The PAROUSIA
ACCORDING TO GREEK SCHOLARS
G. Abbott-Smith
" ... technical term for the visit of a King" -- A Manual Greek
Lexicon of the New Testatment p. 347
Henry Alford
"The coming of the Lord in the end ... shall be a plain unmistakeable
fact, understood of all ... The lightning, lighting both ends of heaven
at once, seen of all beneath it, can only find its full similitude in His
Personal coming, Whom every eye shall see, Rev. i.7" -- New Testament
for English Readers Vol. 1, p. 167
W.C. Allen
[on v.27] "The idea apparently is that the presence of the Son of
Man will not be local, but everywhere visible" --International Critical
Commentary: Matthew p. 257
W.F. Arndt; F.W. Gingrich
"coming of a hidden divinity, who makes his presence felt by the revelation
of his power" "visit of a person of high rank" "of
Christ ... nearly always of his Messianic advent in glory" "gave
rise to an opposing use ... the coming of the Antichrist" -- A Greek-English
Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature p. 635
F.W. Beare
"The readers are warned to disregard any such rumours of a Messiah
who is already in the world, but hidden, for there will be no secrecy about
the arrival of the Son of Man. It will be as visible to all as lightning
..." -- The Gospel According to St. Matthew p. 470
John Broadus
"The word suggests ... that Jesus will come and stay with his people
... Messiah's coming will be alike visible to all, and so there will be
no occasion for some to tell others where he may be seen." -- An American
Commentary on the New
Testament pp. 482,489
W. Adams Brown
" ... "presence" as opposed to absence ... hence the arrival
which introduces that presence ... a technical term used in NT to denote
the coming of Christ in glory at the end of the age ... it emphasizes the
element of permanent presence which the coming of Christ is to introduce
... It has its parallel within the OT in the prophetic anticipation of
the Day of the Lord ... that great crisis of human history when J[ehovah]
shall be manifested as the Judge and Saviour of Israel, and His Kingdom
shall be set up among men ... All the evangelists represent the Parousia
as preceded by certain theophanic signs in the heaven" -- Hastings'
Dictionary of the Bible Vol. 3 pp. 674-676
A.B. Bruce
"Both expressions -- in the desert, in the secret recesses -- point
to non-visibility. The false prophets bid the people put their faith in
a Messiah not in evidence, the Great Unseen = "The hour is come, and
the man is somewhere, out of view, not far away, take my word for it".
... the coming of the true Messiah ... compared to the lightning, to suggest
a contrast between Him and the false Christs as to visibility ..."
-- Expositor's Greek Testament Vol. 1 p. 294
E.W. Bullinger
" a coming which includes the idea of a permanent dwelling from that
coming onwards" -- A Critical Lexicon and Concordance to the English
and Greek New Testament p. 169
D.A. Carson
"The term can refer to "presence," "arrival,"
or "coming" -- the first stage of "presence" ... closely
tied with Jesus' glorious "appearing" ... -- Expositor's Bible
Commentary Vol. 8 p. 497
John Peter Lange
[on Matt.24:3,27] "The [parousia] is the [epiphaneia] of 2 Thess.
ii.8; 1 Tim.vi.14, etc., in antithesis to the times of the hidden influence
and government of Christ ... So will Christ at His appearing manifest Himself
by an unmistakeable brightness, irradiating the whole earth. It is not
here, then, the mere suddenness that is meant, but rather the omnipresent,
unmistakeable, and fearful visibility. The Gospel According to St. Matthew
pp.422,426
I.H. Marshall
" ... conceives of the return of Jesus to this world in visible spendor,
like a monarch." -- The Epistles of John p165
J.B. Mayor
"visible presence" is regularly used for the Second Coming"
-- The Epistle of St. James p. 150
Alfred Plummer
"It intimates that the return of the Messiah in glory will not result,
like the first Coming, in a transitory stay, but will inaugurate an abiding
presence ... The final event would be sudden and everywhere visible; there
would be no sending of tidings that it was on its way ... The Messiah would
not lie hidden for a time and become gradually known; His appearance would
at once carry conviction as to who He was, and there would be no need to
learn this from others. The report that He was in one particular spot was
enough to prove that the report was false ..." -- An Exegetical Commentary
on the Gospel According to St. Matthew pp. 329,334
Lawrence O. Richards
"Parousia is sometimes used in a technical sense as the term for an
official visit or the arrival of a person of high rank. But even then the
word does not normally emphasize the person's arrival but the fact of that
person's physical presence with those to whom he or she has come ... When
parousia is used to describe the return of Jesus, our thoughts are directed
to the fact that he will return in person ..." -- Expository Dictionary
of the Bible Words p. 65
A.T. Robertson
"The word parousia occurs in this chapter alone (3,27,37,39) in the
Gospels, but often in the Epistles, either of presence as opposed to absence
(Phil. 2:12) or the second coming of Christ (2 Thess. 2:1) ...[on v.27]
As seen visible in contrast to the
invisibility of the false Messiahs ..." -- Word Pictures in the New
Testament Vol. 1 pp. 188,192
Stephen S. Smalley
" ... the primary thought in John's mind is the motivation for Christian
commitment provided by the future appearance of Jesus. -- Word Biblical
Commentary Vol. 51 p. 129
Joseph H. Thayer
"In N.T. esp. of the advent, i.e. the future visible return from heaven
of Jesus, the Messiah, to raise the dead, hold the last judgment, and set
up formally and gloriously the Kingdom of God" -- A Greek-English
Lexicon of the New Testament p.490
Marvin R. Vincent
[on Matt.24:27] "Shineth ... The coming of the Lord will be a plain,
unmistakable fact, like the lightning which lightens both ends of the heaven
at once, and is seen of all. It will not be connected with some particular
place, but will manifest
itself and be recognized over the whole world. Compare Apoc.i,7: 'Every
eye shall see him.'" Word Studies of the New Testament Vol.1 p.129
W.E. Vine
"denotes both an "arrival" and a consequent "presence
with"." -- Expository Dictionary of New Testament Words p. 111
Also see The Second Coming of Christ for more
information
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