Matthew 24:38

Matthew 24:38, in plain English

People in Noah's day were eating and drinking, getting married and carrying on with life right up until Noah got on the ark. Everything seemed totally normal.

Why it's here

This is what makes it so startling. There was nothing obviously wrong with what they were doing. They were just completely unaware that their world was about to be turned upside down.

Who's speaking

Jesus describes the everyday normalcy that masked the approaching disaster.

Where it sits in the story

It's a haunting picture: people planning weddings and dinner parties while Noah is loading animals onto a boat. Normal life can lull you into thinking everything is fine forever.

The scholarly reading

Jesus details the normalcy of life before the flood: eating (trōgontes), drinking (pinontes), marrying (gamountes), and giving in marriage (gamizontes). These are not sinful activities but routine life. The emphasis is on distracted normalcy continuing 'up to the day Noah entered the ark.'

Language and setting

The mundane activities listed contrast with the catastrophic event approaching. Jesus' point is that ordinary routine can blind people to extraordinary divine action.

Voice

Jesus elaborates on the Noah illustration, painting a picture of routine life blind to approaching judgment.

Significance

Jesus paints a picture of perfect normalcy: weddings, parties, daily meals. Nobody sensed anything unusual. The world was humming along as if tomorrow were guaranteed.

36No one knows about that day or hour, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father.

37As it was in the days of Noah, so will it be at the coming of the Son of Man.

38For in the days before the flood, people were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, up to the day Noah entered the ark.

39And they were oblivious until the flood came and swept them all away. So will it be at the coming of the Son of Man.

40Two men will be in the field: one will be taken and the other left.

Read all of Matthew 24 — The disciples ask when the end will come. Jesus answers with wars, earthquakes, and a warning: stay awake, because no one knows the hour.