Here are the verses before and after for context.


Thin verse appears to refer to the destruction of the Temple in 70 A.D. by Titus at the end of the Jewish war and the subsequent deportations, etc., during the next 80 years.

Note that since Israel came back into the land as a nation in 1948 (from all over the world), Jerusalem is still divided and, thus, still "trodden down of the gentiles".

The "times of the gentiles" appears to refer to the church age. Some have made the case that the phrase "kingdom of heaven" or "kingdom of the sky" used by Jesus in Matthew, as a code word, refers to this period of time. The "kingdom of God" is thus the traditional idea of heaven, etc.

Details are left as a future topic.

More: Parables and secret codes used and explained by Jesus

Jesus then makes the following statement in Luke 21:25 about the end times. That is, an event in the future of the previous verse.


Note that the sun, moon, stars, sea and waves (roaring) may have same type of code meaning.

More: Parables and secret codes used and explained by Jesus

The Greek for "nations" is the source of the English word "ethnic" and refers to "peoples" without any idea of what we today think of as a nation.

Some have used this verse to support the idea of aliens coming down from the skies. The Greek for "earth" is that of the "world" as in the "inhabited world" as in "those in the world" and is the basis of the English word "ecumenical".

More: All the ecumenical world

The Greek for "shaken" is the same base word as used in the previous verse about the "waves roaring". How this verse relates to the previous verse is not clear.

Details are left as a future topic.

Who is the "they"? This appear to refer to the "second coming" of Jesus. This appears to be a future event.

Details are left as a future topic.

The following verses on the parable of the fig tree appear to refer to Israel coming back into the land as a sign.

Details are left as a future topic.

Let us return to the original verse in question.

The ancient Greek word "ἀπορία" ≈ "impassable, difficult" word appears a few times in the GNT and LXX (Septuagint). The usage of this word can be contrasted with similar words that have a slightly different meaning.

The ancient Greek word "ἄπορος" ≈ "without passage, difficult" and comes from the negation of the ancient Greek word "πόρος" ≈ "passage" which is related to English words such as "pore", "port", "ford", etc.

The ancient Greek word "ἀπορέω" ≈ "be at a loss, be in need of".

The KJV (King James Version), and the Brenton Septuagint, often translate the Greek word for "aporia" as "perplexed".

The English word "perplex" which means "baffled", "puzzled", "entangled", etc., comes, through French, from the Latin word "perplexus" ≈ "entangled, confused" which comes from two Latin words.

• The Latin word "per" ≈ "through".
• The Latin word "plectos" ≈ "plait, weave".

The Greek sense of "aporia" is that of being faced with a problem without an apparent solution which does not match the English definition of "perplexed". That is, one can be "perplexed" without a need to actually do something or solve an important and immediate problem.

Jesus makes the following statement in Luke 21:25 about the end times.


The ancient Greek word "ἀπορία" ≈ "impassable, difficult". In the context of this verse, there appears to be some important and immediate problem that needs to be solved, but there is no apparent solution.

This word that has a specific meaning in Greek is used by Luke, a Greek, in writing what he inferred from carefully and methodically doing historical research from eye witnesses to the events.

The ancient Greek word "συνοχή" ≈ "having together" but is translated in the KJV as "distress" or "anguish". It is used only 2 times in the GNT, not in the LXX, and does not appear to be used in this form in classical Greek. The word is made up of two parts.

The ancient Greek word "συν" ≈ "together". The ancient Greek word "ἔχω" ≈ "have, hold" which is the suffix of a number of other Greek words that have a preposition as a prefix.

• "ἀνοχή" ≈ "hold back, cease" as in "holding above"
• "μετοχή" ≈ "take part, participate" as in "having after"
• "περιοχή" ≈ "circumference, extent" as in "having around".
• "συνοχή" ≈ "having together".
• "ὑπεροχή" ≈ "having over".

Let us look at these words.

The ancient Greek word "συνοχή" ≈ "distress" and has some similarities to "συνεχεεν" ≈ "confound, confuse" as used in the LXX at the tower of Babel. It is not clear if there is a direct relationship.

More: A mania for confusing commotions

Note that one form is a verb form and the other a noun form. The noun form appears 2 times in the GNT.

The ancient Greek word "ἔχω" ≈ "have, hold".

The modern Greek word "ούχι" (U-khee) ≈ "no" comes from the idea of "I do not have it" or "not have it" where the ancient Greek word "ου" ≈ "not".

The Russian word "нет" (nyet) ≈ "no" comes from the idea of "I do not have it" or "not have it".

The word "περιοχή" ≈ "circumference, extent" and comes from "περιέχω" ≈ "surround" which comes from the words "περι" ≈ "around" and "ἔχω" ≈ "have, hold".

In Acts the Ethiopian is reading from a scroll as Philip approaches to help the Ethiopian understand.

If one measures the extent of the circumference one gets the English word "perimeter" which comes from the Latin word "perimetros" ≈ "perimeter" which comes from the ancient Greek word "περίμετρος" ≈ "perimeter, circumference".

More: Average ocean depth

Eratosthenes (276-194 BC), born in Cyrene, North Africa (now Shahhat, Libya), and dying in Alexandria, Egypt, made a fairly precise measurement of the circumference of the earth. There are allusions and indirect references to the earth not being flat in the Bible.

Details are left as a future topic.

The ancient Greek word "μετοχή" ≈ "take part, participate" and means, literally, to "have after" or "having with" as in having a share in something as in "taking part".

The ancient Greek word "μετέχω" ≈ "take part, partake".

• The ancient Greek word "μετά" ≈ "after, with".
• The ancient Greek word "ἔχω" ≈ "have, hold".

The ancient Greek word "ἀνοχή" ≈ "hold back, cease" and comes from the ancient Greek word "ἀνέχω" ≈ "bear".

• The ancient Greek word "ἀνα" ≈ "up, upwards" as in "holding up" one's hands, making ready, lifting up, etc.
• The ancient Greek word "ἔχω" ≈ "have, hold".

The KJV uses "declare" for what Paul is "holding up" (in words).

The ancient Greek word "ὑπεροχή" ≈ "having over".

• The ancient Greek word "ὑπερ" ≈ "above, more, over" is in the English prefix "hyper" .
• The ancient Greek word "ἔχω" ≈ "have, hold".

The modern Greek word "υπεροχή" (ee-peh-ro-KHEE) ≈ "advantage, superiority".

The ancient Greek word "ἐξοχή" ≈ "pre-eminence"as in "having out" or "standing out". A good farmer likes to be outstanding in his field.

• The ancient Greek word "εκ" ≈ "out, out of" as in the English word "exodus" as in the "way out".
• The ancient Greek word "ἔχω" ≈ "have, hold".

The modern Greek word "εξοχή" (eh-kso-KHEE) ≈ "protrusion".

The Latin word "presso" ≈ "press".

The Latin word "gens" ≈ "clan, tribe, nation" and is related to the English words "kin" and "kind".

The Latin Vulgate appears to start the word slide from people (and nations) that are "together" to people (and nations) than are "pressed" (and later "distressed").

The Latin word "confusio" ≈ "mingling, confounding, trouble" while the Greek is that of facing an "aporia" or apparently unsolvable problem.

The ancient Greek word "συνοχή" ≈ "having together" in a literal sense. As used by Paul in 2 Corinthians 2:4 it translated by the KJV as "anguish". This might be inferred but is not what is said.


The Latin word "angustia" ≈ "narrowness, difficulty" is the word used in the Latin Vulgate for "having together".

One way to read what Paul is says is that he has a "having together" of "heart" with those to whom he is writing.

The English word "anguish" comes from the Middle English word "angwissh" ≈ "anguish" which comes, through French, from the Latin word "angustia" ≈ "narrowness, difficulty"

Words related to the English word "anguish" are the German word "Angst" ≈ "fear, anxiety" (used in the Luther German) and the English word "anger".

The Latin word "contristo" ≈ "sadden, afflict, darken".

Isaiah uses the Greek word for "aporia". The LXX was created not long after Plato so the meaning narrowing may not have happened yet but the literal meaning was already in place.


The Greek in the LXX appears to say that "the earth shall be in a completely not-passable or solvable situation".

The Latin word "pressura" ≈ "pressing, pressure, crowd" and is the source of the English word "pressure".

The Latin word "confusio" ≈ "mingling, mixing, confounding, trouble" and is from the Latin word "confundo" ≈ "pour, mingle, mix" and is the source of the English word "confound".

Neither Latin word appears to convey the exact meaning of the corresponding Greek words.

The Greek for "nations" means "peoples". In the GNT, as used be Jesus and others, the "sea" often represents the "peoples" of the earth.

The end times phenomena appears to be a "distress" and "perplexity" of the "peoples" of the earth (earth dwellers) and the collections of groups of people known today as "nations". An important and impending problem will arise for which there is no apparent solution as in "not passable".