Matthew 24:5

THE MESSAGE

Parallel Translations

Christian Standard Bible®
For many will come in my name, saying, ‘I am the Messiah,’ and they will deceive many.

King James Version (1611)
For many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ: and shall deceiue many.

King James Version
For many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many.

English Standard Version
For many will come in my name, saying, ‘I am the Christ,' and they will lead many astray.

New American Standard Bible
"For many will come in My name, saying, 'I am the Christ,' and they will mislead many people.

New Century Version
Many will come in my name, saying, ‘I am the Christ,' and they will fool many people.

Amplified Bible
"For many will come in My name [misusing it, and appropriating the strength of the name which belongs to Me], saying, 'I am the Christ (the Messiah, the Anointed),' and they will mislead many.

New American Standard Bible (1995)
"For many will come in My name, saying, 'I am the Christ,' and will mislead many.

Legacy Standard Bible
For many will come in My name, saying, ‘I am the Christ,' and will deceive many.

Berean Standard Bible
For many will come in My name, claiming, 'I am the Christ,' and will deceive many.

Contemporary English Version
Many will come and claim to be me. They will say that they are the Messiah, and they will fool many people.

Complete Jewish Bible
For many will come in my name, saying, ‘I am the Messiah!' and they will lead many astray.

Darby Translation
For many shall come in my name, saying, *I* am the Christ, and they shall mislead many.

Easy-to-Read Version
Many people will come and use my name. They will say, ‘I am the Messiah.' And they will fool many people.

Geneva Bible (1587)
For many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ, and shall deceiue many.

George Lamsa Translation
For many will come in my name, and say, I am the Christ, and they will deceive many.

Good News Translation
Many men, claiming to speak for me, will come and say, ‘I am the Messiah!' and they will fool many people.

Lexham English Bible
For many will come in my name, saying, ‘I am the Christ,' and they will deceive many.

Literal Translation
For many will come in My name, saying, I am the Christ. And they will cause many to be led astray.

American Standard Version
For many shall come in my name, saying, I am the Christ; and shall lead many astray.

Bible in Basic English
For people will come in my name, saying, I am the Christ; and a number will be turned from the true way through them.

Hebrew Names Version
For many will come in my name, saying, 'I am the Messiah,' and will lead many astray.

International Standard Version
For many will come in my name and say, 'I am the Christ,'[fn] and they will deceive many people.Jeremiah 14:14; 23:24-25; Matthew 5:11; 23:24; John 5:43;">[xr]

Etheridge Translation
for many will come in my name and will say, I am the Meshicha; and many will be deceived.

Murdock Translation
For many will come in my name, and will say, I am the Messiah: and they will deceive many.

Bishop's Bible (1568)
For many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christe: and shall deceaue many.

English Revised Version
For many shall come in my name, saying, I am the Christ; and shall lead many astray.

World English Bible
For many will come in my name, saying, 'I am the Christ,' and will lead many astray.

Wesley's New Testament (1755)
For many shall come in my name, saying, I am the Christ, and shall deceive many.

Weymouth's New Testament
"for many will come assuming my name and saying `I am the Christ;' and they will mislead many.

Wycliffe Bible (1395)
For many schulen come in my name, and schulen seie, Y am Crist; and thei schulen disseyue manye.

Update Bible Version
For many shall come in my name, saying, I am the Christ; and shall lead many astray.

Webster's Bible Translation
For many will come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and will deceive many.

New English Translation
For many will come in my name, saying, ‘I am the Christ,' and they will mislead many.

New King James Version
For many will come in My name, saying, "I am the Christ,' and will deceive many.

New Living Translation
for many will come in my name, claiming, ‘I am the Messiah.' They will deceive many.

New Life Bible
Many people will come using My name. They will say, ‘I am Christ.' They will fool many people and will turn them to the wrong way.

New Revised Standard
For many will come in my name, saying, ‘I am the Messiah!' and they will lead many astray.

J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
For, many, will come upon my name, saying - I, am the Christ, - and will, deceive many.

Douay-Rheims Bible
For many will come in my name saying, I am Christ. And they will seduce many.

Revised Standard Version
For many will come in my name, saying, 'I am the Christ,' and they will lead many astray.

Tyndale New Testament (1525)
For many shall come in my name sayinge: I am Christ and shall deceave many.

Young's Literal Translation
for many shall come in my name, saying, I am the Christ, and they shall lead many astray,

Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
For there shal many come in my name, and saye: I am Christ, and shal disceaue many.

Mace New Testament (1729)
for many shall come in my name, saying, I am the Christ: and shall deceive many.

Simplified Cowboy Version
There's gonna be a whole mess of people who claim to be me. They will ride into town and claim to be the cowboy who has come to save you."

Contextual Overview

⁴Jesus said, "Watch out for doomsday deceivers. Many leaders are going to show up with forged identities, claiming, ‘I am Christ, the Messiah.' They will deceive a lot of people. When reports come in of wars and rumored wars, keep your head and don't panic. This is routine history; this is no sign of the end. Nation will fight nation and ruler fight ruler, over and over. Famines and earthquakes will occur in various places. This is nothing compared to what is coming. ⁹"They are going to throw you to the wolves and kill you, everyone hating you because you carry my name. And then, going from bad to worse, it will be dog-eat-dog, everyone at each other's throat, everyone hating each other. ¹¹"In the confusion, lying preachers will come forward and deceive a lot of people. For many others, the overwhelming spread of evil will do them in—nothing left of their love but a mound of ashes. ¹³"Staying with it—that's what God requires. Stay with it to the end. You won't be sorry, and you'll be saved. All during this time, the good news—the Message of the kingdom—will be preached all over the world, a witness staked out in every country. And then the end will come. ¹⁵"But be ready to run for it when you see the monster of desecration set up in the Temple sanctuary. The prophet Daniel described this. If you've read Daniel, you'll know what I'm talking about. If you're living in Judea at the time, run for the hills; if you're working in the yard, don't return to the house to get anything; if you're out in the field, don't go back and get your coat. Pregnant and nursing mothers will have it especially hard. Hope and pray this won't happen during the winter or on a Sabbath. ²¹"This is going to be trouble on a scale beyond what the world has ever seen, or will see again. If these days of trouble were left to run their course, nobody would make it. But on account of God's chosen people, the trouble will be cut short. ²³"If anyone tries to flag you down, calling out, ‘Here's the Messiah!' or points, ‘There he is!' don't fall for it. Fake Messiahs and lying preachers are going to pop up everywhere. Their impressive credentials and dazzling performances will pull the wool over the eyes of even those who ought to know better. But I've given you fair warning. ²⁶"So if they say, ‘Run to the country and see him arrive!' or, ‘Quick, get downtown, see him come!' don't give them the time of day. The Arrival of the Son of Man isn't something you go to see. He comes like swift lightning to you! Whenever you see crowds gathering, think of carrion vultures circling, moving in, hovering over a rotting carcass. You can be quite sure that it's not the living Son of Man pulling in those crowds. ²⁹ "Following those hard times, Sun will fade out, moon cloud over, Stars fall out of the sky, cosmic powers tremble. ³⁰"Then, the Arrival of the Son of Man! It will fill the skies—no one will miss it. Unready people all over the world, outsiders to the splendor and power, will raise a huge lament as they watch the Son of Man blazing out of heaven. At that same moment, he'll dispatch his angels with a trumpet-blast summons, pulling in God's chosen from the four winds, from pole to pole.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

in: Matthew 24:11, Matthew 24:24, Jeremiah 14:14, Jeremiah 23:21, Jeremiah 23:25, John 5:43, Acts 5:36, Acts 5:37, Acts 8:9, Acts 8:10, Revelation 13:8

Reciprocal: Jeremiah 29:8 - Let Jeremiah 37:9 - Deceive Matthew 7:15 - false Mark 13:5 - Take Mark 13:6 - and shall Mark 13:21 - General Luke 21:8 - Take 2 Thessalonians 2:2 - by spirit 2 Thessalonians 2:11 - that 1 Timothy 4:1 - depart 2 Peter 2:1 - even 1 John 2:18 - ye have 1 John 4:1 - believe not

Cross-References

Genesis 24:58
She said, "I'm ready to go."

Exodus 20:7
No using the name of God, your God, in curses or silly banter; God won't put up with the irreverent use of his name.

Proverbs 13:16
A commonsense person lives good sense; fools litter the country with silliness.

Gill's Notes on the Bible

For many shall come in my name,.... by his orders, or with delegated powers and authority from him; but should assume the name of the Messiah, which was peculiarly his, to themselves; and take upon them his office, and challenge the honour and dignity which belonged unto him:

saying, I am Christ, and shall deceive many. This is the first sign, preceding the destruction of the city and temple of Jerusalem; as there was a general expectation among the Jews of a Messiah; that is, of one that should arise and deliver them from the Roman yoke, which was the common idea tacked to that word; in this period of time, many set up themselves to be deliverers and redeemers of the people of Israel: who had each of them their followers in great numbers, whom they imposed upon, and brought to destruction. Of this sort was Theudas, not he that Gamaliel speaks of, Acts 5:36 for he was before this time; but one that was in the time of Claudius Caesar, when Cuspius Fadus was governor of Judea; who persuaded a great number to follow him to the river Jordan, which he promised to divide, by a word of command, and give them a passage over; and thereby, as the historian observes c, πολλους ηπατησην, "he deceived many"; which is the very thing that is here predicted: but he and his company were routed Fadus, and his head cut off. There was another called the Egyptian, mentioned in Acts 21:38 who made an uproar, and led four thousand cut-throats into the wilderness; and this same man persuaded thirty thousand men to follow him to Mount Olivet, promising a free passage into the city; but he being vanquished by Felix, then governor of Judea; fled, and many of his followers were killed and taken d: and besides, there were many more magicians and impostors, that pretended to signs and wonders, and promised the people deliverance from their evils, by whom they were imposed upon to their ruin. There were others also besides these, that set up for deliverers, who called themselves by the name of the Messiah. Among these, we may reckon Simon Magus, who gave out that he was some great one; yea, expressly, that he was the word of God, and the Son of God e, which were known names of the Messiah; and Dositheus the Samaritan, asserted himself to be Christ f; and also Menander affirmed, that no man could be saved, unless he was baptized in his name g; these are instances before the destruction of Jerusalem, and confirm the prophecy here delivered.

c Joseph. Antiq. l. 20. c. 2. d Joseph. Antiq. l. 20. c. 6. e Jerom in loc. Iren. adv. Haeres. l. 1. c. 20. f Origen contr. Cels. l. 1. p. 44. g Tertull. de prescript. Haeret. c. 46.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

Take heed ... - Jesus, in reply to their question, first gives them a caution to beware of deception. They were to be constantly on their guard, because many would arise to deceive the people.

Many shall come in my name - Not in the name or by the authority of Jesus, or claiming to be His followers, and to be sent by him, but in the name of the Messiah, or claiming to be the Messiah.

I am Christ - I am the Messiah. See the notes at Matthew 1:1. The Messiah was expected at that time, Matthew 2:1-2. Many would lay, claims to being the Messiah, and, as He was universally expected, multitudes would easily be led to believe in them. There is abundant evidence that this was fully accomplished. Josephus informs us that there were many who pretended to divine inspiration; who deceived the people, leading out numbers of them into the desert. “The land,” says He “was overrun with magicians, seducers, and impostors, who drew the people after them in multitudes into solitudes and deserts, to see I the signs and miracles which they promised to show by the power of God.” Among these are mentioned particularly Dositheus, the Samaritan, who affirmed that He was Christ; Simon Magus, who said He appeared among the Jews as the Son of God; and Theudas, who persuaded many to go with him to the river Jordan, to see the waters divided. The names of 24 false Messiahs are recorded as having appeared between the time of the Emperor Adrian and the year 1682.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

The FIRST sign is false Christs.

Verse Matthew 24:5. For many shall come in my name —

1. Josephus says, (War, b. ii. c. 13,) that there were many who, pretending to Divine inspiration, deceived the people, leading out numbers of them to the desert, pretending that God would there show them the signs of liberty, meaning redemption from the Roman power: and that an Egyptian false prophet led 30,000 men into the desert, who were almost all cut off by Felix. See Acts 21:38. It was a just judgment for God to deliver up that people into the hands of false Christs who had rejected the true one. Soon after our Lord's crucifixion, Simon Magus appeared, and persuaded the people of Samaria that he was the great power of God, Acts 8:9-10; and boasted among the Jews that he was the son of God.

2. Of the same stamp and character was also Dositheus, the Samaritan, who pretended that he was the Christ foretold by Moses.

3. About twelve years after the death of our Lord, when Cuspius Fadus was procurator of Judea, arose an impostor of the name of Theudas, who said he was a prophet, and persuaded a great multitude to follow him with their best effects to the river Jordan, which he promised to divide for their passage; and saying these things, says Josephus, he deceived many: almost the very words of our Lord.

4. A few years afterwards, under the reign of Nero, while Felix was procurator of Judea, impostors of this stamp were so frequent that some were taken and killed almost every day. Jos. Ant. b. xx. c. 4. and 7.