Matthew 24 · Verse 12

Matthew 24:12

And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold.
Matthew 24:12, King James Version

Matthew 24:12 in other translations

BSBBecause of the multiplication of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold.
WEBBecause iniquity will be multiplied, the love of many will grow cold.
ASVAnd because iniquity shall be multiplied, the love of the many shall wax cold.
YLTand because of the abounding of the lawlessness, the love of the many shall become cold;
DARBYand because lawlessness shall prevail, the love of the most shall grow cold;
BBEAnd because wrongdoing will be increased, the love of most people will become cold.
WebsterAnd because iniquity will abound, the love of many will become cold.

What does Matthew 24:12 mean?

Barnes' Notes
Verse 12. And because iniquity, etc. The word iniquity here seems to include the cruelty of the Jews and Romans in their persecutions; the betraying of Christians by those who professed to be such; and the pernicious errors of false prophets and others. The effect of all this would be, that the ardour of feeling of many Christians would be lessened. The word wax means to become. It is an old Saxon word, not used now in this sense, except in the Bible. The fear of death, and the deluding influence of false teachers, would lessen the zeal of many timid and weak professors; perhaps also of many real but feeble Christians.

Albert Barnes, 1834 · public domain

Adam Clarke's Commentary
Verse 12 The love of many shall wax cold - By reason of these trials and persecutions from without, and those apostasies and false prophets from within, the love of many to Christ and his doctrine, and to one another, shall grow cold. Some openly deserting the faith, as Mat 24:10; others corrupting it, as Mat 24:11; and others growing indifferent about it, Mat 24:12. Even at this early period there seems to have been a very considerable defection in several Christian Churches; see Gal 3:1-4; 2Thes 3:1, etc.; 2Tim 1:15.

Adam Clarke, 1831 · public domain

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on Matthew 24:4-28

The disciples had asked concerning the times, When these things should be? Christ gave them no answer to that; but they had also asked, What shall be the sign? This question he answers fully. The prophecy first respects events near at hand, the destruction of Jerusalem, the end of the Jewish church and state, the calling of the Gentiles, and the setting up of Christ's kingdom in the world; but it also looks to the…

Read the full comment on Matthew 24:4-28 →

Matthew 24:12 in the original Greek

Word-by-word with transliteration, English gloss and Strong's number. Tap a number for the full definition and every place the word is used.

καὶkaiAndG2532
διὰdiabecauseG1223
τὸto<the>G3588
πληθυνθῆναιplēthunthēnaiis to be multipliedG4129
τὴνtēn<the>G3588
ἀνομίανanomianlawlessnessG458
ψυγήσεταιpsugēsetaiwill grow coldG5594
ἡhētheG3588
ἀγάπηagapēloveG26
τῶνtōnof theG3588
πολλῶν.pollōnmany.G4183

Source: STEPBible TAHOT/TAGNT (Tyndale House, CC BY 4.0).

Cross references for Matthew 24:12

  • Revelation 2:4-5

    Nevertheless I have somewhat against thee, because thou hast left thy first love. Remember therefore from whence thou art fallen, and repent, and do the first works; or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will remove thy candlestick out of his place, except thou repent.

  • James 4:1-4

    From whence come wars and fightings among you? come they not hence, even of your lusts that war in your members? Ye lust, and have not: ye kill, and desire to have, and cannot obtain: ye fight and war, yet ye have not, because ye ask not. Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your lusts. Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God.

  • Revelation 3:15

    I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot.

  • Revelation 2:10

    Fear none of those things which thou shalt suffer: behold, the devil shall cast some of you into prison, that ye may be tried; and ye shall have tribulation ten days: be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life.

  • James 5:1-6

    Go to now, ye rich men, weep and howl for your miseries that shall come upon you. Your riches are corrupted, and your garments are motheaten. Your gold and silver is cankered; and the rust of them shall be a witness against you, and shall eat your flesh as it were fire. Ye have heaped treasure together for the last days. Behold, the hire of the labourers who have reaped down your fields, which is of you kept back by fraud, crieth: and the cries of them which have reaped are entered into the ears of the Lord of sabaoth. …

Ranked by reader votes · OpenBible.info cross references (CC BY).

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
because.
Jas 4:1-4; 5:1-6
the love.
Re 2:4,5,10; 3:15

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (Samuel Bagster, c. 1836) · public domain

Context

  • Matthew 24:11

    And many false prophets shall rise, and shall deceive many.

  • Matthew 24:12

    And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold.

  • Matthew 24:13

    But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved.

Read all of Matthew 24

Matthew 24:12 in other languages

Spanish
Reina-Valera 1909		Y por haberse multiplicado la maldad, la caridad de muchos se resfriará.
French
Bible J.N. Darby 1885		et parce que l’iniquité prévaudra, l’amour de plusieurs sera refroidi;
German
Elberfelder 1871		und wegen des Überhandnehmens der Gesetzlosigkeit wird die Liebe der Vielen erkalten;
Latin
Clementine Vulgate		Et quoniam abundavit iniquitas, refrigescet caritas multorum: