Luke 21:10 · Bible study
Luke 21:10 Commentary: The Greek and Meaning of 'Nation Against Nation'
Greek · 5 what the commentators say
Meaning in one sentence
Explore Jesus' warning about wars between nations in Luke 21:10: its Greek grammar, Old Testament background, and how it prepares believers for global conflict.
Research Summary
- Meaning: Jesus predicts that before the end, the world will experience widespread conflict between nations and kingdoms, these are necessary signs, not the final event itself.
- Key words: 'rise up' (ἐγερθήσεται), future passive, implying divine stirring; 'nation' (ἔθνος), ethnic group; 'kingdom' (βασιλεία), political realm.
- Main debate: Whether the wars refer specifically to the Jewish-Roman war (AD 66-70) or to a future end-time tribulation period, or both.
- Theological theme: The sovereignty of God over human history and the call to trust God's plan rather than panic at world events.
- Best use: To calm anxiety about current conflicts by placing them within the prophetic timeline Jesus provides, and to root that calm in the resurrection hope.
Translation Comparison
BSB Berean Standard Bible 2020
Then He told them, “Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom.
WEB World English Bible 2000
Then he said to them, “Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom.
KJV King James Version 1769
Then said he unto them, Nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom:
ASV American Standard Version 1901
Then said he unto them, Nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom;
YLT Young's Literal Translation 1898
Then said he to them, `Nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom,
Darby Darby Bible 1890
Then he said to them, Nation shall rise up against nation, and kingdom against kingdom;
Douay-Rheims Douay-Rheims Bible 1899
Then he said to them: Nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom.
Translations in other languages (10 available)
Entonces les dijo: Se levantará gente contra gente, y reino contra reino;
Então lhe disse: Então se levantará nação contra nação, e reino contra reino.
Alors il leur dit: Une nation s’ élèvera contre une nation, et un royaume contre un royaume;
Da sprach er zu ihnen: Ein Volk wird sich erheben wider das andere und ein Reich wider das andere,
Toen zeide Hij tot hen: Het ene volk zal tegen het andere volk opstaan, en het ene koninkrijk tegen het andere koninkrijk.
Allora disse loro: Si leverà nazione contro nazione e regno contro regno;
Tedy im mówił: Powstanie naród przeciwko narodowi, i królestwo przeciwko królestwu;
Тогда сказал им: восстанет народ на народ, и царство на царство;
當時，耶穌對他們 說：「民 要攻打 民， 國 要攻打 國；
Then he said to them, Nation will be moved against nation and kingdom against kingdom:
Verse in Context
Original Language (Koine Greek)
New Testament · Koine Greek · Luke 21:10
Source: STEPBible TAGNT/TEHB (CC-BY 4.0). Click or tap a morphology code to see the full parsing.
Scholars' Consensus
Commentators across traditions agree that in this verse Jesus describes wars between nations and kingdoms as necessary signs that precede the final end, not its immediate arrival. Jamieson-Fausset-Brown note that Matthew and Mark call these 'the beginning of sorrows', the Greek term for travail pangs, a Jewish metaphor for the birth-pains of the messianic age. Matthew Henry adds that Jesus commands followers not to be terrified, because these things 'must first come to pass.' The passive verb ἐγερθήσεται ('will rise up') often carries a divine passive sense: nations are stirred up by God's sovereign hand, as seen in Isaiah 19:2 ('I will stir up the Egyptians . . . kingdom against kingdom'). Thus the wars are not random chaos but divinely permitted events marking the start of the world's labor. The consensus: this is a calm forecast, not a call to panic.
How settled is the interpretation?
Interpretive difficulty: Medium
Main views:
- Preterist interpretation: Sees the wars as referring primarily to the events culminating in the Roman destruction of Jerusalem (AD 70), consistent with the immediate context of the temple's fall (v.6) and the later description of armies surrounding Jerusalem (v.20).
- Futurist interpretation: Sees the wars as referring to a still-future tribulation period before Christ's return, paralleling language in Revelation and Joel, and noting that history has seen many such conflicts but the final end has not yet come.
What is clear: Jesus is foretelling a period of international conflict that is not the final end itself but a sign of its approach, and he calls his followers to calm trust rather than terror.
What Scholars Agree and Debate
| Topic | Agreed | Debated |
|---|---|---|
| Timing of the wars | These wars are not the final end; Jesus explicitly says 'the end won't come immediately' (v.9). | Some interpret the wars as fulfilled in the first-century Jewish-Roman conflict (e.g., the siege of Jerusalem in AD 70). Others see them as a still-future tribulation period before Christ's return. Many hold that the language describes both, with a pattern repeating through church history. |
| Divine agency in conflicts | The wars are under God's sovereignty; the passive verb ἐγερθήσεται and Old Testament allusions (Isaiah 19:2) suggest God stirs nations. | Some argue God actively causes wars as judgment (citing 2 Chronicles 15:5-6). Others understand God's permission rather than direct causation: he allows human sin to bring violence, but still works through it. |
| Response of believers | Jesus commands: 'don't be terrified' (v.9). The wars are not a reason to panic. | How this works out in practice: some emphasize patient endurance and prayer; others stress active peacemaking and social engagement; still others focus on prophetic witness against the powers that wage war. |
| Relationship to the destruction of Jerusalem | The entire discourse is triggered by the question about the temple's fall (v.6-7). | Whether verse 10 directly describes that event or opens into a broader overview of the whole age between Christ's advents. Matthew Henry and the Geneva notes strongly link it to judgment on Israel; others see it as a general sign for all periods. |
Historical & Cultural Context
Jesus speaks this warning while sitting on the Mount of Olives, just after predicting the total destruction of the temple (Luke 21:6). His disciples ask for a sign of when these things will happen (v.7). His answer begins with a series of warnings: false messiahs (v.8), then wars and disturbances (v.9), then precisely the words of verse 10. The pattern follows Old Testament prophetic oracles of judgment. Second Chronicles 15:5-6 describes a time when 'nation against nation . . . city against city' was God's way of troubling faithless Israel. Isaiah 19:2 explicitly says 'I will stir up the Egyptians against the Egyptians . . . kingdom against kingdom.' Haggai 2:21-22 and Zechariah 14:2-3,13 use similar language of God shaking kingdoms and turning nations against each other in judgment. This is the language of covenant curses and the 'Day of Yahweh.' Jewish tradition called the period of tribulation before the Messiah's coming the 'birth pangs of the Messiah' (ḥevlei ha-Mashiaḥ). By using the passive verb, Jesus signals that these conflicts are not outside God's control; they are the first contractions of a new age. Lange's Commentary calls the entire eschatological discourse one of the great 'cruces interpretum,' but the political imagery itself would have been familiar to a first-century Jewish audience.
Textual Notes
The consulted sources note no significant textual variants for Luke 21:10. The wording is consistent across the major manuscript traditions, with only minor differences in parallel accounts (Matthew 24:7, Mark 13:8) that do not affect meaning. The construction 'nation against nation, kingdom against kingdom' is identical in the synoptic parallels.
Reception History
From the patristic period onward, Christians have read this verse as part of the Olivet Discourse, which prepares the church for hardship. Early believers saw its fulfillment in the Jewish-Roman wars that destroyed Jerusalem in AD 70. The image of 'nation against nation' was applied to subsequent conflicts, barbarian invasions, medieval wars, World Wars, as signs of the ongoing 'beginning of sorrows.' The command not to be terrified has comforted persecuted believers throughout history, reminding them that world events do not catch God by surprise. In modern debates, this verse is cited by those holding both near-term and far-term eschatologies, but the unifying thread is trust in Christ's sovereign prediction.
Preaching This Verse
Three-point outline
- Jesus prepares us for inevitable conflict. He does not say 'if' but 'when' nation rises against nation. The future tense is a certainty.
- Conflict is not the end, but the beginning. As Jamieson-Fausset-Brown note, these are 'the beginning of sorrows', birth pangs, not the final delivery.
- The proper response is calm trust, not terror. The same command 'don't be terrified' (v.9) anchors the prediction: God is still in control.
Five-point outline
- Context: the disciples asked about the temple's fall; Jesus gives signs for the whole age.
- The sign of wars: ethnic and political conflicts are part of the pattern.
- The divine passive: the verb ἐγερθήσεται hints at God's sovereignty behind the chaos.
- The Old Testament echo: Isaiah 19, 2 Chronicles 15 show this is God's familiar judgment language.
- The pastoral command: 'be not terrified' is not denial; it is faith in God's unfolding plan.
Illustration hooks
- Watching a 24-hour news channel scroll with headlines of wars, invasions, and border conflicts, the temptation to see every conflict as the end of the world.
- Holding a calm conversation with a friend who is terrified by global tensions, and remembering that Jesus predicted this centuries ago.
- Reading Isaiah 19:2 or 2 Chronicles 15:5-6 and noticing how ancient prophets used the same language of nation against nation for God's disciplinary work.
Questions your congregation is asking
- 'Is this current war the one Jesus was talking about? How do I know?'
- 'If God is in control, why does he let nations fight?'
- 'What am I supposed to do while waiting for the end, just be passive?'
Leading a Discussion
Jesus does not want his followers to be naive about the world's future. He gives a clear forecast: conflict will come, but it is not the final word. He also gives a command: 'don't be terrified.' Small groups can reflect on this tension between honest realism and unshakable hope.
Discussion questions
- What stands out to you about the way Jesus describes future wars in verse 10?
- Why do you think Jesus says these things 'must happen first' (v.9)? What does 'must' imply about God's plan?
- How does the Old Testament background (Isaiah 19:2, 2 Chronicles 15:5-6, Haggai 2:21-22) shape your understanding of these wars?
- In what ways are you tempted to be terrified by current events, and how does this passage speak to that fear?
- What does 'not be terrified' look like in practical terms? What habits or truths help you obey that command?
- How can this passage give peace without making us indifferent to the suffering caused by war?
- Where else in your life would it help to remember that certain difficulties are 'the beginning' and not the final chapter?
Word Study
The key original-language words in this verse. Select any word for its full lexicon entry — meaning, every occurrence in Scripture, and related words.
Cross-References
Source: Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (TSK, public domain)
| II Chronicles 15:5 | In those times there was no peace to him who went out, nor to him who came in; but great troubles were on all the inhabitants of the lands. |
| II Chronicles 15:6 | They were broken in pieces, nation against nation, and city against city; for God troubled them with all adversity. |
| Isaiah 19:2 | I will stir up the Egyptians against the Egyptians, and they will fight everyone against his brother, and everyone against his neighbor; city against city, and kingdom against kingdom. |
| Haggai 2:21 | “Speak to Zerubbabel, governor of Judah, saying, ‘I will shake the heavens and the earth. |
| Haggai 2:22 | I will overthrow the throne of kingdoms. I will destroy the strength of the kingdoms of the nations. I will overthrow the chariots and those who ride in them. The horses and their riders will come down, everyone by the sword of his brother. |
| Zechariah 14:2 | For I will gather all nations against Jerusalem to battle; and the city will be taken, the houses rifled, and the women ravished. Half of the city will go out into captivity, and the rest of the people will not be cut off from the city. |
| Zechariah 14:3 | Then Yahweh will go out and fight against those nations, as when he fought in the day of battle. |
| Zechariah 14:13 | It will happen in that day that a great panic from Yahweh will be among them; and they will each seize the hand of his neighbor, and his hand will rise up against the hand of his neighbor. |
Interlinear and lexical data from STEPBible (CC BY 4.0). Cross-reference data from OpenBible.info (CC BY 4.0). Commentaries are public domain.
For personal reflection
Read the devotional page — prayer, application, and "for families"
What the Commentators Say
5 public-domain commentaries, condensed into plain language.
Geneva Bible Notes Reformed 1599
Then said hee vnto them, Nation shall rise against nation, and kingdome against kingdome,
Gill's Exposition of the Bible Baptist 1748
Gill offers no comment specific to this verse. He simply points to his earlier remarks on Matthew 24:7, indicating he sees the same meaning there and that his fuller explanation is already given.
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Commentary Protestant 1871
JFB notes that Matthew and Mark describe these disasters as the beginning of sorrows, a phrase that compares them to labor pains. Heavy calamities are often likened to birth pangs in Scripture, and here they mark only the start of what is to come.
Lange's Commentary Reformed 1857
Lange argues Jesus blends the destruction of Jerusalem and the end of the world into a single prophetic vision, with Jerusalem's fall serving as a type of the final judgment. The signs given already began before Jerusalem's destruction but will intensify and reach their full fulfillment only at the world's end.
Matthew Henry's Commentary Reformed/Presbyterian 1710
Henry notes that even Christ's own disciples were captivated by the temple's outward beauty and costly decorations. Their admiration prompts Jesus to warn that not one stone will be left upon another, a stark reminder that earthly splendor cannot withstand divine judgment.