What Does Matthew 24:6 Mean?
You are about to hear of wars and of the sounds of wars. See that you are not startled, for these things must come to be, but the end is not yet.
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 ye shall hear of wars and rumours of wars: see that ye be not troubled: for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet.THE KEY
“Rumours” is a form of “hearing,” so the verse marks alarming reports as something heard, not as proof that the end has arrived.
THE MEANING
You hear reports of wars, and those reports can stir alarm. The events are real and must occur, but hearing them does not mean the completion has already arrived.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
A frightening report means the end has already arrived.
THE ROOT
ἀκοὰς
akoas
GROWS FROM
ἀκου-
akou-
to hear or listen
“sounds” in this verse is akoas. The Greek uses the same hearing-root for “hear” and “rumours.” The report remains something heard; the word itself does not make it proof that the end is here.
ALSO GROWS
akouō: to hear or listen
ἀκούω
This is the verb rendered “hear” earlier in the verse, sharing its root with “rumours.”
akoē: hearing, report, or rumor
ἀκοή
This noun is the singular form behind “rumours,” linking the news directly to hearing.
θροεῖσθε
throeisthe
GROWS FROM
θροέω
throeō
to cry out or make a clamor; in this form, to be alarmed
“startled” in this verse is throeisthe. The verb carries the sense of clamor into the state of alarm. The verse names the disturbance stirred by the reports while keeping it distinct from the end itself.
ALSO GROWS
throos: noise or clamor
θρόος
This related noun gives the verb its sound of commotion, illuminating the alarm in response to reports of war.
throeō: to cry out, alarm, or be alarmed
θροέω
The verse uses its passive form for the troubled state it names.
THE PATTERN
Alarming reports of upheaval do not by themselves mean that the end has arrived.
He does not fear evil report; his heart is set firm, leaning his weight on the LORD.But when you hear of wars and upheavals, do not be startled, for these things must first come to be; but the end does not come straightway.so that you are not quickly shaken from the mind, nor startled, through breath, nor through word, nor through letter as though it came through us, saying that the day of the Anointed One has taken its stand.THE THREAD
so that you are not quickly shaken from the mind, nor startled, through breath, nor through word, nor through letter as though it came through us, saying that the day of the Anointed One has taken its stand.Matthew and Thessalonians use the same Greek verb, θροέω (throeō, “to be alarmed”), for the state rendered “troubled.” Reports about wars and claims that the day has arrived can stir the same alarm, but alarm itself does not establish that the end is here.
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