What Does Luke 21:31 Mean?
So also you, when you see these things come to be, know that the governance of God is at hand.
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
So likewise ye, when ye see these things come to pass, know ye that the kingdom of God is nigh at hand.THE KEY
The signs do not only mark upheaval; they make God’s governance legible as near.
THE MEANING
When the things you see come to pass, their unfolding can be recognized as a sign that God’s governance is near. This nearness is already pressing toward visibility, not a distant promise detached from what you see. The verse calls the reader to recognize that approach.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
It undoes the belief that distress means God’s governance is absent or far away; here, what unfolds can signal its nearness.
THE ROOT
ἤγγικεν
ēngiken
GROWS FROM
ἐγγίζω
engizō
To draw near, approach.
“at hand” in this verse is ēngiken. The Greek verb is in a form that presents the approach as having happened, with nearness as its present result. The verse describes more than a distant arrival: God’s governance has drawn near.
ALSO GROWS
engys: Near, close at hand.
ἐγγύς
This related word makes the closeness concrete: the verse speaks of proximity, not an abstract future.
engizō: To draw near, approach.
ἐγγίζω
The same verb describes redemption drawing near in Luke 21:28, linking the kingdom’s approach with deliverance.
βασιλεία
basileia
GROWS FROM
βασιλευ- (basileu-, the βασιλεία word family)
Kingship, royal rule, governance.
“governance of God” in this verse is basileia. The Greek word names the rule or reign of a king, as well as the realm under that rule. Here what comes near is God’s governance: an ordering that is approaching the world the reader sees.
ALSO GROWS
basileus: King, sovereign.
βασιλεύς
This related noun names the ruler behind the kingdom: the verse points to God’s rule, not merely a place.
basileuō: To reign, rule as king.
βασιλεύω
This verb makes the active force of the word family clear: the kingdom is governance in action.
γινώσκετε
ginōskete
GROWS FROM
γινώσκω
ginōskō
To know, recognize, perceive.
“know” in this verse is ginōskete. The command is to recognize what the unfolding events disclose. The seeing in the verse becomes knowing: the signs are read as evidence of God’s governance drawing near.
ALSO GROWS
gnōsis: Knowledge, knowing.
γνῶσις
This related noun shows the knowing that follows from what is perceived.
epiginōskō: To recognize, know fully.
ἐπιγινώσκω
This related verb sharpens the sense of recognition: what is seen becomes intelligible as a sign.
THE PATTERN
God’s governance becomes legible in events as it moves from nearness toward visible rule.
And the kingdom, and dominion, and the greatness of the kingdom under all the heavens, shall be given to the people of the set-apart ones of the Uplifted One, whose kingdom is a kingdom of ages, and all dominions shall serve him, and hear and respond.And saying, "The season has been filled, and the governance of God has drawn near. Turn, and lean your weight on the good news."And the seventh messenger blows the trumpet, and great voices sound in heaven, saying, The governance of the world becomes the governance of our Lord and of his Anointed One, and he reigns into the ages of the ages.THE THREAD
And when these things begin to come to be, then straighten up and lift your heads, for your release has drawn near.Luke uses the same verb, ἐγγίζω (engizō, to draw near), for the kingdom’s nearness and for redemption drawing near. The signs therefore mark both God’s governance approaching and deliverance coming within reach.
This reading is from Selah Verse.
You can read any verse this way in the app, keep it as a card, and send it on.
A Bible app where you send verses from your keyboard and in Messages, and every verse has a Deep Dive.
Does something in this reading look wrong? Tell us