19-24). The name that some scholars have given this viewpoint is representative universalism. [2]

Context Summary

Luke 21:29-38 - The Need Of Constant Watchfulness
The summer of the world is yet before us! This is but the springtide, when the seeds are beginning to sprout, but the winds are cold. Ah, halcyon days of unbroken summer glory, make haste to break!
In a limited significance, our Lord's words were fulfilled within forty years of their utterance; but we are still to see how much more is contained in them than has yet been realized. In the meanwhile let us beware of His warning. Note that cares endanger our soul's health equally with surfeiting and drunkenness. It is impossible to live as we should apart from constant watching and prayer. The snare is so deftly laid that we may be entangled in it, before we are fully aware. But, oh how great the honor to be one day accounted "to stand before the Son of man!" See 1 Kings 10:8.
These last hours of our Lord's ministry were very full. The days were days of activity, interspersed with snatches of blessed intercourse with the beloved group at Bethany; while the nights were spent on Olivet in prayer. [source]

Chapter Summary: Luke 21

1  Jesus commends the poor widow
5  He foretells the destruction of the temple, and of the city Jerusalem;
25  the signs also which shall be before the last day
34  He exhorts them to be watchful

Greek Commentary for Luke 21:32

This generation [η γενεα αυτη]
Naturally people then living. [source]
Shall not pass away [ου μη παρελτηι]
Second aorist active subjunctive of παρερχομαι — parerchomai Strongest possible negative with ου μη — ou mē all things be accomplished Second aorist middle subjunctive of γινομαι — ginomai with εως — heōs common idiom. The words give a great deal of trouble to critics. Some apply them to the whole discourse including the destruction of the temple and Jerusalem, the second coming and the end of the world. Some of these argue that Jesus was simply mistaken in his eschatology, some that he has not been properly reported in the Gospels. Others apply them only to the destruction of Jerusalem which did take place in a.d. 70 before that generation passed away. It must be said for this view that it is not easy in this great eschatological discourse to tell clearly when Jesus is discussing the destruction of Jerusalem and when the second coming. Plummer offers this solution: “The reference, therefore, is to the destruction of Jerusalem regarded as the type of the end of the world.” [source]

Reverse Greek Commentary Search for Luke 21:32

Luke 21:33 My words shall not pass away [οι λογοι μου ου μη παρελευσονται]
Future middle indicative with ου μη — ou mē a bit stronger statement than the subjunctive. It is noteworthy that Jesus utters these words just after the difficult prediction in Luke 21:32. [source]

What do the individual words in Luke 21:32 mean?

Truly I say to you that no not will have passed away the generation this until - all [these things] shall have taken place
ἀμὴν λέγω ὑμῖν ὅτι οὐ μὴ παρέλθῃ ἡ γενεὰ αὕτη ἕως ἂν πάντα γένηται

ἀμὴν  Truly 
Parse: Hebrew Word
Root: ἀμήν  
Sense: firm.
λέγω  I  say 
Parse: Verb, Present Indicative Active, 1st Person Singular
Root: λέγω 
Sense: to say, to speak.
ὑμῖν  to  you 
Parse: Personal / Possessive Pronoun, Dative 2nd Person Plural
Root: σύ  
Sense: you.
ὅτι  that 
Parse: Conjunction
Root: ὅτι  
Sense: that, because, since.
οὐ  no 
Parse: Adverb
Root: οὐ  
Sense: no, not; in direct questions expecting an affirmative answer.
παρέλθῃ  will  have  passed  away 
Parse: Verb, Aorist Subjunctive Active, 3rd Person Singular
Root: παρέρχομαι  
Sense: to go past, pass by.
γενεὰ  generation 
Parse: Noun, Nominative Feminine Singular
Root: γενεά  
Sense: fathered, birth, nativity.
αὕτη  this 
Parse: Demonstrative Pronoun, Nominative Feminine Singular
Root: οὗτος  
Sense: this.
ἕως  until 
Parse: Conjunction
Root: ἕως  
Sense: till, until.
ἂν  - 
Parse: Particle
Root: ἄν  
Sense: has no exact English equivalent, see definitions under AV.
πάντα  all  [these  things] 
Parse: Adjective, Nominative Neuter Plural
Root: πᾶς  
Sense: individually.
γένηται  shall  have  taken  place 
Parse: Verb, Aorist Subjunctive Middle, 3rd Person Singular
Root: γίνομαι  
Sense: to become, i.

What are the major concepts related to Luke 21:32?

Loading Information...

Similar Scriptures for Luke 21:32

Mark 13:30 [9]
Matthew 24:34 [9]
Matthew 16:28 [4]
Matthew 23:36 [4]
Luke 11:50-51 [2]