Luke 21:6

Greek (Tischendorf 8th ed.)

English Translation

"As for these things which you see, the days will come, in which there will not be left here one stone on another that will not be thrown down."

World English Bible · Public Domain

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καταλυθήσεται

katalýō

G2647

“to dissolve”

Verb, Future, Passive, Indicative, 3rd person, Singular

Appears 17× in the Greek New Testament
First appears at Matthew 5:17

Full Thayer's Definition

Origin: from G2596 and G3089

TDNT: 09:38,5

1. to dissolve, disunite a. (what has been joined together), to destroy, demolish b. metaph. to overthrow i.e. render vain, deprive of success, bring to naught 1. to subvert, overthrow 1b c. of institutions, forms of government, laws, etc., to deprive of force, annul, abrogate, discard d. of travellers, to halt on a journey, to put up, lodge (the figurative expression originating in the circumstance that, to put up for the night, the straps and packs of the beasts of burden are unbound and taken off; or, more correctly from the fact that the traveller's garments, tied up when he is on the journey, are unloosed at it end)

About this verse

These counts appear in no published source. They are computed here, from the morphology-tagged text and Lemma’s own curated glosses. What Lemma adds →

15: words
11: distinct lemmas
Gospels: section

Notable vocabulary

The rarest word here is καταλυθήσεται to dissolve G2647 — appearing just 17 times in the whole Greek New Testament.

Shared distinctive vocabulary

καταλυθήσεται to dissolve G2647 occurs in 16 verses of the Greek New Testament. Also found in:

Repetition

Words recur within this verse:

λίθος stone G3037 ×2
ἃ who G3739 ×3
οὐκ not G3756 ×2

Cross-references

Topical passages linked to Luke 21:6 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge — connected by theme and wording, ordered by reader-vote popularity; previews shown in the World English Bible.

Matthew 24:2 But he answered them, "Don't you see all of these things? Most assuredly I tell you, there will not be left here one stone on another, that will not be thrown down."
Mark 13:2 Jesus said to him, "Do you see these great buildings? There will not be left here one stone on another, which will not be thrown down."
Lamentations 5:18 For the mountain of Zion, which is desolate: The foxes walk on it.
Zechariah 14:2 For I will gather all nations against Jerusalem to battle; and the city will be taken, the houses rifled, and the women ravished. half of the city will go out into captivity, and the rest of the people will not be cut off from the city.
1 Kings 9:7–9 then will I cut off Israel out of the land which I have given them; and this house, which I have made holy for my name, will I cast out of my sight; and Israel shall be a proverb and a byword among all peoples.
2 Chronicles 7:20–22 then will I pluck them up by the roots out of my land which I have given them; and this house, which I have made holy for my name, will I cast out of my sight, and I will make it a proverb and a byword among all peoples.
Isaiah 64:10–11 Your holy cities are become a wilderness, Zion is become a wilderness, Jerusalem a desolation.
Jeremiah 26:6 then will I make this house like Shiloh, and will make this city a curse to all the nations of the earth.

Jeremiah 26:9 Why have you prophesied in the name of Yahweh, saying, This house shall be like Shiloh, and this city shall be desolate, without inhabitant? All the people were gathered to Jeremiah in the house of Yahweh.
Jeremiah 26:18 Micah the Morashtite prophesied in the days of Hezekiah king of Judah; and he spoke to all the people of Judah, saying, Thus says Yahweh of Hosts: Zion shall be plowed as a field, and Jerusalem shall become heaps, and the mountain of the house as the high places of a forest.
Lamentations 2:6–8 He has violently taken away his tent, as if it were of a garden; he has destroyed his place of assembly: Yahweh has caused solemn assembly and Sabbath to be forgotten in Zion, Has despised in the indignation of his anger the king and the priest.
Lamentations 4:1 How is the gold become dim! [how] is the most pure gold changed! The stones of the sanctuary are poured out at the head of every street.
Daniel 9:26–27 After the sixty-two weeks the Anointed One shall be cut off, and shall have nothing: and the people of the prince who shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary; and the end of it shall be with a flood, and even to the end shall be war; desolations are determined.
Zechariah 11:1 Open your doors, Lebanon, That the fire may devour your cedars.
Luke 19:44–48 and will dash you and your children within you to the ground. They will not leave in you one stone on another, because you didn't know the time of your visitation."
Acts 6:13–14 and set up false witnesses who said, "This man never stops speaking blasphemous words against this holy place and the law.

Jeremiah 7:11–14 Is this house, which is called by my name, become a den of robbers in your eyes? Behold, I, even I, have seen it, says Yahweh.
Ezekiel 7:20–22 As for the beauty of his ornament, he set it in majesty; but they made the images of their abominations [and] their detestable things therein: therefore have I made it to them as an unclean thing.
Micah 3:12 Therefore Zion for your sake will be plowed like a field, And Jerusalem will become heaps of rubble, And the mountain of the temple like the high places of a forest.

Cross-references courtesy of OpenBible.info (CC BY 4.0).

Where the printed editions differ

1 variant

Places in this verse where the major printed Greek editions disagree on the wording in a way that affects the translation — a comparison of editions, not a manuscript-by-manuscript collation. The editions are the modern critical texts (Nestlé-Aland 28/27, SBL, Westcott-Hort, Tregelles, Tyndale House) and the traditional texts behind the KJV (the Textus Receptus and the Byzantine/Majority text). It is not a claim about which reading is original.

Extra text

ὧδε

“here”

In WH Not in NA28NA27TynSBLTregTRByz

ὧδε (hōde) 'here' is only in a few manuscripts (WH)

Textual data: Translators Amalgamated Greek New Testament (STEPBible TAGNT) · CC BY 4.0.

Commentary

Notes on Luke 21:6 from classic Christian and Jewish commentators (each source and its license shown beneath its notes). The classic Christian expositions comment on the surrounding passage and are grouped to its opening verse, so a note may address several verses; the Jewish commentaries on the Tanakh (Rashi and others) are per-verse, so they appear only where the commentator wrote on this verse.

Lemma curates 59 commentaries, every one of them public domain or Creative Commons licensed, each selected and text-cleaned for this edition rather than reprinted as found. About our sources →

Commentary source

Tyndale Open Study Notes

Tyndale Open Resources

21:6 Not one stone will be left on top of another: See study note on 19:43-44.

Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Bengel's Gnomon

Johann Albrecht Bengel

Luk 21:6. Ταῦτα, these things) The Subject. The Predicate follows, which is subdivided into Subject and Predicate. These things are of such a kind, that the days are coming when, etc. So the LXX., 2Ki 1:4: ἡ κλίνη ἐφʼ ἧς ἀνέβης ἐκεῖ, οὐ καταβήσῃ ἀπʼ αὐτῆς, the bed upon which thou hast ascended there (the Nominative pendent forming the subject), thou shalt not go down from it [the predicate; subdivided into subject and predicate].

Bengel's Gnomon of the New Testament — English translation (T&T Clark, Edinburgh, 1860) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Expositor's Greek Testament

ed. W. Robertson Nicoll

Luk 21:6 . ταῦτα ἁ θ . Some (Grotius, Pricaeus) take ταῦτα = τούτων : of these things which ye see a stone shall not be left. Most, however, take it as a nominative absolute = as for these things which ye see ( vide Winer, § lxiii. 2 d). This suits better the emotional mood. ἐλεύσονται ἡμέραι : cf. Luk 5:35 , where a similar ominous allusion to coming evil days occurs.

The Expositor's Greek Testament, edited by W. Robertson Nicoll (1897–1910) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Adam Clarke's Commentary

Verse 6. One stone upon another This was literally fulfilled. See Mt 24:2.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne

6. As for these things which ye behold] Rather, these things which ye are gazing on (it is what is called the ‘pendent nominative’).

there shall not be left one stone upon another] See on Luk_19:44 and the remarkable passage in 2Es_10:54, “in the place where the Highest beginneth to shew His city, there can no man’s building be able to stand.” This was fulfilled in spite of the strong wish of Titus to spare the Temple, Jos. B. J. vi. 4, § 5; but see on Luk_19:44. He was himself so amazed at the massive substructures that he could only see in his conquest the hand of God (id. vi. 9, § 1). This prophecy was in reality that “Let us depart hence” which Josephus (B. J. vi. 5, § 3) and Tacitus (Hist. v. 13) tell us was uttered by a mysterious Voice before the destruction of Jerusalem.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

John Gill's Exposition

As for these things which ye behold,.... Some, as the Syriac and Ethiopic versions, read these words by way of interrogation; "are these the things which ye behold?" do ye look upon these with wonder and delight?

the days will come; and they are hastening on; a little while, a few years more:

in the which there shall not be left one stone upon another, that shall not be thrown down; See Gill on Mat 24:2.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Trapp's Complete Commentary

John Trapp

6 As for these things which ye behold, the days will come, in the which there shall not be left one stone upon another, that shall not be thrown down.

Ver. 6. {See Trapp on "Mat 24:2"}

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible

See the notes at Mat 24:2.

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary

It was by the divine dispensation of Providence that his city and temple were destroyed; for had the ancient rites and sacrifices continued, some that were but weak in their faith, might have been filled with astonishment at the sight of these different modes of worship, existing at the same time, and thus have been lead astray from the path of truth. (Ven. Bede)

George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).

The Pulpit Commentary

There shall not be left one stone upon another. There is a remarkable passage in RAPC 2Est 10:54, "In the place wherein the Highest beginneth to show his city, there can no man"s building be able to stand." The Lord"s words were fulfilled, in spite of the strong wish of Titus to spare the temple. Josephus, writing upon the utter demolition of the city and temple, says that, with the exception of Herod"s three great towers and part of the western wall, the whole circuit of the city was so thoroughly levelled and dug up that no one visiting it would believe that it had ever been inhabited. ("Bell. Jud_1:7:1:1)

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Cambridge Greek Testament for Schools and Colleges

6. ὧδε is added after λίθῳ by אBL La[353] W. H[354] The reading of D is ἐν τοίχῳ ὧδε.

[353] La. Lachmann.

[354] W. H. Westcott and Hort.

6. ταῦτα ἃ θεωρεῖτε. See Mat 7:24; 1Jn 2:24; 1Jn 2:27; 2Co 12:17, &c. ‘These things which ye are gazing on’ (it is what is called the ‘pendent nominative’). See Winer, p. 718, for similar constructions.

λίθος ἐπὶ λίθῳ. See on Luk 19:44 and the remarkable passage in 2Es 10:54, “in the place where the Highest beginneth to shew His city, there can no man’s building be able to stand.” This was fulfilled in spite of the strong wish of Titus to spare the Temple, Jos. B. J. vi. 4, § 5. He was himself so amazed at the massive substructures that he could only see in his conquest the hand of God (id. VI. 9, § 1). This prophecy was in reality that “Let us depart hence” which Josephus (B. J. VI. 5, § 3) and Tacitus (Hist. Luk 21:13) tell us was uttered by a mysterious Voice before the destruction of Jerusalem.

Cambridge Greek Testament for Schools and Colleges (Cambridge University Press, 1896; 21 vols, various authors incl. Carr, Maclear, Plummer, Farrar, Lumby, Moule, M. R. James, Simcox) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Alford’s Greek Testament

Henry Alford

6.] ταῦτα ἃ θ.,—absolute: see reff.

Henry Alford, The Greek Testament (1849–1861) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

International Critical Commentary

6. ταῦτα ἅ θεωρεῖτε. Nom. pendens: comp. Mat 10:14, Mat 10:12:36; Joh 6:39, Joh 6:7:38, Joh 6:15:2, Joh 6:17:2; Act 7:40.

ἐλεύσονται ἡμέραι. “Days will come”: no article. Comp. 5:35, 17:22, 19:43, 23:29.

οὐκ ἀφεθήσεται λίθος ἐπὶ λίθῳ. A strange prediction to those who had been expecting that the Messianic Kingdom would immediately begin, and that Jerusalem would be the centre of it. Respecting the completeness of the fulfilment of this prediction see Stanley, Sin. & Pal. p. 183; Robinson, Res. in Psa_1. p. 295.

International Critical Commentary — older volumes (1896–1929), various authors — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Vincent's Word Studies in the New Testament

Marvin R. Vincent

Behold [θεωρειτε] . See on ch. Luk 10:18.

Thrown down. See on Mr 13:2.

Marvin R. Vincent, Word Studies in the New Testament (1887–1900) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Lesson kit

Teaching starters — assembled from the data on this page, not authored interpretation. Every prompt links to the verse data it draws on. Edit before teaching.

Luke, in the Gospels, opens this verse with 15 words (11 distinct Greek lemmas). Its most distinctive word is katalýō (“to dissolve”). A historical commentator’s framing appears above. Read the whole chapter for the surrounding context.

Discussion questions

How does “to dissolve” (katalýō) shape what this verse is saying?
Matthew 5:17 shares the word «to dissolve» with this verse. How do the two illuminate each other?
“stone” occurs 2× in this one verse. What is the effect of the repetition?
The translations on this page render this verse differently — a whole-verse word diff, not a word-by-word alignment. What might account for the different wordings?
Reading how Tyndale Open Study Notes and Bengel's Gnomon read this verse, where do the two commentators agree and where do they part?

Things to notice

These translations choose different wording for 12 words in this verse.
“stone” occurs 2× in this single verse.
11 distinct Greek lemmas span 15 words in this verse.