SEV Biblia, Chapter 24:36
Pero del día y hora nadie sabe, ni aun los ngeles de los cielos, sino mi Padre solo.
Clarke's Bible Commentary - Matthew 24:36
Verse 36. But of that day and hour] wra, here, is translated season by many eminent critics, and is used in this sense by both sacred and profane authors. As the day was not known, in which Jerusalem should be invested by the Romans, therefore our Lord advised his disciples to pray that it might not be on a Sabbath; and as the season was not known, therefore they were to pray that it might not be in the winter; ver. 20. See on Mark xiii. 32.
John Gill's Bible Commentary
Ver. 36. But of that day and hour knoweth no man , etc.] Which is to be understood, not of the second coming of Christ, the end of the world, and the last judgment; but of the coming of the son of man, to take vengeance on the Jews, and of their destruction; for the words manifestly regard the date of the several things going before, which only can be applied to that catastrophe, and dreadful desolation: now, though the destruction itself was spoken of by Moses and the prophets, was foretold by Christ, and the believing Jews had some discerning of its near approach; (see Hebrews 10:25) yet the exact and precise time was not known: it might have been: calculated to a year by Daniels weeks, but not to the day and hour; and therefore our Lord does not say of the year, but of the day and hour no man knows; though the one week, or seven years, being separated from the rest, throws that account into some perplexity; and which perhaps is on purpose done, to conceal the precise time of Jerusalems destruction: nor need it be wondered at, notwithstanding all the hints given, that the fatal day should not be exactly known beforehand; when those who have lived since, and were eyewitnesses of it, are not agreed on what day of the month it was; for, as Dr. Lightfoot observes, Josephus says, that the temple perished the tenth day of Lous, a day fatal to the temple, as having been on that day consumed in flames, by the king of Babylon. And yet Rabbi Jochanan ben Zaccai, who was also at the destruction of it, as well as Josephus, with all the Jewish writers, say it was on the ninth of Ab; for of this day they say, five things happened upon it: On the ninth of Ab it was decreed concerning our fathers, that they should not enter into the land (of Canaan), the first and second temple were destroyed, Bither was taken, and the city ploughed up.
Though the words of R. Jochanan, cited by the doctor, refer to the first, and not to the second temple, and should have been rendered thus: If I had been in the generation (which fixed the fast for the destruction of the first temple), I would not have fixed it but on the tenth (of Ab); for, adds he, the greatest part of the temple was burnt on that day; but the Rabbins rather regarded the beginning of the punishment f1414 .
And so the fasting of Rabbi, and R. Joshua ben Levi, on the ninth and tenth days, were on account of the first temple; for they were under the same difficulty about the one, as the other: no, not the angels of heaven ; who dwell there, always behold the face of God, stand in his presence ready to do his will, and are made acquainted with many of his designs, and are employed in the executing of them, and yet know not the time of Gods vengeance on the Jews; to this agrees the sense that is given of the day of vengeance in ( Isaiah 63:4) it is asked f1415 , what is the meaning of these words, the day of vengeance is in my heart? Says R. Jochanan, to my heart I have revealed it, to the members I have not revealed it: says R. Simeon ben Lakish, to my heart I have revealed it, ytylg al trh ykalml , to the ministering angels I have not revealed it.
The Ethiopic version adds here, nor the son, and so the Cambridge copy of Bezas; which seems to be transcribed from ( Mark 13:32) where that phrase stands; and must be understood of Christ as the son of man, and not as the Son of God; for as such, he lay in the bosom of the Father, and knew all his purposes and designs; for these were purposed in him: he knew from the beginning who would betray him, and who would believe in him; he knew what would befall the rejecters of him, and when that would come to pass; as he must know also the day of the last judgment, since it is appointed by God, and he is ordained to execute it: but the sense is, that as he, as man and mediator, came not to destroy, but to save; so it was not any part of his work, as such, to know, nor had he it in commission to make known the time of Jerusalems ruin: but my Father only ; to the exclusion of all creatures, angels and men; but not to the exclusion of Christ as God, who, as such, is omniscient; nor of the Holy Spirit, who is acquainted with the deep things of God, the secrets of his heart, and this among others.
Matthew Henry Commentary
Verses 29-41 - Christ foretells his second coming. It is usual for prophets to spea of things as near and just at hand, to express the greatness an certainty of them. Concerning Christ's second coming, it is foretol that there shall be a great change, in order to the making all thing new. Then they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds. At his first coming, he was set for a sign that should be spoken against, but at his second coming, a sign that should be admired. Sooner or later all sinners will be mourners; but repenting sinners look to Christ, an mourn after a godly sort; and those who sow in those tears shal shortly reap in joy. Impenitent sinners shall see Him whom they have pierced, and, though they laugh now, shall mourn and weep in endles horror and despair. The elect of God are scattered abroad; there ar some in all places, and all nations; but when that great gathering da comes, there shall not one of them be missing. Distance of place shal keep none out of heaven. Our Lord declares that the Jews should neve cease to be a distinct people, until all things he had been predictin were fulfilled. His prophecy reaches to the day of final judgment therefore he here, ver. 34, foretells that Judah shall never cease to exist as a distinct people, so long as this world shall endure. Men of the world scheme and plan for generation upon generation here, but the plan not with reference to the overwhelming, approaching, and mos certain event of Christ's second coming, which shall do away ever human scheme, and set aside for ever all that God forbids. That will be as surprising a day, as the deluge to the old world. Apply this, first to temporal judgments, particularly that which was then hastening upo the nation and people of the Jews. Secondly, to the eternal judgment Christ here shows the state of the old world when the deluge came. The were secure and careless; they knew not, until the flood came; and the believed not. Did we know aright that all earthly things must shortl pass away, we should not set our eyes and hearts so much upon them a we do. The evil day is not the further off for men's putting it fa from them. What words can more strongly describe the suddenness of ou Saviour's coming! Men will be at their respective businesses, an suddenly the Lord of glory will appear. Women will be in their hous employments, but in that moment every other work will be laid aside and every heart will turn inward and say, It is the Lord! Am I prepare to meet him? Can I stand before him? And what, in fact, is the day of judgment to the whole world, but the day of death to every one?
Greek Textus Receptus
περι 4012 PREP δε 1161 CONJ της 3588 T-GSF ημερας 2250 N-GSF εκεινης 1565 D-GSF και 2532 CONJ της 3588 T-GSF ωρας 5610 N-GSF ουδεις 3762 A-NSM οιδεν 1492 5758 V-RAI-3S ουδε 3761 ADV οι 3588 T-NPM αγγελοι 32 N-NPM των 3588 T-GPM ουρανων 3772 N-GPM ει 1487 COND μη 3361 PRT-N ο 3588 T-NSM πατηρ 3962 N-NSM μου 3450 P-1GS μονος 3441 A-NSM
Robertson's NT Word Studies
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.
