Luke 17:35
What does Luke 17:35 mean?
A plain-English look at Luke 17:35 in WEB alongside six other public-domain English translations, with cross-references and chapter context.
What Luke 17:35 means
Two women labor side by side at the mill, yet one is taken and the other left. Daily work continues until, without warning, God’s separating act arrives. The scene underscores that the decisive criterion is not activity or companionship but belonging to Christ. The commonness of the task shows that the final division will cut across all stations of life. It is a reminder to live devotedly in the ordinary, because the Lord’s day will find us there. For the prepared, being taken signifies rescue and welcome; for the unprepared, being left signals loss. The difference lies in a heart ready for the Son of man.
Parallel translations
WEB
World English Bible · 2000There shall be two women grinding together; the one shall be taken, and the other shall be left.
KJV
King James Version · 1611Two women shall be grinding together; the one shall be taken, and the other left.
ASV
American Standard Version · 1901There shall be two women grinding together; the one shall be taken, and the other shall be left.
BBE
Bible in Basic English · 1949Two women will be crushing grain together; one will be taken away and the other let go.
YLT
Young's Literal Translation · 1862two women shall be grinding at the same place together, the one shall be taken, and the other shall be left;
DRA
Douay-Rheims (Challoner) · 1752Two women shall be grinding together. The one shall be taken and the other shall be left. Two men shall be in the field. The one shall be taken and the other shall be left.
DBY
Darby Bible · 1890Two [women] shall be grinding together; the one shall be seized and the other shall be let go.
Context
This second everyday example follows the nighttime scene of verse 34 and continues the theme of sudden, discriminating separation. Another parallel image follows (verse 36), completing the set. Then the disciples, sobered by these sayings, will ask, “Where, Lord?” (verse 37), prompting Jesus’ enigmatic answer about eagles gathering where the body is—a proverb pointing to the inevitability and visibility of judgment.
Cross references
Related passages from across Scripture, drawn from the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge.
- Judges 16:21
And the Philistines laid hold on him, and put out his eyes; and they brought him down to Gaza, and bound him with fetters of brass; and he did grind in the prison-house.
- Exodus 11:5
and all the first-born in the land of Egypt shall die, from the first-born of Pharaoh that sitteth upon his throne, even unto the first-born of the maid-servant that is behind the mill; and all the first-born of cattle.
- Matthew 24:41
two women shall be grinding at the mill; one is taken, and one is left.
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