Matthew 24:2

2 . There shall not be left here one stone upon another ] Compare with the complete ruin of the Temple at Jerusalem, the still magnificent remains of temples at Karnak and Luxor, Baalbec, and Athens. The Temple was destroyed by fire, notwithstanding every effort made to save it by Titus. For a vivid description of this last awful scene in the history of the Temple, see Milman, History of the Jews , ii. Bk. xvi. the disciples ] St Mark names the four, Peter and James and John and Andrew.

Matthew 24:2 . Jesus said — There shall not be left one stone upon another — A proverbial and figurative expression to denote an utter destruction; and the prophecy would have been amply fulfilled, if the city and temple had been utterly ruined, though every single stone had not been overturned. But it happened that the words were almost literally fulfilled: for after the temple was burned, Titus, the Roman general, ordered the very foundations of it to be dug up; after which the ground on which it stood was ploughed up by Turnus Rufus. It is true, Titus was very desirous of preserving it, and the city too, and sent Josephus and other Jews again and again to persuade them to a surrender, but one greater than Titus had determined it otherwise. The Jews themselves first set fire to the porticoes of the temple, and then the Romans. One of the soldiers, neither waiting for any command, nor trembling at such an attempt, but urged by a certain divine impulse, says Josephus, mounted the shoulder of his companion, thrust a burning brand in at the golden window, and thereby set fire to the building of the temple itself. Titus ran immediately to the temple, and commanded the soldiers to extinguish the flame; but neither exhortations nor threatenings could restrain their violence; they either could not, or would not hear, those behind encouraging those before to set fire to the temple.

Titus was still for preserving the holy place, and commanded his soldiers to be beaten for disobeying him. But their anger and hatred of the Jews, and a certain warlike and vehement fury, overcame their reverence for their general, and their dread of his commands. A soldier, in the dark, set fire to the doors; and thus, as Josephus says, the temple was burned against the will of Cesar. The city also shared the same fate, and was burned and destroyed, as well as the temple. The Romans burned the extremest parts of the city, and demolished the walls; three towers only and some part of the wall were left standing, for the better encampment of the soldiers, and to show to posterity what a city, and how fortified, the valour of the Romans had taken. All the rest of the city was so demolished and levelled with the ground, that they who came to see it could not believe it had ever been inhabited.

Matthew 24:2 . ὁ δὲ ἀποκ ., but , adversatively. He answered, in a mood entirely different from theirs.— οὐ βλέπετε ; do you not see all these things? = you ask me to look at them, let me ask you in turn to take a good look at them.— ταῦτα : these things , not buildings, implying indifference to the splendours admired by the disciples.— οὐ μὴ ἀφεθῇ , etc.: not an exact description ex eventu , but a strong statement of coming destruction (by fire) in prophetically coloured language ( Micah 3:12 ; Jeremiah 26:18 ). So Holtz., H.C.

(2) There shall not be left here one stone upon another. —So Josephus relates that Titus ordered the whole city and the Temple to be dug up, leaving only two or three of the chief towers, so that those who visited it could hardly believe that it had ever been inhabited ( Wars, vii. 1). The remains which recent explorations have disinterred belong, all of them, to the substructures of the Temple—its drains, foundations, underground passages, and the like. The words fell on the ears of the disciples, and awed them into silence. It was not till they had crossed the Mount of Olives that even the foremost and most favoured ventured to break it.

Matthew 24:2 . Πάντα ταῦτα , all these things ) as they are standing.— οὐ μὴ ἀφεθῆ , κ . τ . λ ., there shall not be left , etc.) Jesus makes the curious thoughts of His disciples give place to more serious considerations.— λίθος , κ . τ . λ ., a stone , etc.) A proverbial expression implying the utmost devastation. Even the very soil on which it stood was ploughed up.

Matthew 24:2 . Οὐ [16] βλέπετε ταῦτα πάντα (see critical notes) does not mean: “ do not gaze so much at all this ” (Paulus), in which case μή , at least, would be required; nor: “ are you not astonished at all this magnificence ” (de Wette, following Chrysostom)? which would be to import a different meaning into the simple βλέπετε ; but: ye see not all this , by which, of course, Jesus does not intend the mere temple-buildings in themselves considered , but the doom which awaits all those splendid edifices ,—a doom which He at once proceeds to reveal. Instead of having an eye to perceive all this, to them everything looked so magnificent; they were βλέποντες οὐ βλέποντες ( Matthew 13:13 ), so that they were incapable of seeing the true state of matters as regarded the temple; it was hid from their eyes.

The more vividly Jesus Himself foresaw the coming ruin; the more distinct the terms in which He had just been pointing to it, Matthew 23:38 ; the deeper the emotion with which He had taken that touching farewell of the temple; the fuller, moreover, the acquaintance which the disciples must have had with the prophecy in Daniel 9; and the greater the perplexity with which, as the Lord was aware, they continued to regard His utterance about the temple, Matthew 23:38 ; so much the more intelligible is this introductory passage, in which Jesus seeks to withdraw their attention from what presents itself to the mere outward vision, and open their eyes in order that as μὴ βλέποντες βλέπωσι ( John 9:39 ). Further, it is better to take this pregnant utterance in an affirmative rather than in an interrogative sense, as is usually done, because there is no preceding assertion on the part of the disciples to which the question of surprise might be said to correspond. Grulich ( de loci Matth . xxiv. 1, 2, interpret ., 1839) places the emphasis on πάντα : “videtis quidem ταῦτα , sed non videtis ταῦτα πάντα (nimirum templi desolationem, etc.).” So also Hoelemann. This is improbable, if for no other reason than the ordinary usage as regards ταῦτα πάντα , which has no such refinement of meaning anywhere else. Jesus would simply have said: οὐ πάντα βλέπετε .

Ver. 1,2. Mark saith, Mark 13:1,2 , one of his disciples. Luke saith, Luke 21:5 , some. Mark saith, the disciple said, Master, what manner of stones and what buildings are here! Luke saith, they spake how the temple was adorned with goodly stones and gifts. All three evangelists agree in the substance of our Saviour’s reply. Christ had now done his work in the temple, where he never came more, and was going toward the Mount of Olives, where we shall find him in the next verse. His disciples, either one of them or more, probably one in the presence of the rest, either doubting (considering the structure of the temple) whether it could be destroyed, or at least thinking it pity that so famous a structure should come to ruin, come to him, admiring the stones and buildings. Most think this was the temple builded by Zerubbabel, almost six hundred years before, though it received great additions by Herod (for we have no record that that temple was ever destroyed). Incredible stories are related about the dimensions of the stones, and the ornaments of it. Our Saviour saith unto them, Verily I say unto you, There shall not be left here one stone upon another; that is, this brave, goodly temple shall be utterly ruined. Nor (if we may believe other histories) did this prophecy fail as to the letter of it.