Tumultuous Times

Matt. 24:7-8; Mark 13:8; Luke 21:10-11

(Huck 214; Aland 288; Crook 325)^[130]

Updated: 20 March 2024

וַיֹּאמֶר לָהֶם יָקוּם גּוֹי בְּגוֹי וּמַמְלָכָה בְּמַמְלָכָה וְיִהְיֶה רָעָב וְדֶבֶר וּפַחַד וְרַעַשׁ וּמִן הַשָּׁמַיִם סִימָנִים גְּדוֹלִים [תְּחִילַּת חֲבָלִים אֵלּוּ]

“One people group will rise up against another,” Yeshua replied. “And one empire will clash with another. There will be famine, disease, panic and earthquakes. And from the sky unmistakably bad portents will appear. [From these you will know the birthing pains are beginning.]^[131]

Reconstruction

To view the reconstructed text of Tumultuous Times click on the link below:

Conclusion

In Tumultuous Times Jesus foretold various signs that would indicate that the destruction of the Temple was approaching.

---

Click here to return to The Life of Yeshua: A Suggested Reconstruction main page. _______________________________________________________

---

• ^[1] On the Anth. block of Son of Man material in Luke 17, see Days of the Son of Man, under the subheading “Story Placement.” ↩
• ^[2] Cf. Bundy, 460 §362. ↩
• ^[3] Cf. Rev. 6:8, which mentions sword, famine, death (= pestilence) and wild beasts. ↩
• ^[4] According to Josephus, omens of the Temple’s destruction included the opening of the locked gates of the Temple of their own accord, the voices of invisible speakers in the Temple, the manifestation of apparitions in the sky above the Temple, and the birth of deformed animals on the Temple Mount (J.W. 6:289-300). Rabbinic sources, too, mention the gates of the Temple opening of their own accord, as well as other inauspicious signs (y. Yom. 6:3 [33b]). ↩
• ^[5] Pace Manson, Sayings, 325; David Flusser, “Jerusalem in Second Temple Literature” (Flusser, JSTP2, 44-75, esp. 71-72); idem, Jesus, 238 n. 5; R. Steven Notley, “Learn the Lesson of the Fig Tree” (JS1, 105-120, esp. 111). ↩
• ^[6] Scholars who sought to join Luke 21:10-11 to Luke 21:25ff. typically believed that in addition to Mark 13 the author of Luke used a non-Markan source as the basis for the discourse in Luke 21. Such scholars include Manson (Sayings, 325) and Gaston (356-357). See Lloyd Gaston, No Stone On Another: Studies in the Significance of the Fall of Jerusalem in the Synoptic Gospels (Leiden: Brill, 1970), 357, where he admits that the fusing of Luke 21:10-11 to Luke 21:25 is the weakest part of his reconstruction.
  
  Lindsey, who believed that the Gospel of Luke was written prior to (and thus independently of) Mark’s, believed that Luke 21:10-11 originally belonged to a prophecy on the eschatological coming of the Son of Man that was unconnected to Jesus’ prophecy of destruction and redemption until the First Reconstructor wove these two prophecies together. Flusser (“Jerusalem in Second Temple Literature,” 71-72) adopted Lindsey’s opinion. ↩
• ^[7] Lindsey treated Luke 21:8-11 (Like Lightning and Tumultuous Times) as a single pericope (evidently he did not notice that the phrase τότε ἔλεγεν αὐτοῖς in Luke 21:10 breaks these verses into two pericopae) and assigned all these verses to a prophecy concerning the eschatological coming of the Son of Man. See Lindsey, JRL, 168; idem, TJS, 73; idem, “From Luke to Mark to Matthew: A Discussion of the Sources of Markan “Pick-ups” and the Use of a Basic Non-canonical Source by All the Synoptists,” under the subheading “An Examination of the Editorial Activity of the First Reconstructor.” ↩
• ^[8] Some scholars have supposed that for Tumultuous Times the author of Luke relied (at least partially) on a non-Markan source in addition to Mark 13:8. See Knox, 1:105; Gaston, No Stone on Another, 16; Bovon, 3:111. See also Paul Winter, “The Treatment of his Sources by the Third Evangelist in Luke XXI‐XXIV,” Studia Theologica 8.1 (1954): 138-172, esp. 148-149. Taylor, on the other hand, despite believing that in Luke 21 the author of Luke frequently had recourse to a non-Markan source, did not believe the author of Luke made use of a non-Markan source for Tumultuous Times. See Vincent Taylor, “A Cry from the Siege: A Suggestion Regarding A Non-Marcan Oracle Embedded in Lk. xxi 20-36,” Journal of Theological Studies 26.102 (1925): 136-144, esp. 136. ↩
• ^[9] See R. H. Charles, A Critical and Exegetical Commentary on the Revelation of St. John (2 vols.; Edinburgh: T&T Clark, 1920), 1:158-160; Craig R. Koester, Revelation: A New Translation with Introduction and Commentary (AB 38a; New Haven, Conn.: Yale University Press, 2014), 357-358. ↩
• ^[10] On the four horsemen in Rev. 6, see Jack Poirier’s JP article, “The Interpretive Key to the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse.” ↩
• ^[11] Charles, A Critical and Exegetical Commentary on the Revelation of St. John, 1:158-160. ↩
• ^[12] For a detailed discussion, see Son of Man’s Coming, under the subheading “Conjectured Stages of Transmission.” ↩
• ^[13] See Charles, A Critical and Exegetical Commentary on the Revelation of St. John, 1:158-160. ↩
• ^[14] Luke’s reference to “terrors” parallel to Revelation’s reference to persecution is one case in which we think that Luke preserves the more primitive version. The revelator may have interpreted "terrors" as persecutions because, following Tumultuous Times, FR’s version of Jesus’ prophecy went on to describe coming persecutions (cf. Matt. 24:9-14; Mark 13:9-13; Luke 21:12-19). ↩
• ^[15] See Temple’s Destruction Foretold, Comment to L40. ↩
• ^[16] See the introduction to the “Destruction and Redemption” complex. ↩
• ^[17] Cf. Manson, Sayings, 326. ↩
• ^[18] See Knox, 1:105. ↩
• ^[19] See Bundy, 460-461 §362; Bovon, 3:111. For a different view, see Fitzmyer, 2:1137. ↩
• ^[20] See Introduction to “The Life of Yeshua: A Suggested Reconstruction,” under the subheading “Arrangement of the Reconstruction.” ↩
• ^[21] Buth noted that there are only two instances of narrative τότε in the narrative framework of Luke’s Gospel (Luke 21:10; 24:45). See Randall Buth, “Distinguishing Hebrew from Aramaic in Semitized Greek Texts, with an Application for the Gospels and Pseudepigrapha” (JS2, 247-319, esp. 310). ↩
• ^[22] Lindsey regarded the third-person singular and plural imperfect forms ἔλεγεν (elegen, “he was saying”) and ἔλεγον (elegon, “they were saying”) in Luke as redactional. See Robert L. Lindsey, “A New Two-source Solution to the Synoptic Problem,” thesis 7. ↩
• ^[23] Plummer (Luke, 478) noted that Tumultuous Times contains the only NT instance of ἐγείρειν + ἐπί in the sense of “rise up against” someone. ↩
• ^[24] See David Flusser, “The Hubris of the Antichrist in a Fragment from Qumran” (Flusser, JOC, 207-213, esp. 208). ↩
• ^[25] See the entry for βασιλεία in LOY Excursus: Greek-Hebrew Equivalents in the LOY Reconstructions. For our justification, see Not Everyone Can Be Yeshua’s Disciple, Comment to L39. ↩
• ^[26] See Gundry, Use, 46-47; Gaston, No Stone On Another, 14; Marshall, 765; Nolland, Matt., 963. ↩
• ^[27] Isaiah 19:2 belongs to an oracle uttered against Egypt. Therefore, the usefulness of an allusion to this verse in the context of a prophecy of the destruction of Jerusalem and its Temple is dubious. ↩
• ^[28] This is the approach taken by Bo Reicke, “Synoptic Prophecies on the Destruction of Jerusalem,” in Studies in the New Testament and Early Christian Literature: Essays in Honor of Allen P. Wikgren (ed. David Edward Aune; Leiden: Brill, 1972), 121-134. ↩
• ^[29] Cf. Nolland, Matt., 963. ↩
• ^[30] Cf. Herbert W. Basser, The Gospel of Matthew and Judaic Traditions: A Relevance-based Commentary (Leiden: Brill, 2015), 626. ↩
• ^[31] In both verses there is a discrepancy between the written (ketiv) and vocalized (qere) readings of the text. ↩
• ^[32] See Jastrow, 389. ↩
• ^[33] Opposite לזועה in Jer. 29:18 the Jeremiah Targum reads לְזִיעַ. The Aramaic noun זִיעַ (zia‘) can mean either “earthquake” or “trembling.” See Jastrow, 395. In his English translation of the Jeremiah Targum, Hayward rendered Jer. 29:18 as “And I will pursue them with the sword, with the famine, and with the pestilence; and I will make them into a trembling for all the kingdoms of the earth, for a curse and for a desolation, and for astonishment and for shame among all the nations whither I have made them go into exile” (italics original). See Robert Hayward, trans., The Targum of Jeremiah: Translated, with a Critical Introduction, Apparatus, and Notes (Aramaic Bible 12; Wilmington, Del.: Michael Glazier, 1987), 126. ↩
• ^[34] See Charles, A Critical and Exegetical Commentary on the Revelation of St. John, 1:160. ↩
• ^[35] See Hawkins, 22. Jeremias (Parables, 100 n. 42) noted that, in comparison to the high frequency of τε in Acts (151xx), the fact that there are only nine instances of τε in the Gospel of Luke (Luke 2:16; 12:45; 14:26; 15:2; 21:11 [2xx]; 22:66; 23:12; 24:20) demonstrates the author of Luke’s editorial restraint in his treatment of his sources. Cf. Randall Buth, “Evaluating Luke’s Unnatural Greek: A Look at His Connectives,” in Discourse Studies and Biblical Interpretation: A Festschrift in Honor of Stephen H. Levinsohn (ed. Steven E. Runge; Bellingham, Wash.: Logos Bible Software, 2011), 335-369, esp. 339-341. Nevertheless, the frequency of τε in Luke’s Gospel is high in comparison to Mark (0xx) and Matthew (3xx; Matt. 22:10; 27:48; 28:12). There is no agreement among the Synoptic Gospels on the use of τε. See Lindsey, GCSG, 3:228. While some instances of τε in Luke may be attributable to FR, most instances are likely due to Lukan redaction. ↩
• ^[36] See Cadbury, Style, 117. On the author of Luke’s redactional use of κατά + ὅλος to express “throughout,” see Possessed Man in Girgashite Territory, Comment to L144. On the author of Luke’s redactional use of κατά + πόλις, see Narrow Gate, Comment to L2. ↩
• ^[37] The sequence sword→ famine→ pestilence also occurs in 4QPsalmsPesher [4Q171] II, 1. ↩
• ^[38] See LSJ, 1946. ↩
• ^[39] See Hatch-Redpath, 2:878-879. ↩
• ^[40] See Dos Santos, 194. ↩
• ^[41] See Even-Shoshan, Concordance, 1081-1082. ↩
• ^[42] On the duration of the famine in Judea, see Daniel R. Schwartz, “Ishmael ben Phiabi and the Chronology of Provincia Judaea,” in his Studies in the Jewish Background of Christianity (Tübingen: Mohr [Siebeck], 1992), 218-242, esp. 236-237. ↩
• ^[43] On the extent of the famine, see Kenneth Sperber Gapp, “The Universal Famine Under Claudius,” Harvard Theological Review 28.4 (1935): 258-265; Peter Garnsey, Famine and Food Supply in the Graeco-Roman World: Responses to Risk and Crisis (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1988), 21. ↩
• ^[44] See Seneca, On the Shortness of Life 18:5-6; Dio Cassius, Roman History 59:17 §2. ↩
• ^[45] See Tacitus, Ann. 12:43; Suetonius, Claud. 18:2. ↩
• ^[46] See Tacitus, Ann. 15:18. ↩
• ^[47] See Tacitus, Ann. 15:39 §3; Suetonius, Nero 38:1. ↩
• ^[48] See Tacitus, Hist. 1:73, 86, 89; 3:8, 48; 4:38, 52. On the food shortages in Rome we have mentioned, see Garnsey, Famine and Food Supply in the Graeco-Roman World, 222-224. ↩
• ^[49] See Garnsey, Famine and Food Supply in the Graeco-Roman World, 19. ↩
• ^[50] See Creed, 255; Manson, Sayings, 326; Fitzmyer, 2:1337. For examples of the pairing of λιμός with λοιμός, see Wolter, 2:421. ↩
• ^[51] Nigel Turner cited the pairing of λιμός with λοιμός in Luke 21:11 as evidence that Jesus originally delivered his prophecy in the Greek language. See Nigel Turner, Grammatical Insights into the New Testament (Edinburgh: T&T Clark, 1965), 181. ↩
• ^[52] See Garnsey, Famine and Food Supply in the Graeco-Roman World, 25. ↩
• ^[53] The use of θάνατος (“death”) in the sense of “pestilence” is clearly established in LXX, where the LXX translators consistently rendered דֶּבֶר (dever, “pestilence”) as θάνατος. ↩
• ^[54] We also attribute the change from singular to plural in L7 to the author of Luke. See above, Comment to L7. ↩
• ^[55] LSJ (784) does not list “pestilence” as a definition for θάνατος. Moulton-Milligan (283) cites no evidence for θάνατος in the sense of “pestilence” in secular Koine Greek. ↩
• ^[56] See Dos Santos, 41. ↩
• ^[57] See Charles, A Critical and Exegetical Commentary on the Revelation of St. John, 1:155. ↩
• ^[58] See LSJ, 1946. ↩
• ^[59] See LHNS, 172 §214. ↩
• ^[60] See Serge Ruzer, “The Double Love Precept: Between Pharisees, Jesus and Qumran Covenanters,” in his Mapping the New Testament: Early Christian Writings as a Witness for Jewish Biblical Exegesis (Leiden: Brill, 2007), 71-99, esp. 82-86. ↩
• ^[61] See Hatch-Redpath, 2:1262. ↩
• ^[62] See Dos Santos, 195. ↩
• ^[63] Translation according to H. Rackham et al., trans., Pliny: Natural History (Loeb; 10 vols.; Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1938-1963), 1:331. ↩
• ^[64] Cf. J.W. 1:377, where, following an earthquake, King Herod attempted to convince his troops that earthquakes and other natural disasters are not portents of greater calamities to come. ↩
• ^[65] Discussed in Jefferson B. Williams, Markus J. Schwab, and A. Brauer, “An early first-century earthquake in the Dead Sea,” International Geology Review 54.10 (2012): 1219-1228. Attempts have been made to identify this seismic event with the earthquakes which, according to the Gospel of Matthew, took place at Jesus’ crucifixion and resurrection. The veracity of Matthew’s earthquake descriptions is, however, highly dubious, as neither the Gospel of Mark nor Luke reports any such seismic event. See Nicholas Ambraseys, Earthquakes in the Mediterranean and Middle East: A Multidisciplinary Study of Seismicity up to 1900 (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2009), 109-111; Williams, Schwab, and Brauer, “An early first-century earthquake in the Dead Sea,” 1226. For the same reason, the Jerusalem earthquake of 33 C.E. included in the catalogs of Arvanitakis (178), Willis (78), and Amiran, Arieh, and Turcotte (265) should be discounted, since their only authority for this earthquake is Matt. 27:51 and late sources dependent upon Matthew’s Gospel. See G. L. Arvanitakis, “Essai sur le climat de Jérusalem,” Bulletin de l’Institut Égyptien 44 (1903): 178-189; Bailey Willis, “Earthquakes in the Holy Land,” Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America 18.2 (1928): 73-103; D. H. K. Amiran, E. Arieh, and T. Turcotte, "Earthquakes in Israel and Adjacent Areas: Macroseismic Observations since 100 B.C.E.," Israel Exploration Journal 44 (1994): 260-305.
  

  Likewise, the supposed Jerusalem earthquake of 48 C.E. cited by Arvanitakis (179), Willis (78), and Amiran, Arieh, and Turcotte (265) is based on an erroneous citation of Acts 8:24, which makes no reference to an earthquake. See Williams, Schwab, and Brauer, “An early first-century earthquake in the Dead Sea,” 1226.

  Finally, we must note that France (Mark, 512; Matt., 904) and Marcus (2:877) mistakenly date the 17 C.E. earthquake that demolished cities in Asia Minor during the reign of Tiberius to 61 C.E. France also incorrectly cited Pliny, Nat. 2:84 as his source. The correct reference is Pliny, Nat. 2:86 §200. On the 17 C.E. earthquake in Asia Minor, see Ambraseys, Earthquakes in the Mediterranean and Middle East, 105-108. ↩

• ^[66] See Emanuela Guidoboni, Catalogue of Ancient Earthquakes in the Mediterranean Area up to the 10th Century (Rome: Instituto Nazionale di Geofisica, 1994), 187. ↩
• ^[67]

  A few days before his [i.e., Tiberius’—DNB and JNT] death the lighthouse at Capreae was wrecked by an earthquake. (Suetonius, Tib. 74:2; Loeb)

  ↩

• ^[68] See Guidoboni, Catalogue of Ancient Earthquakes in the Mediterranean Area up to the 10th Century, 187; Mohamed Reda Sbeinati, Ryad Darawcheh, and Mikhail Mouty, “The historical earthquakes of Syria: an analysis of large and moderate earthquakes from 1365 B.C. to 1900 A.D.,” Annals of Geophysics 48:3 (2005): 347-435, esp. 383; Ambraseys, Earthquakes in the Mediterranean and Middle East, 111-112. N.B.: Sbeinati, Darawcheh, and Mouty erroneously counted this earthquake twice, dating the first (no. 009) to 23 March 37 B.C.E. and the second (no. 011) to 23 March 37 C.E., but citing Malalas for both entries! The correct date is 9 April 37 C.E. See Ambraseys, Earthquakes in the Mediterranean and Middle East, 111. ↩
• ^[69]

  In the first year of his [i.e., Gaius Caligula’s—DNB and JNT] reign Antioch the Great suffered from the wrath of God, at dawn on the 23rd Dystros-March, its second calamity since the time of the Macedonians, in the year 85 according to the calendar of the Antiochenes. Part of Daphne also suffered. The emperor Gaius provided large sums of money for the city and its surviving inhabitants. (Malalas, Chronographia 10:18 §243; Jeffreys-Jeffreys-Scott)

  Translation according to Elizabeth Jeffreys, Michael Jeffreys, and Roger Scott, trans., The Chronicle of John Malalas: A Translation (Melbourne: Australian Association for Byzantine Studies, 1986). ↩

• ^[70] See Guidoboni, Catalogue of Ancient Earthquakes in the Mediterranean Area up to the 10th Century, 188-190; Ambraseys, Earthquakes in the Mediterranean and Middle East, 112. ↩
• ^[71]

  During his [i.e., Claudius’—DNB and JNT] reign Ephesos, Smyrna and many other cities of Asia suffered from the wrath of God; Claudius gave generously to them for reconstruction. (Malalas, Chronographia 10:23 §246; Jeffreys-Jeffreys-Scott)

  ↩

• ^[72] See Guidoboni, Catalogue of Ancient Earthquakes in the Mediterranean Area up to the 10th Century, 188-190; Ambraseys, Earthquakes in the Mediterranean and Middle East, 113-114. ↩
• ^[73]

  ...he [i.e., Apollonius—DNB and JNT] foresaw...the disasters which afterwards overtook Smyrna and Miletus and Chios and Samos and several of the Iades. (Philostratus, Vit. Apoll. 4:6; Loeb)

  ↩

• ^[74] See Sbeinati, Darawcheh, and Mouty, “The historical earthquakes of Syria,” 383; Ambraseys, Earthquakes in the Mediterranean and Middle East, 112. ↩
• ^[75]

  The ruler of Syria had plunged Antioch into a feud, by disseminating among the citizens suspicions such that when they met in assembly they all quarreled with one another. But a violent earthquake happening to occur, they were all cowering, and as is usual in the case of the heavenly portents, praying for one another. (Philostratus, Vit. Apoll. 6:38; Loeb)

  During his [i.e., Claudius’—DNB and JNT] reign...[t]he city of Antioch the Great was also shaken by an earthquake at that time and the temple of Artemis, Ares and Herakles was torn apart and several houses fell down. (Malalas, Chronographia 10:23 §246; Jeffreys-Jeffreys-Scott)

  ↩

• ^[76] Guidoboni, Catalogue of Ancient Earthquakes in the Mediterranean Area up to the 10th Century, 190. ↩
• ^[77]

  At one time the cities of the left side of the Hellespont were visited by earthquakes.... (Philostratus, Vit. Apoll. 6:41; Loeb)

  ↩

• ^[78] See Guidoboni, Catalogue of Ancient Earthquakes in the Mediterranean Area up to the 10th Century, 190; Ambraseys, Earthquakes in the Mediterranean and Middle East, 115. Perhaps since this seismic event is otherwise unattested and even in Acts appears only to have affected the dungeon in which Paul and Silas were imprisoned (notice that the jailer’s house was not damaged and the following morning the magistrates of Philippi were able to carry on business as usual), this earthquake is best understood not as a seismic event, but as a divine intervention on behalf of Paul and Silas. ↩
• ^[79]

  But about midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them, and suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken; and immediately all the doors were opened and every one’s fetters were unfastened. (Acts 16:25-26; RSV)

  ↩

• ^[80] See Guidoboni, Catalogue of Ancient Earthquakes in the Mediterranean Area up to the 10th Century, 191-192. ↩
• ^[81]

  Many prodigies occurred during the year. Ominous birds took their seat on the Capitol; houses were overturned by repeated shocks of earthquake, and, as the panic spread, the weak were trampled underfoot in the trepidation of the crowd. (Tacitus, Ann. 12:43; Loeb)

  ↩

• ^[82] See Guidoboni, Catalogue of Ancient Earthquakes in the Mediterranean Area up to the 10th Century, 192-193; Ambraseys, Earthquakes in the Mediterranean and Middle East, 116. Somehow Sbeinati, Darawcheh, and Mouty (“The historical earthquakes of Syria,” 383 no. 013) confused the 53-54 C.E. earthquake in Apamea with the 46-47 C.E. earthquake in Antioch. ↩
• ^[83]

  ...and Apamea [in Phrygia], which had suffered from an earthquake shock, was relieved from its tribute for the next five years. (Tacitus, Ann. 12:58; Loeb)

  ↩

• ^[84] See Ambraseys, Earthquakes in the Mediterranean and Middle East, 115-116. ↩
• ^[85]

  When a mountain in Crete was cleft by an earthquake a body 69 feet in height was found, which some people thought must be that of Orion and others Otus. (Pliny, Nat. 7:16 §73; Loeb)

  That Pliny was referring to the earthquake in 53-54 C.E. is merely an educated guess. ↩

• ^[86]

  In the 13th year of the reign of Claudius Caesar, the entire island of Crete suffered from the wrath of God. (Malalas, Chronographia 10:28 §250; Jeffreys-Jeffreys-Scott)

  Although Malalas does not explicitly mention an earthquake, a catastrophic seismic event is usually what Malalas means by “the wrath of God.” ↩

• ^[87] See Guidoboni, Catalogue of Ancient Earthquakes in the Mediterranean Area up to the 10th Century, 194-195; Ambraseys, Earthquakes in the Mediterranean and Middle East, 117. ↩
• ^[88]

  In the same year, Laodicea, one of the famous Asiatic cities, was laid in ruins by an earthquake, but recovered by its own resources.... (Tacitus, Ann. 14:27; Loeb)

  ↩

• ^[89]

  Wretched Laodicea, at some time an earthquake will throw you headlong and spread you flat, but you will be founded again as a city, and stand. (Sib. Or. 4:107-108; Charlesworth)

  Woe to you...Laodicea, beautiful city, how you will perish destroyed by earthquakes and changed to dust. (Sib. Or. 5:289-291; Charlesworth)

  In the passage above Laodicea is mentioned together with Sardis and Ephesus. Sardis was destroyed together with several other cities in Asia Minor by an earthquake in 17 C.E. (Strabo, Geogr. 13:4 §8; Pliny, Nat. 2:86; Tacitus, Ann. 2:47). According to Ambraseys (Earthquakes in the Mediterranean and Middle East, 107 [Lydia], 108 [Ephesus]), Eusebius and Jerome included Ephesus among them. Did Laodicea also suffer in this earthquake, or do the Sibylline Oracles lump together cities in Asia Minor that experienced earthquakes at different times?

  Phrygia of many flocks will also groan with earthquakes. Alas, Laodiceia [sic], alas, wretched Hierapolis, for you first did the yawning earth receive. (Sib. Or. 12:279-281; Charlesworth)

  On the likelihood that the Sibylline Oracles refer to the earthquake of 60 C.E. in these passages, see Larry J. Kreitzer, “Living in the Lycus Valley: Earthquake Imagery in Colossians, Philemon and Ephesians,” in Testimony and Interpretation: Early Christology in Its Judeo-Hellenistic Milieu: Studies in Honor of Petr Pokorný (ed. Jiří Mrázek and Jan Roskovec; London: T&T Clark, 2004), 81-94, esp. 85-86. ↩

• ^[90] See Guidoboni, Catalogue of Ancient Earthquakes in the Mediterranean Area up to the 10th Century, 195; Ambraseys, Earthquakes in the Mediterranean and Middle East, 117. ↩
• ^[91]

  Last year the same disastrous force, whatever it is, that now has fallen upon Campania, struck Achaia and Macedonia. (Seneca, Nat. 6:1 §13; Loeb)

  That recent earthquake, which has filled the world with stories, did not travel beyond Campania. Why should I explain that when Chalcis trembled, Thebes stood firm; when Aegium suffered, Patrae, so near it, only heard about the earthquake? The vast shock which smashed two cities, Helice and Buris, stopped around Aegium. (Seneca, Nat. 6:25 §3-4; Loeb)

  ↩

• ^[92] See Guidoboni, Catalogue of Ancient Earthquakes in the Mediterranean Area up to the 10th Century, 195; Ambraseys, Earthquakes in the Mediterranean and Middle East, 117. ↩
• ^[93]

  Last year the same disastrous force, whatever it is, that now has fallen upon Campania, struck Achaia and Macedonia. (Seneca, Nat. 6:1 §13; Loeb)

  ↩

• ^[94] See Guidoboni, Catalogue of Ancient Earthquakes in the Mediterranean Area up to the 10th Century, 196-210. ↩
• ^[95]

  ...I have just heard that Pompeii, the famous city in Campania, has been laid low by an earthquake which also disturbed all the adjacent districts. ...In fact, it occurred in days of winter, a season which our ancestors used to claim was free from such disaster. This earthquake was on the Nones of February, in the consulship of Regulus and Verginius. It caused a great destruction in Campania, which has never been safe from this danger but had never been damaged and time and again got off with a fright. Also, part of the town of Herculaneum is in ruins and even the structures which are left standing are shaky. The colony of Nuceria escaped destruction but still has much to complain about. Naples also lost many private dwellings but no public buildings and was only mildly grazed by the great disaster; but some villas collapsed, others here and there shook without damage. To these calamities others were added: they say that a flock of hundreds of sheep was killed, statues were cracked, and some people were deranged and afterwards wandered about unable to help themselves. (Seneca, Nat. 6:1 §1-3; Loeb)

  ↩

• ^[96]

  An earthquake also demolished to a large extent the populous Campanian town of Pompeii.... (Tacitus, Ann. 15:22; Loeb)

  ↩

• ^[97] See Guidoboni, Catalogue of Ancient Earthquakes in the Mediterranean Area up to the 10th Century, 210-211. ↩
• ^[98]

  And he [i.e., Nero—DNB and JNT] made his début at Naples, where he did not cease singing until he had finished the number which he had begun, even though the theatre was shaken by a sudden earthquake shock. (Suetonius, Nero 20:2; Loeb)

  ↩

• ^[99] See Guidoboni, Catalogue of Ancient Earthquakes in the Mediterranean Area up to the 10th Century, 193-194; Ambraseys, Earthquakes in the Mediterranean and Middle East, 117-118. ↩
• ^[100]

  ...Apollonius...was addressing quite a number of people who were worshipping at the shrine, when an earthquake shook the whole of Crete at once, and a roar of thunder was heard to issue not from the clouds but from the earth, and the sea receded about seven stadia. (Philostratus, Vit. Apoll. 4:34; Loeb)

  ↩

• ^[101] Ambraseys, Earthquakes in the Mediterranean and Middle East, 118. ↩
• ^[102]

  According to the story, Delos for a long time floated adrift; also it was the only island that down to the time of Marcus Varro had never felt an earthquake shock; Mucianus however states that it has suffered twice from earthquake. (Pliny, Nat. 4:12 §66; Loeb)

  Ambraseys (Earthquakes in the Mediterranean and Middle East, 118) dated Mucianus’ career to 65-72 C.E. ↩

• ^[103] The veracity of Josephus’ account is open to question. Cf. Marcus, 2:877. ↩
• ^[104]

  For in the course of the night a terrific storm broke out: the winds blew a hurricane, rain fell in torrents, lightning was continuous, accompanied by fearful thunder-claps and extraordinary rumblings of earthquake. Such a convulsion of the very fabric of the universe clearly foretokened destruction for mankind, and the conjecture was natural that these were portents of no trifling calamity. (Jos., J.W. 4:286-287; Loeb)

  ↩

• ^[105] See Guidoboni, Catalogue of Ancient Earthquakes in the Mediterranean Area up to the 10th Century, 211-212; Ambraseys, Earthquakes in the Mediterranean and Middle East, 118. ↩
• ^[106]

  Beautiful Myra of Lycia, the shuddering earth will no longer support you, but falling down headlong on the earth, you will pray to flee to another land as an exile when the Lord spreads out the dark water of the sea with thunderings and earthquakes because of the impieties of Patara. (Sib. Or. 4:109-113; Charlesworth)

  ↩

• ^[107]

  ...the sea retreated a long distance from Egypt and covered a great portion of Lycia. (Dio Cassius, Roman History 63:26 §5; Loeb)

  ↩

• ^[108] See Guidoboni, Catalogue of Ancient Earthquakes in the Mediterranean Area up to the 10th Century, 212-213. ↩
• ^[109]

  At once he [i.e., Nero—DNB and JNT] was startled by a shock of earthquake and a flash of lightning full in his face, and he heard the shouts of the soldiers from the camp hard by, as they prophesied destruction for him and success for Galba. (Suetonius, Nero 48:2; Loeb)

  ↩

• ^[110]

  While he [i.e., Nero—DNB and JNT] was on the way a terrible earthquake occurred, so that one might have thought the whole world was bursting asunder and all the spirits of those murdered by him were leaping up to assail him. (Dio Cassius, Roman History 63:27 §1; Loeb)

  ↩

• ^[111] See Guidoboni, Catalogue of Ancient Earthquakes in the Mediterranean Area up to the 10th Century, 213; Ambraseys, Earthquakes in the Mediterranean and Middle East, 118. ↩
• ^[112]

  In his [i.e., Vitellius’—DNB and JNT] reign, Nikomedeia, a great city, the metropolis of Bithynia, suffered from the wrath of God. The emperor gave generously to the survivors and the city for reconstruction, for it had suffered formerly from the wrath of God and was in ruins; he restored it. (Malalas, Chronographia 10:43 §259; Jeffreys-Jeffreys-Scott)

  ↩

• ^[113] According to Donald K. Yeomans (Comets: A Chronological History of Observation, Science, Myth, and Folklore [New York: John Wiley & Sons, 1991], 368; idem, “Great Comets in History”), Halley’s Comet was visible in 66 C.E., so this might be the comet to which Josephus referred. In addition to the appearance of Halley’s Comet in 66 C.E., comets were also observed in 39 C.E., 46-47 C.E., 54 C.E., 55 C.E., 59 C.E., 60 C.E., 61 C.E., 64 C.E. and 65 C.E. See Yeomans, Comets, 367-368. Many of these comets are mentioned in Greek and Latin sources, which have been collected by A. A. Barrett, “Observations of Comets in Greek and Roman Sources Before A.D. 410,” Journal of the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada 72.2 (1978): 81-106, esp. 99-101. ↩
• ^[114] The Temple’s cosmic significance was often in tension with its exclusivity. Elsewhere, Josephus described the Temple’s significance in this way: “Let there be one holy city... And let there be one temple therein, and one altar of stones…. In no other city let there be either altar or temple; for God is one and the Hebrew race is one” (Ant. 4:200-201; Loeb). See Flusser’s comments on these passages in David Flusser, “Jesus’ Temptation and Its Jewish Background,” under the subheading “The Jewish Background of the Temptation Narrative in Q,” on WholeStones.org. ↩
• ^[115] Cf. Conzelmann, 99 n. 1. ↩
• ^[116] Lindsey suggested that the author of Mark added “these are the beginning of birthing pains” under the influence of 1 Thess. 5:3, which states, “then sudden destruction comes upon them like birthing pains [ἡ ὠδὶν] upon a pregnant woman.” See Lindsey, “From Luke to Mark to Matthew,” under the subheading “An Examination of the Editorial Activity of the First Reconstructor,” Comment to L30; LHNC, 1025. See also LOY Excursus: Catalog of Markan Stereotypes and Possible Markan Pick-ups, under the entry for Mark 13:8. ↩
• ^[117] 2 Baruch (Syriac) 27:2 refers to “the beginning of commotions.” If 2 Baruch really was composed in Hebrew as scholars suggest, then perhaps something like תְּחִילַּת חֲבָלִים (t^eḥilat ḥ^avālim, “beginning of birthing pains”; see Comment to L15) stood behind this phrase. ↩
• ^[118] See Hatch-Redpath, 1:163-165. ↩
• ^[119] See Lindsey, HTGM, 141. ↩
• ^[120] Likewise, Resch (179) reconstructed ἀρχή as רֵאשִׁית. ↩
• ^[121] See Hatch-Redpath, 2:1492. ↩
• ^[122] See Dos Santos, 57. ↩
• ^[123] See Lightfoot, 2:441-442; Gill, 7:287; Gould, 244; Swete, 300; Allen, 254-255; Strack-Billerbeck, 1:950; Gaston, No Stone On Another, 15; Lachs, 380; Hagner, 2:691; Vermes, Authentic, 292. See also Paul Winter, “The Treatment of his Sources by the Third Evangelist in Luke XXI‐XXIV,” Studia Theologica 8.1 (1954): 138-172, esp. 148. On the rabbinic concept of the Messiah’s birthing pain, see Georg Bertram, “ὠδίν, ὠδίνω,” TDNT, 9:667-674, esp. 671-672; David Flusser, “Jewish Messianism Reflected in the Early Church” (Flusser, JSTP2, 258-288, esp. 286-287). ↩
• ^[124] See Nolland, Matt., 963. We are less convinced by the argument that because the phrase חֶבְלוֹ שֶׁלְּמָשִׁיחַ is not attested until it appears in rabbinic sources, we do not know whether the concept of the birthing pain of the Messiah existed in the Second Temple period. The sage who first used the phrase חֶבְלוֹ שֶׁלְּמָשִׁיחַ, Rabbi Eliezer ben Hyrcanus (Mechilta de-Rabbi Ishmael, Vayassa’ §5 [ed. Lauterbach, 1:245]), was born prior to the destruction of the Temple and had a reputation for preserving ancient traditions (cf. m. Avot 2:8). Moreover, there is no lack of evidence from Second Temple Jewish sources for the expectation that conditions will worsen in the time leading up to the final redemption (cf. Zech. 14:1-5). We find completely unconvincing the argument that the concept of the messianic birthing pain cannot be related to the “beginning of the birthing pains” because in the phrase חֶבְלוֹ שֶׁלְּמָשִׁיחַ “birthing pain” is singular, whereas in the phrase ἀρχὴ ὠδίνων “birthing pains” is plural. Cf. Mann, 515; France, Mark, 512. If that were the case, consistency would require us to insist that the phrase עוֹף הַשָּׁמַיִם (‘ōf hashāmayim, “the bird of the heavens”) cannot stand behind τὰ πετεινὰ τοῦ οὐρανοῦ (ta peteina tou ouranou, “the birds of the heaven”) because in Hebrew “bird” is singular and “heavens” are plural, whereas in Greek “birds” are plural but “heaven” is singular. The difficulty of relating the birthing pain of the Messiah to the “beginning of birthing pains” in Tumultuous Times is not linguistic or chronological but contextual. Tumultuous Times does not describe acute suffering that leads up to redemption. ↩
• ^[125] Cf. A. B. Bruce, 290. ↩
• ^[126]

  Tumultuous Times
  FR’s Version (Reconstructed)		Anthology’s Wording (Reconstructed)
  τότε ἔλεγεν αὐτοῖς ἐγερθήσεται ἔθνος ἐπ᾿ ἔθνος καὶ βασιλεία ἐπὶ βασιλείαν λιμὸς καὶ θάνατος ἔσται καὶ φόβητρον καὶ σεισμὸς μέγας καὶ ἀπ᾿ οὐρανοῦ σημεῖα μεγάλα		καὶ εἶπεν αὐτοῖς ἐγερθήσεται ἔθνος ἐπὶ ἔθνος καὶ βασιλεία ἐπὶ βασιλείαν καὶ ἔσται λιμὸς καὶ θάνατος καὶ φόβητρον καὶ σεισμὸς καὶ ἀπ᾿ οὐρανοῦ σημεῖα μεγάλα [ἀρχὴ ὠδίνων ταῦτα]
  Total Words:	25	Total Words:	25 [28]
  Total Words Identical to Anth.:	22	Total Words Taken Over in Luke:	22
  Percentage Identical to Anth.:	88.00%	Percentage of Anth. Represented in Luke:	88.00 [78.57]%

  ↩

• ^[127]

  Tumultuous Times
  Luke’s Version		Anthology’s Wording (Reconstructed)
  τότε ἔλεγεν αὐτοῖς ἐγερθήσεται ἔθνος ἐπ᾿ ἔθνος καὶ βασιλεία ἐπὶ βασιλείαν σεισμοί τε μεγάλοι καὶ κατὰ τόπους λειμοὶ καὶ λοιμοὶ ἔσονται φόβηθρά τε καὶ ἀπ᾿ οὐρανοῦ σημεῖα μεγάλα ἔσται		καὶ εἶπεν αὐτοῖς ἐγερθήσεται ἔθνος ἐπὶ ἔθνος καὶ βασιλεία ἐπὶ βασιλείαν καὶ ἔσται λιμὸς καὶ θάνατος καὶ φόβητρον καὶ σεισμὸς καὶ ἀπ᾿ οὐρανοῦ σημεῖα μεγάλα [ἀρχὴ ὠδίνων ταῦτα]
  Total Words:	29	Total Words:	25 [28]
  Total Words Identical to Anth.:	17	Total Words Taken Over in Luke:	17
  Percentage Identical to Anth.:	58.62%	Percentage of Anth. Represented in Luke:	68.00 [60.71]%

  ↩

• ^[128]

  Tumultuous Times
  Mark’s Version		Anthology’s Wording (Reconstructed)
  ἐγερθήσεται γὰρ ἔθνος ἐπ᾿ ἔθνος καὶ βασιλεία ἐπὶ βασιλείαν ἔσονται σεισμοὶ κατὰ τόπους ἔσονται λειμοί ἀρχὴ ὠδείνων ταῦτα		καὶ εἶπεν αὐτοῖς ἐγερθήσεται ἔθνος ἐπὶ ἔθνος καὶ βασιλεία ἐπὶ βασιλείαν καὶ ἔσται λιμὸς καὶ θάνατος καὶ φόβητρον καὶ σεισμὸς καὶ ἀπ᾿ οὐρανοῦ σημεῖα μεγάλα [ἀρχὴ ὠδίνων ταῦτα]
  Total Words:	18	Total Words:	25 [28]
  Total Words Identical to Anth.:	8 [11]	Total Words Taken Over in Mark:	8 [11]
  Percentage Identical to Anth.:	44.44 [61.11]%	Percentage of Anth. Represented in Mark:	32.00 [39.29]%

  ↩

• ^[129]

  Tumultuous Times
  Matthew’s Version		Anthology’s Wording (Reconstructed)
  ἐγερθήσεται γὰρ ἔθνος ἐπὶ ἔθνος καὶ βασιλεία ἐπὶ βασιλείαν καὶ ἔσονται λειμοὶ καὶ σεισμοὶ κατὰ τόπους πάντα δὲ ταῦτα ἀρχὴ ὠδείνων		καὶ εἶπεν αὐτοῖς ἐγερθήσεται ἔθνος ἐπὶ ἔθνος καὶ βασιλεία ἐπὶ βασιλείαν καὶ ἔσται λιμὸς καὶ θάνατος καὶ φόβητρον καὶ σεισμὸς καὶ ἀπ᾿ οὐρανοῦ σημεῖα μεγάλα [ἀρχὴ ὠδίνων ταῦτα]
  Total Words:	21	Total Words:	25 [28]
  Total Words Identical to Anth.:	10 [13]	Total Words Taken Over in Matt.:	10 [13]
  Percentage Identical to Anth.:	47.62 [61.90]%	Percentage of Anth. Represented in Matt.:	40.00 [46.43]%

  ↩

• ^[130] For abbreviations and bibliographical references, see “Introduction to ‘The Life of Yeshua: A Suggested Reconstruction.’” ↩
• ^[131] This translation is a dynamic rendition of our reconstruction of the conjectured Hebrew source that stands behind the Greek of the Synoptic Gospels. It is not a translation of the Greek text of a canonical source. ↩