What Does Luke 21:27 Mean?
And then they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with strength and great weight.
Key words are shown with the Hebrew or Greek and what each word meant.
Selah Decoded Version The Selah Decoded Version renders what the Hebrew and Greek words meant to the people who first heard them.
King James wording
King James Version
And then shall they see the Son of man coming in a cloud with power and great glory.THE KEY
The cloud is not a sign of absence; it is where the Son of Man is seen carrying power and weight.
THE MEANING
The verse places you before a moment of direct perception: the Son of Man comes into view in the cloud, carrying power and great weight. The arrival is not only announced but seen. What appears bears authority and consequence.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
It undoes the assumption that a cloud means absence: here, the cloud is where the Son of Man is seen.
THE ROOT
ὄψονται
opsontai
GROWS FROM
ὁράω / ὄψομαι (ὁρα- / ὀπ-)
To see or perceive; the verb uses a distinct future stem.
The verse describes direct perception, not merely a report about the arrival. The same future verb appears in Revelation’s promise that every eye will see him.
ALSO GROWS
horaō: To see or perceive
ὁράω
This is the verb’s present stem and brings the act of seeing into focus as perception.
opsis: Sight or appearance
ὄψις
This related form keeps attention on what comes into view.
δόξα
doxa
GROWS FROM
δοκ- / δοξ-
Regard, esteem, reputation, or honor.
“great weight” in this verse is doxa. Here, glory carries the sense of weight: the arrival bears recognized significance, not merely brightness. Joined to power, it presents a presence with force and consequence.
ALSO GROWS
doxazō: To glorify or honor
δοξάζω
The verb shows how the same word family expresses giving recognition and honor.
doxologia: Doxology; words of praise
δοξολογία
This compound carries the same glory-word into spoken praise.
δύναμις
dynamis
GROWS FROM
δυν-
Ability or capacity to act.
“with strength” in this verse is dynamis. The power here is effective capacity, not a decorative quality. Beside glory as weight, it presents an arrival that both bears significance and acts with force.
ALSO GROWS
dynamai: To be able
δύναμαι
It reveals the ability at the heart of the word for power.
dynamoō: To strengthen
δυναμόω
This related verb shows capacity becoming active strength.
THE PATTERN
The cloud marks a place where divine presence and authority come into view.
And it came to pass, as Aaron spoke to the whole assembly of the children of Israel, that they turned their faces toward the wilderness, and look, the weight of the LORD was seen in the cloud.I saw in night visions, and look, one like a son of man came with the clouds of the heavens. He reached the Ancient of Days, and they drew him near before him.Look, he comes with the clouds, and every eye will see him, and those who pierced him. All the tribes of the earth will beat their breasts over him. Yes, amen.THE THREAD
Look, he comes with the clouds, and every eye will see him, and those who pierced him. All the tribes of the earth will beat their breasts over him. Yes, amen.Luke’s “they shall see” and Revelation’s “every eye shall see” use forms of the same Greek verb, ὁράω (horaō), to see or perceive; both place that seeing alongside clouds. Revelation opens Luke’s image from a group witnessing the arrival to a vision that reaches every eye.
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