Matius 24:2-3

24:2 And he said to them, ¹  “Do you see all these things? I tell you the truth, ²  not one stone will be left on another. ³  All will be torn down!” ⁴ 

Signs of the End of the Age

24:3 As ⁵  he was sitting on the Mount of Olives, his disciples came to him privately and said, “Tell us, when will these things ⁶  happen? And what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age?”

Matius 24:34-35

24:34 I tell you the truth, ⁷  this generation ⁸  will not pass away until all these things take place. 24:35 Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away. ⁹ 

[24:2]  ¹ tn Grk “answering, he said to them.” The participle ἀποκριθείς (ajpokriqei") is redundant in English and has not been translated.

[24:2]  ² tn Grk “Truly (ἀμήν, amhn), I say to you.”

[24:2]  ³ sn With the statement not one stone will be left on another Jesus predicted the total destruction of the temple, something that did occur in a.d. 70.

[24:2]  ⁴ tn Grk “not one stone will be left here on another which will not be thrown down.”

[24:3]  ⁵ tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated.

[24:3]  ⁶ sn Because the phrase these things is plural, more than the temple’s destruction is in view. The question may presuppose that such a catastrophe signals the end.

[24:34]  ⁷ tn Grk “Truly (ἀμήν, amhn), I say to you.”

[24:34]  ⁸ sn This is one of the hardest verses in the gospels to interpret. Various views exist for what generation means. (1) Some take it as meaning “race” and thus as an assurance that the Jewish race (nation) will not pass away. But it is very questionable that the Greek term γενεά (genea) can have this meaning. Two other options are possible. (2) Generation might mean “this type of generation” and refer to the generation of wicked humanity. Then the point is that humanity will not perish, because God will redeem it. Or (3) generation may refer to “the generation that sees the signs of the end” (v. 30), who will also see the end itself. In other words, once the movement to the return of Christ starts, all the events connected with it happen very quickly, in rapid succession.

[24:35]  ⁹ sn The words that Jesus predicts here will never pass away. They are more stable and lasting than creation itself. For this kind of image, see Isa 40:8; 55:10-11.