Cambridge Greek Testament Commentary

Mark 13:1

ἐκπορευομένου αὐτοῦ … αὐτῷ. For the constr. see on Mark 5:21 and Mark 9:28; it is repeated below in Mark 13:3. He was leaving the Temple once more to spend the night at Bethany.

εἷς τῶν μαθητῶν. We do not know which; Mt. says “His disciples,” Lk. “some people.”

ἴδε ποταποὶ λίθοι. Like ἰδού, ἄγε, φέρε, we have in ἴδε an exclamation, as the nom. shows. Cf. Mark 3:34; Mark 11:21. Galileans were not familiar with any such edifice, and this alone may have caused the admiring outburst, as the Temple was being viewed in the evening light. But it is likely that the remark “Your house is left unto you desolate” elicted the ποταποί. It was so grievous to think that desolation was in store for such a building. The late Greek ποταπός (here only in Mk) has lost its local signification and is rendered qualis, not cujas. It commonly indicates admiration or surprise. “It is almost impossible to realize the effect produced by a building longer and higher than York Cathedral, standing on a solid mass of masonry almost equal in height to the tallest of church spires” (Wilson, Recovery of Jerusalem, p. 9). The (perhaps exaggerated) description by Josephus (B.J. V. v.) should be read. See also Sanday, Sacred Sites of the Gospel, with conjectural restoration; Edersheim, Temple, pp. 20 f.

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Cambridge Greek Testament Commentary

Mark 13:1

Old Testament

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