Signs of Christ's Presence
"Parousia" [Gk.] Means "Presence"     

These are signs of CHRIST'S PRESENCE - not coming. Christ's return causes these signs to happen!

Faithful watching Christians will see these signs as proofs that Christ has returned.

Rotherham [3^rd Edition] correctly translates the 24 occurrences of "parousia" as presence. Matt. 24:3,27,37,39; I Cor. 15:23; 16:17; 2 Cor. 7:6,7; 10:10; Phil. 1:26; 2:12; I Thess. 2:19; 3:13; 4:15; 5:23; II Thess. 2:1,8,9; James 5:7,8; II Pet. 1:16; 3:4,12; I John 2:28. King James Version mistranslates "parousia" as coming in all but two instances, which were correctly translated presence: 2 Cor. 10:10 and Phil. 2:12

In Matt. 24:3, the disciples ask Jesus, "Tell us, when shall these things be? And what shall be the sign of thy presence [parousia] and of the end of the world [age]?"

The disciples, remembering that few recognized Jesus as the Christ at his first advent, wanted to know how he might be recognized at his second advent, expecting that his second advent would occur in their day. Our Lord gave quite a detailed account of events which must intervene, indicating a lapse of a considerable period between.

Bible dictionaries and Greek lexicons give “presence”
as the primary definition of parousia: 
(Not an exhaustive list.)

G. Abbott-Smith, Manual Greek Lexicon of the New Testament (Edinburgh: T. & T. Clark, 1964) p. 347.
“Parousia” – 1. Usually a being present, presence. 2. A coming, arrival, advent.
A technical term for the visit of a king.

William F. Arndt and F. Wilbur Gingrich, A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature, 4^th ed. (Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 1952), p. 635, c1.
“Parousia” – 1. Presence…the proofs of his presence. 2. Coming, advent as the first stage in presence. 

Horst Balz and Gerhard Schneider, eds., Exegetical Dictionary of the New Testament (Grand Rapids: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1993) V3, p. 43, c2.
“Parousia” – Presence; arrival. Derived from the verb “be present.” Originally meant presence…frequently means “arrival” as the onset of presence.

Geoffrey W. Bromilay, ed., The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia (Grand Rapids: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1986) V3, p. 664, c1.
The basic meaning of parousia is “presence.”

…In Greek, “presence” has an exact equivalent in παρουσία, parousía, but this word is rendered “presence” only in 2 Co. 10:10; Phi. 2:12; the Revised Version (British and American); Phi. 1:26 (the King James Version “coming”). Elsewhere parousía is rendered “coming,” but always with “presence” in the margin. Otherwise in the New Testament “presence” represents no particular word but is introduced where it seems to suit the context (compare e.g. Act 3:13 the King James Version and Act 3:19). See PAROUSIA.

“Parousia” (parousía), a word fairly common in Greek, with the meaning “presence” (2 Co. 10:10; Phi. 2:12). More especially it may mean “presence after absence,” “arrival” (but not “return,” unless this is given by the context), as in 1 Co. 16:17; 2 Co. 7:6, 2 Co. 7:7; Phi. 1:26. 

Colin Brown, ed., The New International Dictionary of New Testament Theology (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1976) p. 898.
“Parousia” – Presence, appearing, coming. Presence (with certain effects following)…and arrival, someone coming in order to be present.

Alexander Balman Bruce, The Expositor’s Greek Testament (London: Hodder and Storighton, 1907) V1, p. 289, c1.
“Parousia” – Literally presence; second presence.

Frederick Dale Bruner, Matthew, a Commentary, Vol. 1: The Churchbook (Grand Rapids: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1990) p. 474.
The word parousia can also be translated “presence.”

 Ethelbert W. Bullinger, A Critical Lexicon and Concordance to the English and Greek New Testament (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1975) p. 598, c2.
“Parousia” – The being or becoming present; presence, arrival.

The Classic Greek Dictionary (Chicago: Follett Publishing Company, 1949), English to Greek, p. 184.
“Parousia” – 1. A being present, presence. 2. Arrival.

The Complete Biblical Library – The New Testament Greek-English Dictionary (Springfield, MO: The Complete Biblical Library, 1991) Pi-Rho, p. 101, c1, #3814.
“Parousia” – Presence, coming, advent, arrival. Classical Gk. from verb pareimi #3780, compound of #3706 para “beside” and #1498 eimi “I am.” Means “presence.

Also, denotes the “arrival” of someone or something. In the papyri, for example, a woman writes that her “presence” (parousia) is necessary in order to take care of certain financial concerns…. 

New Testament Usage. Paul…illustrated this same understanding when he contrasted his presence (parousia) with his absence (apousia [#660]). Personal presence…

F. L. Cross, ed., The Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church (New York: Oxford University Press, 1997) p. 1223, c1.
“Parousia” – Presence or arrival.

J. Davies, St. Matthew's Gospel Divided into Paragraphs (London: George Philip & Son, 1872) p. 167.
"What shall be the sign of thy coming"? — This query merely signifies, "What is to be the sign of Thy presence when these terrible events shall happen?"

Matthew S. DeMoss, Pocket Dictionary for the Study of New Testament Greek (Downers Grove, IL: Inter Varsity Press, 2001) p. 94.
“Parousia” – Presence or arrival.

George C. Divry, ed., Divry’s Modern English-Greek and Greek-English Desk Dictionary (New York: D. C. Divry, Inc., Publishers, 1961) p. 634.
“Parousia” – Presence.

Walter A. Elwell, ed., Encyclopedia of the Bible (Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1988) V2, p. 1616.
“Parousia” – Transliteration of a Greek word meaning “presence,” “arrival,” “appearance,” or “coming.”

Sinclair B. Ferguson and David F. Wright, eds., New Dictionary of Theology (Downers Grove, IL: Inter Varsity Press, 1988) p. 299, c2.
“Parousia” – The word means “presence” or “arrival,” and was used of visits of gods and rulers.

David Noel Freedman, ed., The Anchor Bible Dictionary (New York: Doubleday, 1992) V5, p. 166, c1.
The Greek word parousia is used in the New Testament to speak of the arrival or presence of someone. It is also used as a technical term to speak of the arrival or presence of Christ in glory…

David Noel Freedman, ed., Dictionary of the Bible (Grand Rapids: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 2000) p. 1009, c2.
“Parousia” – A Greek noun used of persons or things, meaning “arrival” or active “presence” (from the verb pάreimi, “to be present”).

Timothy Friberg, Barbara Friberg, Neva F. Miller, Analytical Lexicon of the Greek New Testament (Grand Rapids: Baker Books, 2000) p. 302, c1. 
“Parousia” – 1. Being present, presence. Opposite of άπουσία (absence, being away)
2. Coming, arrival. 

Henry Snyder Gehman, New Westminster Bible Dictionary (Philadelphia: Westminster Press, 1970) p. 703.
“Parousia” – Gr., presence.

William H. Genty, ed., The Dictionary of Bible and Religion (Nashville: Abington, 1973).
“Parousia” – The Greek term parousia, literally “presence” or “arrival,” used in first century literature of the visit of an important dignitary to a city or land…

James Hastings, ed., A Dictionary of the Bible (New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1903) V3, p674, c2.
“Parousia” – Lit. “presence” as opposed to absence, hence the arrival which introduces that presence.

Alvah Houg, ed., An American Commentary on the New Testament. Commentary on the Gospel of Matthew, by John A. Broadus (Philadelphia: American Baptist Publications Society, 1886) p. 482, c1.

“Parousia” – Presence or arrival.

Wilbert Francis Howard and James Hope Moulton, A Grammar of New Testament Greek (Edinburgh: T. & T. Clark, 1920) V2, p. 320.
“Parousia” – παρουσία, in which the RV marginal note (Gr. “Presence”) would suggest that the idea of “motion towards” is to be excluded; outside evidence for the technical meaning “royal visit” shows that advent is as literal a rendering as presence, which occurs in some places.

A. N. Jannaris, A Concise Dictionary of the English and Modern Greek Languages as Actually Written and Spoken (London: John Murray Publishers, Ltd., 1959) p. 289, c2.
“Parousia” – Presence, appearance.

Gerhard Kittel and Gerhard Friedrich, eds., Theological Dictionary of the New Testament (Grand Rapids: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1967) V5, p. 858.
“Parousia” – 1. Presence – to be present. 2. Appearing – to have come.

G.W.H. Lampe, ed., A Patristic Greek Lexicon (London: Oxford University Press, 1961) p. 1043, c2.
“Parousia” – A. Presence  B. Arrival, appearance, personal visit, advent.

RCH Lenski, Interpretation of St. Matthew’s Gospel (Columbus, OH: The Wartburg Press, 1943) p. 928. (To the American Lutheran Conference)
“Parousia” – Coming and Presence.

 Henry George Liddell and Robert Scott, A Greek-English Lexicon (New York: Oxford University Press, 1996), p. 1343.
“Parousia” – 1. Presence, of persons. 2. Arrival. Note, many ancient Greek writings are cited for these conclusions.

Johannes P. Louw and Eugene A. Nida, Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament (New York: United Bible Societies, 1988) p. 726, 85.25.
“Parousia” – The presence of an object at a particular place—“presence, being at hand, to be in person.” 2 Cor. 10:10, when he is with us in person (literally “…his bodily presence”).

Alan Hugh McNeile, The Gospel According to St. Matthew (London: MacMillon and Company, Ltd., 1915) p. 344.
In classical Greek it tends rather to the meaning “presence” than “arrival,” but the latter is illustrated by the use in papyri (2^nd and 3^rd century AD) for the visit of a king or other official.

Paul Kevin Meagher and Thomas C. O’Brien, eds., Encyclopedic Dictionary of Religion (Washington, DC: Corpus Publications, 1979) V2, p. 2680, c1 (Catholic).
“Parousia” – A transliteration of the classical Greek word for presence or arrival.

Allen C. Meyers, ed., The Eerdmans Bible Dictionary (Grand Rapids: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1987) p. 795, c2.
“Parousia” – Arrival, presence.

George Campbell Morgan, Studies In The Gospels vol 1: The Gospel According To Matthew (New Jersey: Fleming H. Revell Co., 1931) p. 283.
Their question was one, as they asked it, and expressed in His hearing all the puzzling emotions of their minds.  When they said to Him, "Tell us, when shall these things be? what shall be the sign of Thy presence, and of the end of the age?" they thought of these things as closely connected.

James Morison, A Practical Commentary on the Gospel According to St. Matthew (London: Hodder and Stoughton, 1899) p. 455.
The word coming, though a good translation of the original term (παρουσία), is not literal. Literally the Greek term means presence .... The disciples ask two questions, not three, as Grotius and many more represent it. The first is simple, embodying but one idea, When shall 'these things' be? The second is compound, and double folding, What shall be the sign of Thy presence and of the age's end?

James Hope Moulton and George Milligan, Vocabulary of the Greek Testament (Grand Rapids: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1960), Foreword. 
“Parousia,” as applied to the return of the Lord, is simply the anglicizing of the Greek word which literally means “presence.”

William D. Mounce, The Analytical Lexicon to the Greek New Testament (Grand Rapids: Zondervan Publishing House, 1993) p. 360, c2.
“Parousia” – Presence; a coming, arrival, advent.

Wesley J. Perschbacher, ed., The New Analytical Greek Lexicon (Peabody, MA: Hendrickson Publishers, 1990) p. 315, c1, (3952).
“Parousia” – Presence; a coming, arrival, advent.

Charles F. Pfeiffer, John Rea, and Howard F. Vos, eds., Wycliffe Bible Encyclopedia (Chicago: Moody Press, 1975) V2, p. 1392, c1.
“Parousia” – …Gr. Parousia in certain cases conveys the idea of presence (II Cor. 10:10; Phil 2:12). …The word parousia as an eschatological term signifies the moment of arrival of the returning Christ plus His subsequent presence with His redeemed people.

J. T. Pring, The Oxford Dictionary of Modern Greek (Oxford: The Cclarendon Press, 1982) p. 148, c1.
“Parousia” – Presence, attendance.

Eduard Reuss, History of Christian Theology in the Apostolic Age, vol. 2 (London: Hodder and Stoughton, 1874) p. 191.
Its permanence is emphasized in contrast with the shortness of his former visitation, for the word translated coming properly signifies Presence.

Harry Rimmer, The Coming King (Grand Rapids: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1941).
Harry Rimmer (D.D., Sc.D.), who was styled “Fundamentalism’s outstanding spokesman” until his death, admitted that the word parousia meant personal presence. In his book, The Coming King, he observed that the Greek word parousia is used 13 times in describing the return of Christ and not once does it have the thought of “coming.”

W. Robertson, The Expositor's Greek Testament (Grand Rapids: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1974) V1, p. 289.
“Parousia” – Literally presence, second presence.

Joseph Bryant Rotherham, The Emphasized Bible, 3^rd ed., (Grand Rapids: Kregel Publications, 1984) Appendix, p. 271.

In this edition the word parousia is uniformly rendered “presence” (“coming,” as a representative of this word, being set aside). The original term occurs twenty-four times in the New Testament, viz.: Matthew 24:3, 27, 37, 39; 1 Corinthians 15:23; 16:17; 2 Corinthians 7:6, 7; 10:10; Philippians 1:26; 2:12; 1 Thessalonians 2:19; 3:3; 4:15; 5:23; 2 Thessalonians 2:1, 8, 9; James 5:7, 8; 2 Peter 1:16; 3:4, 12; and 1 John 2:28. The sense of “presence” is so plainly shown by the contrast with “absence” (implied in 2 Corinthians 10:10, and expressed in Philippians 2:12) that the question naturally arises, Why not always so render it? The more so, inasmuch as there is in 2 Peter 1:16 also, a peculiar fitness in our English word “presence.” This passage, it will be remembered, relates to our Lord’s transformation upon the Mount. The wonderful manifestation there made was a display and sample of “presence” rather than of “coming.” The Lord was already there; and, being there, he was transformed (compare Matthew 17:2, footnote) and the “majesty” of his glorified person was then disclosed. His bodily “presence” was one which implied and exerted “power;” so that “power and presence” go excellently well together -- the “power” befitting such a one and the same moment witnesses of both. The difficulty expressed in the notes to the second edition of this New Testament in the way of so yielding to this weight of evidence as to render parousia always by “presence,” lay in the seeming incongruity of regarding “presence” as an event which would happen at a particular time and which would fall into rank as one of a series of events, as 1 Corinthians 15:23 especially appeared to require. The translator still feels the force of this objection, but is withdrawn from taking his stand upon it any longer by the reflection that, after all, the difficulty may be imaginary. The parousia, in any case, is still in the future, and may therefore be enshrouded in a measure of obscurity which only fulfillment can clear away: it may, in fine, be both a period -- more or less extended during which certain things shall happen -- and an event, coming on and passing away as one of a series of divine interpositions. Christ is raised as a firstfruit -- that is one event; He returns and vouchsafes his “presence,” during which he raises his own -- that is another event, however large and prolonged; and finally comes another cluster of events constituting “the end.” Hence, after all, “presence” may be the most widely and permanently satisfying translation of the looked for parousia of the Son of Man.

Philip Schaff, The Oldest Church Manual Called The Teaching of the Twelve Apostles (New York: Charles Scribner & Sons, 1885) p. 216.
"What shall be the sign of thy presence and of the end of the world?"

Ceslas Spicq, Theological Lexicon of the New Testament, trans. and ed. James D. Ernert   (Peabody, MA: Hendrickson Publishers, 1994) V3, p. 53.
“Parousia” – Presence, arrival, visit, manifestation. Sometimes the presence of persons or things. Sometimes arrival, coming, visit. 

In the Helenistic period it refers…either to a divine manifestation often very close to epiphania or the formal visit of a sovereign, his “joyous entry” into a city “that honors him as a god”…. In line with these usages, the New Testament uses parousia for the glorious coming of the Lord Jesus…. The royal and imperial “visits.” There were great feasts…glory and joy on the part of the people were in response to the prince’s active and beneficent presence…

Merrill C. Tenny, ed., The Zondervan Pictoral Encyclopedia of the Bible (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1975) p. 601, c1.
The noun parousia (παρουσία) which occurs twenty-four times in the New Testament, is a compound form composed of the preposition παρά “along side, beside” and the substantival form of the very είμι, “to be.” It basically means “being along side of” and conveys the sense of the English word “presence.” It is used in the New Testament of a person’s presence as contrasted to his absence (Phil. 2:12). It contains the thought of the “coming” or “arrival” of a person as the first stage of his presence that is to follow.

Joseph Henry Thayer, Thayer’s Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1976) p. 490 c2.
“Parousia” – 1. Presence…  2. The presence of one coming, hence the coming, arrival, advent.

Archibald Robertson Thomas, Word Pictures in the New Testament (New York: Harper and Brothers Publishers, 1930), V1, p. 188.
“Parousia” – Presence as opposed to absence (Phil. 2:12) … [p. 187] Presence, common in the papyri for the visit of the emperor.

Robert L. Thomas, ed., New American Standard Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible (Nashville: Holman, 1981) p. 1673, c3. 
#3952 Parousia from the present part. Of #3918b. A presence or coming.
#3918b Pareimi – to be present, to have come.

Verlyn Verbrugge, ed., The NIV Theological Dictionary of New Testament Words (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2000) p. 978.
“Parousia” – Presence, appearing, coming, advent. Denotes general presence and arrival.

Marvin R. Vincent, Word Studies in the New Testament (Grand Rapids: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1946) V1, p. 127.
“Parousia” – Originally presence, to be present. Also arrival.

W. E. Vine, An Expository Dictionary of New Testament Words (Westwood, NJ: Fleming H. Revell Company, 1962) p. 208.
 “Parousia” literally, a presence, para, with, and ousia, being…denotes both an arrival and a consequent presence with.

Daniel D. Whedon, Whedon's Commentary, 14 Vols. (New York: Carlton & Porter, Hunt & Eaton, 1866) p. 277.
The word parousia, never in the whole New Testament, signifies anything else than presence.

Robert Young, Analytical Concordance to the Bible, 8^th ed. (London: Lutterworth Press) p. 770, c2. 
“Parousia” – A being alongside, presence.

Max Zerwick and Mary Grosvenor, A Grammatical Analysis of the Greek New Testament, 4^th ed., (Rome: Biblical Institute Press, 1981) p., 77 (Catholic).
“Parousia” – Be at hand/present, presence; coming, arrival.

Christianity Today (a well-known evangelical magazine) published a series of essays on “Fundamentals of the Faith.” The essay in booklet form on “The Second Advent of Christ” had this to say about parousia: “…let us look at the Greek words used in the New Testament for the idea of the return. First of all, there is the word parousia, which means basically ‘presence.’”

Bible Translations: Parousia in Matthew 24:3.

American Standard 1901:
“presence” is in the footnote.

Concordant Greek Text, 4^th ed. (Canyon Country, CA: Concordant Publishing Concern, 1975) p. 101, c2:
“beside being”

The Emphatic Diaglott, Benjamin Wilson:
“presence.”

Ferrar Fenton:
“presence.”

The Four Gospels and the Revelation, Richmond Lattimore:
“presence.”

The Four Gospels: Translated from the Greek Text of Tischendorf, Nathaniel Folsom (Boston: A. Williams and Company, 1869) p 64
"Tell us when these things will be, and what the sign of thy Presence, and of [the] close of the age."

The Gospel According to Matthew, Rev. S.J. Aislabie  (London: J.G. and F. Rivington, 1834) p 84. "presence"

The Interlinear Hebrew/Greek English Bible, Jay Green, Sr. (Wilmington, DE: Associated Publishers and Authors, 1976):
“presence”

The Interlinear NASB-NIV Parallel New Testament in Greek and English, Alfred Marshall (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1993) p. 77:
“presence"

The Jerusalem Bible:
“presence” is in the footnote.

James Moffatt (New York: Harper and Brothers Publishers, 1935):
“arrival.”

The New Testament from the Geek Text as Established by Bible Numerics, Ivan Panin: 
"presence.”

Revised New Testament, Isaac H. Hall (Philadelphia: Hubbard Brothers Publishers):
“presence” in margin.

The Unvarnished New Testament, Andy Gaus: 
“presence.”

Weymouth New Testament, (Third Edition, Boston Pilgrim Press, 1909): 
“presence” is in the footnote.

Word Study Greek-English New Testament, Paul R. McReynolds, ed. (Wheaton: Tyndale House, 1998): 
“presence.”

Young’s Literal Translation of the Bible, 3^rd ed., Robert Young (Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1898) p. 18, NT: 
“presence.”

The Zondervan Parallel New Testament in Greek and English (Grand Rapids: Zondervan Bible Publishers, 1980) p. 79:
“presence.”

From Online Dictionaries: 

Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary:
“Greek, literally, presence, from paront-, parOn, present participle of pareinai to be present, from para- + einai to be …” 

TheFreeDictionary.com
“Par·ou·si·a (pär-s, p-rz-) Greek parousi, presence, Parousia, from parousa, feminine present participle of pareinai, to be present : para-, beside; see para-¹ + einai, to be; see es- in Indo-European roots.”

 

Click below for more information on:

"Definitions"

 "Our Lord's Parousia in the Harvest"

 "Our Lord's Great Prophecy" in Matt. 24

Parallel Ages •  Chronology • Signs of Christ's Presence
• Gentile Times • Time Prophecies