The appearance of false prophets (see comment at 7.15) indicates that the Christian community will face dangers of betrayal from within as well as persecution from the outside world. Note Paul’s comment in Acts 20.29-30, which attests of the same experience to be faced by the church in Ephesus.

The false prophets will arise. Some translators say “will appear” or use a sentence such as “At that time there will be many people who say they speak God’s word but in fact do not.”

Lead … astray translates the same verb used in verses 4 and 5.

Quoted with permission from Newman, Barclay M. and Stine, Philip C. A Handbook on the Gospel of Matthew. (UBS Handbook Series). New York: UBS, 1988. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .