CHAPTER 13. THE APOCALYPTIC DISCOURSE. This is the solitary instance in which the second evangelist has given at length a discourse of Jesus. The fulness with which the apocalyptic discourse is recorded is all the more striking, when contrasted with the very meagre reproduction of the anti-pharisai... [ Continue Reading ]
εἷς τ. μαθητῶν, _one_ of the disciples; the disciples generally in Mt.; who, not said, nor for what motive; probably to divert the Master from gloomy thoughts. ποταποὶ λίθοι, etc.: what stones and what buildings! the former remarkable for size, as described by Josephus (Antiq., xv., 11, 3); the latt... [ Continue Reading ]
_The introduction_ (Matthew 24:1-3; Luke 21:5-7).... [ Continue Reading ]
βλέπεις : a question, do you see? to fix attention on an object concerning which a startling statement is to be made. μεγάλας, _great_ buildings, acknowledging the justness of the admiration and pointing to a feature which might seem incompatible with the statement following: that vast strong pile s... [ Continue Reading ]
εἰς τὸ ὄρος : implying previous motion towards, before sitting down _on_ the Mount of Olives. κατέναντι τ. ἱ., opposite the temple, with the admired buildings in full view; this graphic touch in Mk. only. ἐπηρώτα ([117] [118] [119]), singular: Peter in view as the chief speaker, though accompanied b... [ Continue Reading ]
The question of the four has exclusive reference to the predicted destruction of the sacred buildings. In Mt. three questions are mixed together: _vide_ notes there.... [ Continue Reading ]
_Signs prelusive of the end_ (Matthew 24:4-8; Luke 21:8-11). Jerusalem's judgment-day not to come till certain things have happened: advent of false Messiahs, rise of wars. βλέπετε, take heed that no one _deceive_ you; the ethical key-note struck at once; the aim of the whole discourse to help disci... [ Continue Reading ]
ἐγώ εἰμι, I am (He, the Christ). In what sense to be understood _vide_ on Mt. The Messianic hope misconceived was the ruin of the Jewish people.... [ Continue Reading ]
πολέμους : first pseudo-Messiahs preaching national independence; then, naturally, as a second σημεῖον, _wars_, actual or threatened (ἀκοὰς πολ.). μὴ θροεῖσθε : good counsel, cheerful in tone, laconic in expression = be not scared; they must happen; but the end not yet. The disconnected style, no γὰ... [ Continue Reading ]
ἔσονται σεισμοὶ, etc., there will be earthquakes in places; there will be famines. Here again the briefest reading without connecting particles (καὶ, καὶ) is to be preferred, as suiting the abrupt style congenial to the prophetic mood. The καὶ ταραχαί after λιμοὶ may have fallen out of [122] [123] ... [ Continue Reading ]
βλέπετε, etc.: not meant to strike a depressing note, but to suggest that the most interesting omens should be found in their own experiences as the Apostles of the faith, which, however full of tribulation, would yet be, on the whole, victorious. παραδώσουσι, etc.: the tribulations are not disguise... [ Continue Reading ]
_Third sign, drawn from apostolic experiences_ (Matthew 24:9-13; Luke 21:12-19). On the hypothesis that this is an interpolation into the discourse, having no organic connection with it, _vide_ on Mt. The contents of this section, especially in Mk.'s version, correspond closely to Matthew 10:17-22.... [ Continue Reading ]
gives counsel for Apostles placed at the bar of kings and rulers. They are not to be anxious beforehand (προμεριμνᾶτε, here only in N.T.) even as to what they shall say, not to speak of what shall happen to them as the result of the trial. Their _apologia_ will be given to them. They will not be the... [ Continue Reading ]
answers in its first part to Matthew 24:9 b, and in its second to Matthew 24:13.... [ Continue Reading ]
τὸ βδέλυγμα τ. ἐ. The horror is the Roman army, and it is a horror because of the desolation it brings. _Vide_ on Mt. The reference to Daniel in T.R. is imported from Mt. ἑστηκότα, the reading in the best texts, masculine, though referring to βδέλυγμα, because the horror consists of soldiers (Schanz... [ Continue Reading ]
_The Jewish catastrophe_ (Matthew 24:15-25; Luke 21:20-24).... [ Continue Reading ]
δώματος, he who is on the _roof. vide_ at Matthew 10:27. The main point to be noted in Mk.'s version of the directions for the crisis as compared with Mt.'s (_q.v._) is the omission of the words μηδὲ σαββάτῳ, probably out of regard to Gentile readers.... [ Continue Reading ]
ἵνα μὴ γένηται, that _it_ may not be; what not said, φυγὴ (T.R.) being omitted in best texts = the nameless horror which makes flight imperative, the awful crisis of Israel.... [ Continue Reading ]
ἔσονται γὰρ αἱ ἡμέραι, etc., for (not _in_ those days, but) those days (themselves) shall be a tribulation. So we speak of “evil days,” and in Scotland of the “killing times”. οἵα οὐ γέγονεν, etc.: a strong statement claiming for the crisis of Israel a unique place of tragic distinction in the whole... [ Continue Reading ]
The merciful shortening of the days, out of regard to the elect, is here directly ascribed to God. Mt. uses the passive construction, where _vide_ as to the idea of shortening and the reason. τοὺς ἐκλεκτοὺς οὓς ἐξελέξατο, the elect whom He elected, recalling “the creation which God created” in Mark... [ Continue Reading ]
ψευδόχριστοι, ψευδοπροφῆται, false Christs, and false prophets; again, as in Mark 13:6, here as there without, not within, the Church; political Messiahs, in Mark 13:6 spoken of as the prime cause of all the calamities, here as at the last hour promising deliverance therefrom. πρὸς τὸ ἀποπλανᾷν, wit... [ Continue Reading ]
ὑμεῖς δὲ, etc., now you look out! I have told you all things beforehand; forewarned, forearmed.... [ Continue Reading ]
ἀλλὰ, opposes to the false Christs who are not to be believed in, the coming of the true Christ. ἐν ἐκείναις τ. ἡμέραις, in those days, for Mt.'s εὐθέως, a vaguer phrase, yet making the _parusia_ synchronise with the _thlipsis_.... [ Continue Reading ]
_The coming of the Son of Man_ (Matthew 24:29-35; Luke 21:25-33).... [ Continue Reading ]
οἱ ἀστέρες, etc., the stars shall be in process of falling (one after the other) ἔσονται with πίπτοντες instead of πεσοῦνται in Mt. αἱ δυνάμεις, etc.: the powers in heaven = the powers of heaven (Mt.) = the host of heaven (34:4), a synonym for the stars.... [ Continue Reading ]
τὸν ὑιὸν τ. ἀ.: the Son of Man, not the sign of, etc., as in Mt.: Christ His own sign, _vide_ on Mt.... [ Continue Reading ]
ἀπʼ ἄκρου γῆς, etc. (_cf._ expression in Mt.), from the extremity of the earth to the extremity of heaven. The earth is conceived as a flat surface, and the idea is from one end of the earth to the other, where it touches the heavens. But they touch at both ends, so that Mt.'s expression is the more... [ Continue Reading ]
Parable of the fig tree, as in Mt. ἐκφύῃ : this verb without accent might either be present subjunctive active of ἐκφύω = ἐκφύῃ = it putteth forth its leaves; or 2nd aorist subjunctive intransitive = ἐκφυῇ, from ἐξεφύην, later form of 2nd aorist indicative instead of ἐξέφυν = the leaves shoot out. T... [ Continue Reading ]
The words ὁ υἱὸς are an undoubted reading in Mk., and there can be little doubt they form a part of the true text in Mt. also. As to the import of the solemn declaration of nescience Jesus here makes, I need only refer to what has been said on the corresponding text in Mt. It is not a disclaimer of... [ Continue Reading ]
_Concluding exhortation_ (Matthew 24:36).... [ Continue Reading ]
ἀγρυπνεῖτε : watch, be sleepless (α pr.v. and ὕπνος). οὐκ οἴδατε, etc., ye know not the time or season (καιρός) _of the parusia_. If even the Son knows not, still less His disciples; therefore let them watch.... [ Continue Reading ]
Enforcement of the exhortation to watch by a brief parable. At this point each of the synoptical evangelists goes his own way. In Mt. Jesus presses home the lesson by historical and prophetical pictures of the surprises brought by unexpected crises; in Lk. by general statements; in Mk. y a compariso... [ Continue Reading ]
ὀψὲ ἢ, etc.: the night divided, Roman fashion, into _four_ watches: 6 9, 9 12, 12 3, 3 6. Before the exile the Jews divided the night into three parts. μεσονύκτιον : _vide_ at Luke 11:5 on this word, found also in Acts 16:25; Acts 20:7. ἀλεκτοροφωνία is a ἅπαξ λεγ. in N. T.... [ Continue Reading ]
ἐξαίφνης, suddenly, here in Luke 2:13, and four times in Acts. καθεύδοντας : this applies to all the servants, not merely to the porter; therefore all must watch as well as work. In the case of a master absent on a journey, the servants cannot know even the _day_, not to speak of the _hour_ or _watc... [ Continue Reading ]