Mark 13:28

We have here the application of this prophetical sermon; now learn to look forward in a right manner.

I. "As to the destruction of Jerusalem, expect it to come very shortly; as when the branch of the fig-tree becomes soft, and the leaves sprout forth, ye expect that summer will come shortly, Mar 13:28. When second causes begin to work, ye expect their effects in their proper order and time. So when ye see these things come to pass, when ye see the Jewish nation embroiled in wars, distracted by false Christs and prophets, and drawing upon them the displeasure of the Romans, especially when ye see them persecuting you for your Master's sake, and thereby standing to what they did when they put him to death, and repeating it, and so filling up the measure of their iniquity, then say that their ruin is nigh, even at the door, and provide for yourselves accordingly." The disciples themselves were indeed all of them, except John, taken away from the evil to come, but the next generation whom they were to train up, would live to see it; and by these instructions which Christ left behind him would be kept from sharing in it; "This generation that is now rising up, shall not all be worn off before all these things come to pass, which I have told you of, relating to Jerusalem, and they shall begin to take effect now shortly. And as this destruction is near and within ken, so it is sure. The decree is gone forth, it is a consummation determined," Dan 9:27. Christ doth not speak these things, merely to frighten them; no, they are declarations of God's fixed purpose; "Heaven and earth shall pass away, at the end of time; but my words shall not pass away (Mar 13:31), not one of these predictions shall fail of a punctual accomplishment."

II. "As to the end of the world, do not enquire when it will come, for it is not a question fit to be asked, for of that day, and that hour, knoweth no man; it is a thing at a great distance; the exact time is fixed in the counsel of God, but is not revealed by any word of God, either to men on earth, or to angels in heaven; the angels shall have timely notice to prepare to attend in that day, and it shall be published, when it comes to the children of men, with sound of trumpet; but, at present, men and angels are kept in the dark concerning the precise time of it, that they may both attend to their proper services in the present day." But it follows, neither the Son; but is there any thing which the Son is ignorant of? We read indeed of a book which was sealed, till the Lamb opened the seals; but did not he know what was in it, before the seals were opened? Was not he privy to the writing of it? There were those in the primitive times, who taught from this text, that there were some things that Christ, as man, was ignorant of; and from these were called Agnoetae; they said, "It was no more absurd to say so, than to say that his human soul suffered grief and fear;" and many of the orthodox fathers approved of this. Some would evade it, by saying that Christ spoke this in a way of prudential economy, to divert the disciples from further enquiry: but to this one of the ancients answers, It is not fit to speak too nicely in this matter - ou dei panu akribologein, so Leontius in Dr. Hammond, "It is certain (says Archbishop Tillotson) that Christ, as God, could not be ignorant of any thing; but the divine wisdom which dwelt in our Saviour, did communicate itself to his human soul, according to the divine pleasure, so that his human nature might sometimes not know some things; therefore Christ is said to grow in wisdom (Luk 2:52), which he could not be said to do, if the human nature of Christ did necessarily know all things by virtue of its union with the divinity." Dr. Lightfoot explains it thus; Christ calls himself the Son, as Messiah. Now the Messiah, as such, was the father's servant (Isa 42:1), sent and deputed by him, and as such a one he refers himself often to his Father's will and command, and owns he did nothing of himself (Joh 5:19); in like manner he might be said to know nothing of himself. The revelation of Jesus Christ was what God gave unto him, Rev 1:1. He thinks, therefore, that we are to distinguish between those excellencies and perfections of his, which resulted from the personal union between the divine and human nature, and those which flowed from the anointing of the Spirit; from the former flowed the infinite dignity of his perfect freedom from all sin; but from the latter flowed his power of working miracles, and his foreknowledge of things to come. What therefore (saith he) was to be revealed by him to his church, he was pleased to take, not from the union of the human nature with the divine, but from the revelation of the Spirit, by which he yet knew not this, but the Father only knows it; that is, God only, the Deity; for (as Archbishop Tillotson explains it) it is not used here personally, in distinction from the Son and the Holy Ghost, but as the Father is, Fons et Principium Deitatis - The Fountain of Deity.

III. "As to both, your duty is to watch and pray. Therefore the time is kept a secret, that you may be engaged to stand always upon your guard (Mar 13:33); Take ye heed of every thing that would indispose you for your Master's coming, and would render your accounts perplexed, and your spirits so too; watch for his coming, that it may not at any time be a surprise to you, and pray for that grace which is necessary to qualify you for it, for ye know not when the time is; and you are concerned to be ready for that every day, which may come any day." This he illustrates, in the close, by a parable.

1. Our Master is gone away, and left us something in trust, in charge, which we must give account of, Mar 13:34. He is as a man taking a far journey; for he is gone to be away a great while, he has left his house on earth, and left his servants in their offices, given authority to some, who are to be overseers, and work to others, who are to be labourers. They that have authority given them, in that had work assigned them, for those that have the greatest power have the most business; and to them to whom he gave work, he gave some sort of authority, to do that work. And when he took his last leave, he appointed the porter to watch, to be sure to be ready to open to him at his return; and in the mean time to take care to whom he opened his gates, not to thieves and robbers, but only to his Master's friends and servants. Thus our Lord Jesus, when he ascended on high, left something for all his servants to do, expecting they should all do him service in his absence, and be ready to receive him at his return. All are appointed to work, and some authorized to rule.

2. We ought to be always upon our watch, in expectation of his return, Mar 13:35-37. (1.) Our Lord will come, and will come as the Master of the house, to take account of his servants, of their work, and of the improvement they have made. (2.) We know not when he will come; and he has very wisely kept us at uncertainty, that we might all be always ready. We know not when he will come, just at what precise time; the Master of the house perhaps will come at even, at nine at night; or it may be at midnight, or a cock-crowing, at three in the morning, or perhaps not until six. This is applicable to his coming to us in particular, at our death, as well as to the general judgment. Our present life is a night, a dark night, compared with the other life; we know not in which watch of the night our Master will come, whether in the days of youth, or middle age, or old age; but, as soon as we are born, we begin to die, and therefore, as soon as we are capable of expecting any thing, we must expect death. (3.) Our great care must be, that, whenever our Lord comes, he do not find us sleeping, secure in ourselves, off our guard, indulging ourselves in ease and sloth, mindless of our work and duty, and thoughtless of our Lord's coming; ready to say, He will not come, and unready to meet him. (4.) His coming will indeed be coming suddenly; it will be a great surprise and terror to those that are careless, and asleep, it will come upon them as a thief in the night. (5.) It is therefore the indispensable duty of all Christ's disciples, to watch, to be awake, and keep awake; "What I say unto you four (Mar 13:37), I say unto all the twelve, or rather to you twelve, I say unto all my disciples and followers; what I say to you of this generation, I say to all that shall believe in men, through your word, in every age, Watch, watch, expect my second coming, prepare for it, that you may be found in peace, without spot, and blameless."

Matthew Henry's Commentary on the Whole Bible (1708–1710) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Mar_13:28

That summer is near.

A sign of the eternal summer approaching

When Dr. Rees preached last in North Wales a friend said to him-one of those who are always reminding people that they are getting old-You are whitening fast, Dr. Rees. The old gentleman did not say anything then; but when he got to the pulpit he referred to it, and said, There is a wee white flower that comes up through the earth at this season of the year-sometimes it comes up through the snow and frost; but we are all glad to see the snowdrop, because it proclaims that the winter is over and that the summer is at hand. A friend reminded me last night that I was whitening fast. But heed not that, brother; it is to me a proof that my winter will soon be over, that I shall have done presently with the cold east winds and the frosts of earth, and that my summer-my eternal summer-is at hand. (Heber Evans.)

The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

13:28-31 This passage contains the lesson (literally parable) of the fig tree (13:28-30) and two sayings (13:30-31). It is closely tied to 13:4-23 by the words all these things (13:4) and the expression when you see (13:29; cp. 13:14).

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

Mar_13:28-32. See on Mat_24:32-36. Comp. Luk_21:29-33.

αὐτῆς] prefixed with emphasis (see the critical remarks) as the subject that serves for the comparison: When of it the branch shall have already become tender, so that thus its development has already so far advanced. The singular ὁ κλάδος, the shoot, belongs to the concrete representation.

τὸ θέρος] is an image of the Messianic period also in the Test. XII. Patr. p. 725.

Mar_13:30. ἡ γενεὰ αὔτη] i.e. the present generation, which γενεά with αὕτη means throughout in the N. T., Mat_11:16; Mat_12:41-42; Mat_12:45; Mat_23:36; Mar_8:12-13; Luk_7:31; Luk_11:29-32; Luk_11:50-51. Comp. Heb_3:10 (Lachmann). Nevertheless, and although Jesus has just (Mar_13:29) presupposed of the disciples in general, that they would live to see the Parousiaan assumption which, moreover, underlies the exhortations of Mar_13:33 ff.although, too, the context does not present the slightest trace of a reference to the Jewish people, there has been an endeavour very recently to uphold this reference; see especially Dorner, p. 75 ff. The word never means people,[157] but may in the signification race, progenies, receive possibly by virtue of the connection the approximate sense of people, which, however, is not the case here. See, moreover, on Mat_24:34.

οὐδὲ ὁ υἱός] Observe the climax: the angels, the Son, the Father. Jesus thus confesses in the most unequivocal words that the day and hour of His Parousia are unknown[158] to Himself, to Him the Son of God (see subsequently ὁ πατήρ),a confession of non-omniscience, which cannot surprise us (comp. Act_1:7) when we consider the human limitation (comp. Luk_2:52) into which the Son of God had entered (comp. on Mar_10:18),a confession, nevertheless, which has elicited from the antipathy to Arianism some strange devices to evade it, as when Athanasius and other Fathers (in Suicer, Thes. II. p. 163 f.) gave it as their judgment that Jesus meant the not-knowing of His human nature only (Gregor. Epist. 8:42: in natura quidem humanitatis novit diem et horam, non ex natura humanitatis novit); while Augustine, de Genesi c. Manich. 22, de Trinit. i. 12, and others were of opinion that He did not know it for His disciples, in so far as He had not been commissioned by God to reveal it unto them. See in later times, especially Wetstein. Similarly Victor Antiochenus also and Theophylact suggest that He desired, as a wise Teacher, to keep it concealed from the disciples, although He was aware of it. Lange, L. J. II. 3, p. 1280, invents the view that He willed not to know it (in contrast with the sinful wish to know on the part of the disciples), for there was no call in the horizon of His life for His reflecting on that day. So, in his view, it was likewise with the angels in heaven. The Lutheran orthodoxy asserts that κατὰ κτῆσιν He was omniscient, but that ΚΑΤᾺ ΧΡῆΣΙΝ He had not everything in promptu.[159] See Calovius. Ambrosius, de fide, v. 8, cut the knot, and declared that οὐδὲ ὁ υἱός was an interpolation of the Arians. Nevertheless it is contained implicite also in the εἰ μὴ ὁ πατὴρ μόνος of Matthew, even although it may not have stood originally in the collection of Logia, but rather is to be attributed to the love of details in Mark, whose dependence not on our Matthew (Baur, Markusev. p. 102, comp. his neut. Theol. p. 102), but on the apostles collection of Logia, may be recognised in this more precise explanation.

[157] The signification people is rightly not given either by Spitzner on Homer, Il. Exc. ix. 2, or in Stephani Thes., ed. Hase, II. p. 559 f.; in the latter there are specified(1) genus, progenies; (2) generatio, genitura; (3) aetas, seculum. Comp. Becker, Anecd. p. 231, 11; also Ellendt, Lex. Soph. I. p. 353.

[158] Matthew has not οὐδὲ ὁ υἱός; according to Köstlin, Holtzmann, and others, he is held to have omitted it on account of its dogmatic difficulty. But this is to carry back the scruples of later prepossession into the apostolic age. Zeller (in Hilgenfelds Zeitschr. 1865, p. 308 ff.) finds in the words, because they attribute to Christ a nature exalted above the angels, an indication that our Mark was not written until the first half of the second century; but his view is founded on erroneous assumptions with respect to the origin of the Epistles to the Colossians, Ephesians, and Philippians, and of the fourth Gospel. Moreover, Paul places Christ above the angels in other passages (Rom_8:38; 2Th_1:7), and even as early as in the history of the temptation they minister to Him. Zeller believes that he gathers the like conclusion in respect of the date of the composition of our Gospel (and of that of Luke also), but under analogous incorrect combinations, from the fact that Mark (and Luke) attaches so studious importance to the narratives of the expulsion of demons.

[159] See, on the other hand, Thomasius, Chr. Pers. u. Werk. II. p. 156 f.

Meyer — Critical and Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament — English translation by Peter Christie, edited by Frederick Crombie (T&T Clark, 1880) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Mar 13:28 . 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. The former is preferred by most commentators.

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

(28) Ye know that summer is near.—Many of the best MSS. give “it is known,” but it may fairly be assumed, from the parallel passages in St. Matthew and St. Luke, that this was the error of an early transcriber of the document which served as a basis for the reports of all the three Evangelists.

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

28. a parable] Rather, Its parable, the lesson which in similitude it was meant to teach.

of the fig tree] They had already been taught one lesson from the withered fig-tree, they are now bidden to learn another from the tree when her branch is yet tender.

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.

Verily I say unto you, that this generation shall not pass,.... Not the generation of men, in general, or Jews in particular, nor of Christians; but that present generation of men, they should not all go off the stage of life,

till all these things be done; which were now predicted by Christ, concerning the destruction of Jerusalem, the signs of it, and what, should immediately follow upon it; See Gill on Mat 24:34.

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

28 Now learn a parable of the fig tree; When her branch is yet tender, and putteth forth leaves, ye know that summer is near:

Ver. 28. Now learn a parable of the fig tree] We should not rest content with a natural use of the creatures, as brutes do, but pick some spiritual matter out of every sensible object. Thus Reverend Master Deering, when the sun shone on his face now lying on his death bed, fell into a sweet meditation of the glory of God and his approaching joy. (Dr Hall’s Art of Divine Meditation.)

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.

See Poole on "Mat 24:32", and following verses to Mat 24:35, where we met with the same things almost word for word; so as more words need not be repeated here in the explication of these verses.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Vers. 28, 29. Now from the fig tree learn her parable; that is, her own particular teaching. Our Lord makes frequent mention and use of the fig tree, as we have seen already. It is probable that a fig tree may have been near to them. When her branch is now become tender, and putteth forth its leaves, ye know that the summer is nigh. The branch (kladov) would be the young shoot, now become tender under the quickening influences of the spring; and this was an evident sign that the summer was at hand. The Asiatic fig tree requires a considerable amount of warmth to enable it to put forth leaves and fruit. Its rich flavour requires a summer heat to mature it. Aristotle says that the fig is the choice food of bees, from which they make their richest honey. Then the fig tree does not flower after the ordinary manner; but produces flower and fruit at once from the tree, and rapidly matures the fruit. The lesson, therefore, from the fig tree is this the speed with which she ripens her fruit when she feels the warmth of summer. In like manner, as soon as the disciples perceived the signs of Christ"s coming, they were to learn that he was close at hand, as certainly as the ripening fruit of the fig tree showed that summer was at hand.

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

Matt. xxiv, 32; Luke xxi, 28.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.

The parable of the fig-tree:

v. 28. Now learn a parable of the fig-tree; When her branch is yet tender, and putteth forth leaves, ye know that summer is near;

v. 29. so ye in like manner, when ye shall see these things come to pass, know that it is nigh, even at the doors.

v. 30. Verily I say unto you that this generation shall not pass till all these things be done.

v. 31. Heaven and earth shall pass away; but My words shall not pass away.

In the matter of the proper state of preparedness against the coming of the Lord the fig-tree is used to teach a lesson. When its branch becomes soft and full of sap, and when its leaves come forth, then men have a sure indication that the entire tree has been influenced by the growing warmth; they know that summer-time is near. And the same degree of watching and drawing conclusions is necessary where the disciples of Christ of all times are concerned. The signs, general and special, which the Lord gave the apostles of the near approach of Jerusalem’s doom, ought always to be in their memory, and they ought to heed their first warning. Even so the signs, general and particular, that herald the coming of the last day, are clearly given in the Word of God by Christ Himself. There will be no excuse for not knowing about, the coming of the Judgment and preparing for its advent. And the Lord adds another sign: Verily I say to you that this generation will not pass away till all this come to pass. He meant to say, either that some of the people living at the time of this prophecy would be witnesses of the great judgment which would come upon Jerusalem; or, what is more likely, He referred to the race of the Jews. This people, the nation that had rejected Him, should not cease to be a distinct race of people, separate from all the rest, until Christ’s coming in glory would take place! They should remain as a standing testimony and proof of the truthfulness of Christ’s words. For, as He says with great emphasis, heaven and earth shall pass away, their physical contents and elements will be destroyed in the fire of that last day, but His words shall not pass away. Amidst the ruin of worlds and the destruction of the heavens His eternal Word will stand unchanged as He. Himself, for it belongs to His essence, it is eternal.

Paul E. Kretzmann, Popular Commentary of the Bible (1921–1924) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Here our blessed Saviour declares two things with reference to his coming.

1. The certainty of the thing itself.

2. The uncertainty of the time. The certainty of his coming he sets forth by tihs similitude of the fig-tree, whose beginning to bud declares the summer at hand.

Thus our Saviour tells them, that when they should see the forementioned signs, they might conclude the destruction of their city and temple to be nigh at hand; and accordingly, some then living did see these predictions fulfilled.

Observe, 2. The uncertainty as to the precise time when this judgment should come; no angels in heaven, nor creature upon earth, could determine the time; only the glorious persons in the godhead, the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost.

Learn hence, That all things are not revealed to the angels themselves; but such things only as it concerns them to know, and the time of the day of judgment is kept by God as a secret to himself; we are not to know the hour, to the intent we may be upon our watch every hour; Christ himself did not know it as a man, but as God only. The knowledge and revelation of this, was no part of Christ’s prophetic office! it being one of those times and seasons which the Father has put in his own power, Act 1:7. Consider Christ as God, or the second person in the Trinity, and to affirm that there is anything which he does not know, is blasphemy; but consider him as the Messias, and to say there were some things which Christ, as such, did not know, is not blasphemy. For though Christ as God was equal with the Father, yet as Messias, or God-man, he was inferior to the Father, his servant, or messenger, and could do nothing of himself, and did not know all things.

William Burkitt's Expository Notes on the New Testament (1700–1703) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Connecting Statement:

Jesus gives two short parables here to remind people to be aware when the things that he has been explaining happen. (See: Parables)

the branch becomes tender and puts out its leaves

The phrase "the branch" refers to the branches of the fig tree. AT: "its branches become tender and put out their leaves"

tender

"green and soft"

puts out its leaves

Here the fig tree is spoken of as if it were alive and able to willingly cause its leaves to grow. AT: "its leaves begin to sprout" (See: Personification)

summer

the warm part of the year or the growing season

these things

This refers to the days of tribulation. AT: "these things I have just described" (See: Assumed Knowledge and Implicit Information)

he is near

"the Son of Man is near"

close to the gates

This idiom means that he is very near and has almost arrived, referring to a traveler being close to arriving at the city gates. AT: "and is almost here" (See: Idiom)

translationWords

fig

gate

unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.

28, 29. THE LESSON OF THE FIG-TREE

Mat 24:22-23. Luk 21:29-31

28. γινώσκετε ([2972][2973][2974][2975][2976][2977][2978]) rather than γινώσκεται ([2979][2980]3[2981][2982][2983]).

[2972] Codex Sinaiticus. 4th cent. Discovered by Tischendorf in 1859 at the Monastery of St Katharine on Mount Sinai. Now at St Petersburg. The whole Gospel, ending at Mar 16:8. Photographic facsimile, 1911.

[2973] Codex Vaticanus. 4th cent., but perhaps a little later than א. In the Vatican Library almost since its foundation by Pope Nicolas V., and one of its greatest treasures. The whole Gospel, ending at Mar 16:8. Photographic facsimile, 1889.

[2974] An asterisk denotes that the word is not found elsewhere in N.T., and such words are included in the index, even if there is no note on them in the commentary.

[2975] Codex Ephraemi. 5th cent. A palimpsest: the original writing has been partially rubbed out, and the works of Ephraem the Syrian have been written over it; but a great deal of the original writing has been recovered; of Mark we have Mar 1:17 to Mar 6:31, Mar 8:5 to Mar 12:29, Mar 13:19 to Mar 16:20. In the National Library at Paris.

[2976] Codex Monacensis. 10th cent. Contains Mar 6:47 to Mar 16:20. Many verses in 14, 15, 16 are defective.

[2977] Codex Oxoniensis. 9th cent. Contains Mark, except Mar 3:35 to Mar 6:20.

[2978] Codex Petropolitanus. 9th cent. Gospels almost complete. Mar 16:18-20 is in a later hand.

[2979] Codex Alexandrinus. 5th cent. Brought by Cyril Lucar, Patriarch of Constantinople, from Alexandria, and afterwards presented by him to King Charles I. in 1628. In the British Museum. The whole Gospel. Photographic facsimile, 1879.

[2980] Codex Vaticanus. 4th cent., but perhaps a little later than א. In the Vatican Library almost since its foundation by Pope Nicolas V., and one of its greatest treasures. The whole Gospel, ending at Mar 16:8. Photographic facsimile, 1889.

[2981] Codex Bezae. 6th cent. Has a Latin translation (d) side by side with the Greek text, and the two do not quite always agree. Presented by Beza to the University Library of Cambridge in 1581. Remarkable for its frequent divergences from other texts. Contains Mark, except Mar 16:15-20, which has been added by a later hand. Photographic facsimile, 1899.

[2982] Codex Regius. 8th cent. An important witness. At Paris. Contains Mar 1:1 to Mar 10:15; Mar 10:30 to Mar 15:1; Mar 15:20 to Mar 16:20, but the shorter ending is inserted between Mar 16:8 and Mar 16:9, showing that the scribe preferred it to the longer one.

[2983] Codex Sangallensis. 9th or 10th cent. Contains the Gospels nearly complete, with an interlinear Latin translation. The text of Mark is specially good, agreeing often with CL. At St Gall.

28. Ἀπὸ δὲ τῆς συκῆς. Now from the fig-tree; generic, any fig-tree. Often in parables the art. is thus used; ὁ σπείρων (Mar 4:3), ὁ ποιμὴν ὁ καλός (Joh 10:11), ὁ ἀγαθὸς ἄνθρωπος (Mat 12:35). Fig-trees and olive-trees are specially common in Palestine, but the latter, as being evergreen, would not have served for this lesson. Lk., writing for those to whom the fig-tree might not be familiar, adds καὶ πάντα τὰ δένδρα.

τὴν παραβολήν. As with τοὺς ἀγγέλους (Mar 13:27), we may regard the art. as possessive, “her parable” (R.V.). Here and in Mt., A.V. ignores the art., “a parable.” See on Mar 4:3.

ὅταν ἤδη. “Whenever this has already taken place.”

καὶ ἐκφύῃ τὰ φύλλα. And putteth forth its leaves (R.V.). This avoids change of nominative. Lk. has προβάλλω without accusative. Both φύω and ἐκφύω are used transitively in LXX. But some MSS. and versions favour ἐκφυῇ, “and the leaves spring forth,” et nata fuerint folia (Vulg.).

γινώσκετε. See crit. note. Cognoscitis (Vulg.); “ye recognize,” “your experience tells you.” The remark is true of everyone, and there is no emphatic ὑμεῖς.

τὸ θέρος. Only in this passage in N.T. It certainly means “the summer” and not “the harvest,” which would be ὁ θερισμός (Mar 4:29). Cf. Son 2:11-13.

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.

28.] αὐτῆς, emphatic, when her branch … conveying an a fortiori in the application. If in so humble an example as the fig-tree you discern the nearness of a season, much rather should you in these sure and awful signs discern the approach of the end.

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

28. τὴν παραβολὴν—the parable, the illustration or analogy to be drawn from the fig tree. ὅταν … ὁ κλάδος … ἀπαλὸς γένηται—whenever its branch has become tender. When the young branches, or twigs, that produce the leaves are softened by the sap flowing through them. These things are a sign of approaching summer, and signs are just as reliable in the world of events as in the physical world. But they are signs of the same kind. Causes are to be found in effects, and effects in causes in both spheres.

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

Parable. See on Mt 24:32. Branch. See on Mr 11:8.

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