24:1 {Went out from the temple} (exelqwn apo tou hierou). All the discourses since #Mt 21:23 have been in the temple courts (hieron, the sacred enclosure). But now Jesus leaves it for good after the powerful denunciation of the scribes and Pharisees in chapter 23. His public teaching is over. It was a tragic moment. As he was going out (eporeueto, descriptive imperfect) the disciples, as if to relieve the thought of the Master came to him (prosˆlthon) to show (epideixai, ingressive aorist infinitive) the buildings of the temple (tas oikodomas tou hierou). They were familiar to Jesus and the disciples, but beautiful like a snow mountain (Josephus, _Wars_ V,5,6), the monument that Herod the Great had begun and that was not yet complete (#Joh 2:20). Great stones were there of polished marble.

24:2 {One stone upon another} (liqos epi liqon). Stone upon stone. A startling prediction showing that the gloomy current of the thoughts of Jesus were not changed by their words of admiration for the temple.

24:3 {As he sat} (kaqemenou). Genitive absolute. Picture of Jesus sitting on the Mount of Olives looking down on Jerusalem and the temple which he had just left. After the climb up the mountain four of the disciples (Peter, James, John, Andrew) come to Jesus with the problem raised by his solemn words. They ask these questions about the destruction of Jerusalem and the temple, his own second coming (parousia, presence, common in the papyri for the visit of the emperor), and the end of the world. Did they think that they were all to take place simultaneously? There is no way to answer. At any rate Jesus treats all three in this great eschatological discourse, the most difficult problem in the Synoptic Gospels. Many theories are advanced that impugn the knowledge of Jesus or of the writers or of both. It is sufficient for our purpose to think of Jesus as using the destruction of the temple and of Jerusalem which did happen in that generation in A.D. 70, as also a symbol of his own second coming and of the end of the world (sunteleias tou ai"nos) or consummation of the age. In a painting the artist by skilful perspective may give on the same surface the inside of a room, the fields outside the window, and the sky far beyond. Certainly in this discourse Jesus blends in apocalyptic language the background of his death on the cross, the coming destruction of Jerusalem, his own second coming and the end of the world. He now touches one, now the other. It is not easy for us to separate clearly the various items. It is enough if we get the picture as a whole as it is here drawn with its lessons of warning to be ready for his coming and the end. The destruction of Jerusalem came as he foretold. There are some who would date the Synoptic Gospels after A.D. 70 in order to avoid the predictive element involved in the earlier date. But that is to limit the fore-knowledge of Jesus to a merely human basis. The word parousia occurs in this chapter alone (#3,27,37,39) in the Gospels, but often in the Epistles, either of presence as opposed to absence (#Php 2:12) or the second coming of Christ (#2Th 2:1).

24:4 {Lead you astray} (h-mas planesei). this warning runs all through the discourse. It is amazing how successful deceivers have been through the ages with their eschatological programs. The word in the passive appears in #18:12 when the one sheep wanders astray. Here it is the active voice with the causative sense to lead astray. Our word planet comes from this root.

24:5 {In my name} (epi twi onomati mou). They will arrogate to themselves false claims of Messiahship in (on the basis of) the name of Christ himself. Josephus (_Wars_ VI, 54) gives there false Christs as one of the reasons for the explosion against Rome that led to the city's destruction. Each new hero was welcomed by the masses including Barcochba. "I am the Messiah," each would say. Forty odd years ago two men in Illinois claimed to be Messiah, each with followers (Schlatter, Schweinfurth). In more recent years Mrs. Annie Besant has introduced a theosophical Messiah and Mrs. Eddy made claims about herself on a par with those of Jesus.

24:6 {See that ye be not troubled} (horate me qroeisqe). Asyndeton here with these two imperatives as #Mr 8:15 orate blepete (Robertson, _Grammar_, p. 949). Look out for the wars and rumours of wars, but do not be scared out of your wits by them. qroew means to cry aloud, to scream, and in the passive to be terrified by an outcry. Paul uses this very verb (mede qroeisqai) in #2Th 2:2 as a warning against excitement over false reports that he had predicted the immediate second coming of Christ. {But the end is not yet} (all' oupw estin to telos). It is curious how people overlook these words of Jesus and proceed to set dates for the immediate end. That happened during the Great War and it has happened since.

24:8 {The beginning of travail} (arce odinwn). The word means birth-pangs and the Jews used the very phrase for the sufferings of the Messiah which were to come before the coming of the Messiah (Book of Jubilees, 23:18; Apoc. of Baruch 27-29). But the word occurs with no idea of birth as the pains of death (#Ps 18:5; Ac 2:24). These woes, says Jesus, are not a proof of the end, but of the beginning.

24:9 {Ye shall be hated} (esesqe misoumenoi). Periphrastic future passive to emphasize the continuous process of the linear action. For tribulation (qliyin see #13:21), a word common in the Acts, Epistles, and Apocalypse for the oppression (pressure) that the Christians received. {For my name's sake} (dia to onoma mou). The most glorious name in the world today, but soon to be a byword of shame (#Ac 5:41). The disciples would count it an honor to be dishonored for the Name's sake.

24:11 {False prophets} (yeudoprofetai). Jesus had warned against them in the Sermon on the Mount (#7:15). They are still coming.

24:12 {Shall wax cold} (psugˆsetai). Second future passive indicative from yucw. To breathe cool by blowing, to grow cold, "spiritual energy blighted or chilled by a malign or poisonous wind" (Vincent). {The love of many} (he agape twn pollwn). Love of the brotherhood gives way to mutual hatred and suspicion.

24:14 {Shall be preached} (kerucqesetai). Heralded in all the inhabited world. En holˆi tˆi oikoumenˆi supply gˆi. It is not here said that all will be saved nor must this language be given too literal and detailed an application to every individual.

24:15 {The abomination of desolation} (to bdelugma tes eremwsews). An allusion to #Da 9:27; 11:31; 12:11. Antiochus Epiphanes erected an altar to Zeus on the altar of Jehovah (1Macc. 1:54,59; 6:7; 2Macc. 6:1-5). The desolation in the mind of Jesus is apparently the Roman army (#Lu 21:20) in the temple, an application of the words of Daniel to this dread event. The verb bdelussomai is to feel nausea because of stench, to abhor, to detest. Idolatry was a stench to God (#Lu 16:15; Re 17:4). Josephus tells us that the Romans burned the temple and offered sacrifices to their ensigns placed by the eastern gate when they proclaimed Titus as Emperor.

{Let him that readeth understand} (ho anaginoskwn noeitw). this parenthesis occurs also in #Mr 13:14. It is not to be supposed that Jesus used these words. They were inserted by Mark as he wrote his book and he was followed by Matthew.

24:16 {Flee unto the mountains} (feugetwsan eis ta ore). The mountains east of the Jordan. Eusebius (_H.E._ iii,5,3) says that the Christians actually fled to Pella at the foot of the mountains about seventeen miles south of the Sea of Galilee. They remembered the warning of Jesus and fled for safety.

24:17 {On the housetop} (epi tou dwmatos). They could escape from roof to roof and so escape, "the road of the roofs," as the rabbis called it. There was need for haste.

24:18 {In the field} (en twi agrwi). The peasant worked in his time and left his mantle at home qen as now.

24:20 {In winter nor on a sabbath} (cheim"nos, genitive of time, mede sabbat"i, locative of time). In winter because of the rough weather. On a sabbath because some would hesitate to make such a journey on the sabbath. Josephus in his _Wars_ gives the best illustration of the horrors foretold by Jesus in verse #21.

24:22 {Had been shortened} (ekolob"thˆsan). From kolobos, lopped, mutilated, as the hands, the feet. It is a second-class condition, determined as unfulfilled. It is a prophetic figure, the future regarded as past. {For the elect's sake} (dia tous eklektous). See #Mt 22:14 for another use of this phrase by Jesus and also #24:31. The siege was shortened by various historical events like the stopping of the strengthening of the walls by Herod Agrippa by orders from the Emperor, the sudden arrival of Titus, the neglect of the Jews to prepare for a long siege. "Titus himself confessed that God was against the Jews, since otherwise neither his armies nor his engines would have availed against their defences" (Vincent).

24:23 {Lo, here is the Christ, or here} (idou hwde ho cristos e hwde). The false prophets (#24:11) create the trouble and now false Christs (pseudo-cristoi, verse #24) offer a way out of these troubles. The deluded victims raise the cries of "Lo, here," when these false Messiahs arise with their cure-alls for public ills (political, religious, moral, and spiritual).

24:24 {Great signs and wonders} (semeia megala kai terata). Two of the three words so often used in the N.T. about the works (erga) of Jesus, the other being dunameis (powers). They often occur together of the same work (#Joh 4:48; Ac 2:22; 4:30; 2Co 12:12; Heb 2:4). teras is a wonder or prodigy, dunamis, a mighty work or power, semeion, a sign of God's purpose. Miracle (miraculum) presents only the notion of wonder or portent. The same deed can be looked at from these different angles. But the point to note here is that mere "signs and wonders" do not of themselves prove the power of God. These charlatans will be so skilful that they will, {if possible} (ei dunaton), lead astray the very elect. The implication is that it is not possible. People become excited and are misled and are unable to judge of results. Often it is _post hoc, sed non propter hoc_. Patent-medicine men make full use of the credulity of people along this line as do spiritualistic mediums. Sleight-of-hand men can deceive the unwary.

24:26 {In the wilderness} (en tei eremwi). Like Simon son of Gioras (Josephus, _War_, IV,9,5,&7). {In the inner chambers} (en tois tameiois). Like John of Giscala (Josephus, _War_, V,6,1). False Messiahs act the role of the Great Unseen and Unknown.

24:27 {As seen} (fainetai). Visible in contrast to the invisibility of the false Messiahs. Cf. #Re 1:7. Like a flash of lightning.

24:28 {Carcase} (ptwma). As in #14:12, the corpse. Originally a fallen body from piptw, to fall, like Latin _cadaver_ from _cado_, to fall. The proverb here as in #Lu 17:37, is like that in #Job 39:30; Pr 30:17. {Eagles} (aetoi). Perhaps the griffon vulture, larger than the eagle, which (Aristotle) was often seen in the wake of an army and followed Napoleon's retreat from Russia.

24:29 {Immediately} (euqews). this word, common in Mark's Gospel as euqus, gives trouble if one stresses the time element. The problem is how much time intervenes between "the tribulation of those days" and the vivid symbolism of verse #29. The use of en tachei in #Re 1:1 should make one pause before he decides. Here we have a prophetic panorama like that with foreshortened perspective. The apocalyptic pictures in verse #29 also call for sobriety of judgment. One may compare Joel's prophecy as interpreted by Peter in #Ac 21:16-22. Literalism is not appropriate in this apocalyptic eschatology.

24:30 {The sign of the Son of Man in heaven} (to semeion tou huiou tou anqrwpou en ouranwi). Many theories have been suggested like the cross in the sky, etc. Bruce sees a reference to #Da 7:13 "one like the Son of man" and holds that Christ himself is the sign in question (the genitive of apposition). this is certainly possible. It is confirmed by the rest of the verse: "They shall see the Son of man coming." See #Mt 16:27; 26:64. The Jews had repeatedly asked for such a sign (Broadus) as in #Mt 12:38; 16:1; Joh 2:18.

24:31 {With a great sound of a trumpet} (meta salpiggos fwnes megales). Some MSS. omit (fwnes) "sound." The trumpet was the signal employed to call the hosts of Israel to march as to war and is common in prophetic imagery (#Isa 27:13). Cf. the seventh angel (#Re 11:15). Clearly "the coming of the son of man is not to be identified with the judgment of Jerusalem but rather forms its preternatural background" (Bruce).

24:32 {Putteth forth its leaves} (ta fulla ekfuei). Present active subjunctive according to Westcott and Hort. If accented ekphuˆi (last syllable), it is second aorist passive subjunctive (Erasmus).

24:34 { this generation} (he genea haute). The problem is whether Jesus is here referring to the destruction of Jerusalem or to the second coming and end of the world. If to the destruction of Jerusalem, there was a literal fulfilment. In the Old Testament a generation was reckoned as forty years. this is the natural way to take verse #34 as of #33 (Bruce), "all things" meaning the same in both verses.

24:36 {Not even the Son} (oude ho huios). Probably genuine, though absent in some ancient MSS. The idea is really involved in the words "but the Father only" (ei me ho pater monos). It is equally clear that in this verse Jesus has in mind the time of his second coming. He had plainly stated in verse #34 that those events (destruction of Jerusalem) would take place in that generation. He now as pointedly states that no one but the Father knows the day or the hour when these things (the second coming and the end of the world) will come to pass. One may, of course, accuse Jesus of hopeless confusion or extend his confession of ignorance of the date of the second coming to the whole chain of events. So McNeile: "It is impossible to escape the conclusion that Jesus as Man, expected the End, within the lifetime of his contemporaries." And that after his explicit denial that he knew anything of the kind! It is just as easy to attribute ignorance to modern scholars with their various theories as to Jesus who admits his ignorance of the date, but not of the character of the coming.

24:37 {The days of Noah} (hai hemerai tou nwe). Jesus had used this same imagery before to the Pharisees (#Lu 17:26-30). In Noah's day there was plenty of warning, but utter unpreparedness. Most people are either indifferent about the second coming or have fanciful schemes or programs about it. Few are really eager and expectant and leave to God the time and the plans.

24:38 {Were eating} (esan trwgontes). Periphrastic imperfect. The verb means to chew raw vegetables or fruits like nuts or almonds.

24:41 {At the mill} (en twi mulwi). So Westcott and Hort and not mul"ni (millhouse) Textus Receptus. The millstone and qen hand-mill which was turned by two women (alˆthousai) as in #Ex 11:5. this verb is a late form for ale". There was a handle near the edge of the upper stone.

24:42 {Watch therefore} (gregwreite oun). A late present imperative from the second perfect egregora from egeirw. Keep awake, be on the watch "therefore" because of the uncertainty of the time of the second coming. Jesus gives a half dozen parables to enforce the point of this exhortation (the Porter, the Master of the House, the Faithful Servant and the Evil Servants, the Ten Virgins, the Talents, the Sheep and the Goats). Matthew does not give the Parable of the Porter (#Mr 13:35-37).

24:43 {In what watch} (poiai phulakˆi). As in #14:25 (four watches of the night). {Broken through} (diorucqenai). Digged through the tile roof or under the floor (dirt in the poorer houses).

24:44 {That ye think not} (hei ou dokeite hwrai). It is useless to set the day and hour for Christ's coming. It is folly to neglect it. this figure of the thief will be used also by Paul concerning the unexpectedness of Christ's second coming (#1Th 5:2). See also #Mt 24:50 for the unexpectedness of the coming with punishment for the evil servant.