Luke 17:37
What does Luke 17:37 mean?
A plain-English look at Luke 17:37 in WEB alongside six other public-domain English translations, with cross-references and chapter context.
What Luke 17:37 means
When the disciples ask where these events will occur, Jesus answers with a proverb: where the body is, there the eagles gather. The meaning points to inevitability and visibility. Just as carrion draws birds of prey, so judgment finds and exposes spiritual death wherever it is. The question of precise location is misplaced; the issue is condition, not coordinates. When the day comes, it will be obvious and comprehensive, not hidden in a corner. This reply sobers and reorients: rather than mapping events, prepare hearts. The Son of man’s revealing will uncover what truly lives and what is lifeless, and divine justice will assemble accordingly.
Parallel translations
WEB
World English Bible · 2000And they answering say unto him, Where, Lord? And he said unto them, Where the body is, thither will the eagles also be gathered together.
KJV
King James Version · 1611And they answered and said unto him, Where, Lord? And he said unto them, Wheresoever the body is, thither will the eagles be gathered together.
ASV
American Standard Version · 1901And they answering say unto him, Where, Lord? And he said unto them, Where the body is, thither will the eagles also be gathered together.
BBE
Bible in Basic English · 1949And they, answering him, said, Where, Lord? And he said to them, Where the body is, there will the eagles come together.
YLT
Young's Literal Translation · 1862And they answering say to him, `Where, sir?' and he said to them, `Where the body <FI>is<Fi> , there will the eagles be gathered together.'
DRA
Douay-Rheims (Challoner) · 1752Who said to them: Wheresoever the body shall be, thither will the eagles also be gathered together.
DBY
Darby Bible · 1890And answering they say to him, Where, Lord? And he said to them, Where the body [is], there the eagles will be gathered together.
Context
This closing exchange responds to the disciples’ curiosity sparked by the separation sayings (verses 34–36). Jesus declines to give a map and instead offers a maxim about inevitability. It caps a section that began with the kingdom’s present nearness (verses 20–21) and moved through longing, warnings, illustrations, and urgent applications (verses 22–36). The chapter ends sounding the note of readiness, humility, and faith in the face of mercy offered now and judgment sure to come.
v.37This passage
Cross references
Related passages from across Scripture, drawn from the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge.
- Daniel 9:26
And after the threescore and two weeks shall the anointed one be cut off, and shall have nothing: and the people of the prince that shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary; and the end thereof shall be with a flood, and even unto the end shall be war; desolations are determined.
- Matthew 24:28
Wheresoever the carcase is, there will the eagles be gathered together.
- Amos 9:1
I saw the Lord standing beside the altar: and he said, Smite the capitals, that the thresholds may shake; and break them in pieces on the head of all of them; and I will slay the last of them with the sword: there shall not one of them flee away, and there shall not one of them escape.
- Job 39:29
From thence she spieth out the prey; Her eyes behold it afar off.
- Zechariah 14:2
For I will gather all nations against Jerusalem to battle; and the city shall be taken, and the houses rifled, and the women ravished; and half of the city shall go forth into captivity, and the residue of the people shall not be cut off from the city.
- Revelation 19:17
And I saw an angel standing in the sun; and he cried with a loud voice, saying to all the birds that fly in mid heaven, Come and be gathered together unto the great supper of God;
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