Be alert.

Luke 21.34-36.

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Notes and quotes.

§ Paul in 1 Thessalonians 5.3:

Οταν λεγωσιν· Ειρηνη και ασφαλεια, τοτε αιφνιδιος αυτοις εφισταται ολεθρος ωσπερ η ωδιν τη εν γαστρι εχουση, και ου μη εκφυγωσιν.

When they are saying: Peace and security, then suddenly destruction will set upon them like the birth pang upon a pregnant woman, and they shall not escape.

The adjective αιφνιδιος, which I have translated adverbially as suddenly, is not very common. In the LXX it appears in 2 Maccabees 14.17; 3 Maccabees 3.24; Wisdom 17.15, and only in Luke 21.34 and here in 1 Thessalonians 5.3 in the New Testament.