Matthew 24:9

Persecution of Disciples Predicted

9 "Then they will hand you over to persecution and will kill you, and you will be hated by all the nations because of my name.

Matthew 24:9 Meaning and Commentary

Matthew 24:9

Then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted
Our Lord proceeds to acquaint his disciples, what should befall them in this interval; and quite contrary to their expectations, who were looking for a temporal kingdom, and worldly grandeur, assures them of afflictions, persecutions, and death; that about these times, when these various signs should appear, and this beginning of sorrows take place; whilst these will be fulfilling in Judea, and other parts of the world; the Jews continuing in their obstinacy and unbelief, would deliver them up to the civil magistrates, to be scourged and imprisoned by them; either to their own sanhedrim, as were Peter and John; or to the Roman governors, Gallio, Festus, and Felix, as was the Apostle Paul.

And shall kill you;
as the two James', Peter, Paul, and even all the apostles, excepting John, who suffered martyrdom, and that before the destruction of Jerusalem:

and ye shall be hated of all nations for my name's sake;
as the apostles and first Christians were, both by Jews and Gentiles; the latter being stirred up against them by the former, wherever they came, and for no other reason, but because they professed and preached in the name of Christ, as the Acts of the Apostles show: and their hatred proceeded so far, as to charge all their calamities upon them; as war, famine, pestilence, earthquakes as the apologies of the first Christians declare.

Matthew 24:9 In-Context

7 For nation will rise up against nation and kingdom against kingdom, and there will be famines and earthquakes in [various] places.
8 But all these [things] [are] the beginning of birth pains.
9 "Then they will hand you over to persecution and will kill you, and you will be hated by all the nations because of my name.
10 And then many will be led into sin and will betray one another and will hate one another,
11 and many false prophets will appear and will deceive many,

Footnotes 1

  • [a]. Or "Gentiles"; the same Greek word can be translated "nations" or "Gentiles" depending on the context
Scripture quotations marked (LEB) are from the Lexham English Bible. Copyright 2012 Logos Bible Software. Lexham is a registered trademark of Logos Bible Software.