Mark 13:30

13:30 This generation was to witness the fulfillment of these events. That generation did witness the destruction of Jerusalem. Those, however, who hold that all these things refers to the coming of the Son of Man have to interpret this generation as meaning something other than “people alive at this time.” It could refer to the continued existence of the Jewish people, the whole human race, the Christian community, or the last generation of the end time.

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

Verse 30. This generation] Ἡ γενεα αὑτη, This very race of men. It is certain that this word has two meanings in the Scriptures; that given in the text, and that above. Generation signifies a period of a certain number of years, sometimes more, sometimes less. In De 1:35; De 2:14, Moses uses the word to point out a term of thirty-eight years, which was precisely the number in the present case; for Jerusalem was destroyed about thirty-eight years after our Lord delivered this prediction. But as there are other events in this chapter, which certainly look beyond the destruction of Jerusalem, and which were to take place before the Jews should cease to be a distinct people, I should therefore prefer the translation given above. See Clarke on Mt 24:34.

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

30. this generation shall not pass] The word thus rendered denotes (1) birth, age, as in the phrases “younger,” “older in age;” (2) descent; (3) a generation of men living at the same time; (4) in a wider sense, a race. He, Who surveys all things as an Eternal Present, “turns the thoughts of His disciples to two horizons, one near and one far off:”—

(i) In reference to the destruction of Jerusalem, He declares that the generation of the literal Israel then living would not pass away before the judgments here predicted would fall upon Jerusalem, just as God had made their forefathers wander in the wilderness “until all the generation was consumed” that had come out of Egypt “and done evil in the sight of the Lord” (Num_32:13);

(ii) In reference to His own Second Coming, and the world at large, He affirms that the race of men, and especially the generation of them that sought the Lord (Psa_24:6), the faithful seed of Abraham, should not pass away until all these things should be fulfilled.

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.

But of that day, and of that hour,.... Of Jerusalem's destruction; for of nothing else had Christ been speaking; and, it is plain, the words are anaphorical, and relate to what goes before:

knoweth no man; nay, they that lived to see it, and have spoken of it, are not agreed about the particular day, when it was; much less did they know it beforehand, or could speak of it, and make it known to others:

no, not the angels which are in heaven; who are acquainted with many of the divine secrets, and have been employed in the imparting them to others, and in the executing divine purposes:

neither the Son; Christ, as the son of man; though he did know it as the Son of God, who knows all things, and so this; but as the son of man, and from his human nature he had no knowledge of any thing future: what knowledge he had of future things in his humanity, he had from his deity; nor, as man, had he any commission to make known, nor did he make known the day of God's vengeance on the Jews:

but the Father; who has the times and seasons in his own power, for the executing of any particular judgment on a nation, or the general one; See Gill on Mat 24:36.

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

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

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

Ver. 30. Till all these things be done] Begun they were in the destruction of Jerusalem, carried on by the enemies’ rage against the Church, and to be ended with the last age of the Church, which begins at the coming of Christ in the flesh.

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.

This generation shall not pass away, until all these things be accomplished. This is one of those prophecies which admit of a growing fulfillment. If the word "generation" (ganea) be understood (as it may undoubtedly be understood) to mean the sum total of those living at any time on the earth, the prediction would hold true as far as the destruction of Jerusalem was concerned. The destruction of Jerusalem took place within the limits of the generation living in our Lord"s time; and there might be some of those whom he was then addressing who would live to see the event. His prediction amounted, in fact, to this, that the destruction of Jerusalem would take place within forty years of the time when he was speaking. But it may have a wider meaning. It may mean the Jewish people. Their city would be destroyed their power overthrown. They would be "peeled and scattered." But they would still remain a distinct and separate nation to the end of the world. And there are other prophecies which show that with their national conversion to Christianity will be associated all that is most glorious in the future Church of God.

Vers. 30, 31. The fulfilments of the kingdom of God an evidence of the truth of Christianity.

I THE WHOLE SOCIAL, POLITICAL, AND NATURAL CONSTITUTION OF THINGS WAS INFLUENCED BY, AND MADE SUBSERVIENT TO, ITS ACCOMPLISHMENT. Compare the history of the world from the death of Christ to A.D. 70. A period of destruction, calamity, and revolution. Judaism deposed from its spiritual leadership, robbed of its prestige, discredited, stunted, and stultified by the very circumstance which awakened and intensified the spirit of Christianity, and (in the Roman empire) led to its world-wide diffusion. The suffering, uncertainty, and newly discovered solidarity of the race tended to prepare mankind for a more spiritual and universal religion. Through the Spirit of Christ the Jewish Christians conquered their conquerors and overcame the world. Witness the testimony of Tertullian as to the number of Christians in the Roman empire in his time.

II THIS WAS FORETOLD BY JESUS CHRIST. It was a marvellous insight and foresight which could look through such a series of evils and destructions to the ultimate success of his kingdom. And it had not a little to do with the bringing about of the effect anticipated. The period can only be adequately explained from the standpoint of universal history or the philosophy of history, as one of spiritual evolution conditioned and determined by the peculiar doctrines Of Christianity.

III THE VERIFICATION WAS COMPRISED WITHIN THE LIMITS OF INDIVIDUAL EXPERIENCE. "This generation shall not pass away, until all these things be accomplished. " If the destruction of Jerusalem be the terminal point of the various series of events foretold in this chapter, then "this generation "must be literally understood as referring to the persons alive at the time Christ spoke. And, allowing for poetic hyperbole (as in the figurative expressions, "heaven and earth," "sun," "moon," and "stars, "earthquakes," etc.) and the general style of prophetic imagery, the careful student must believe that in the destruction of Jerusalem the great, imminent coming of the Son of man was actually effected, as history proves that circumstances that might fittingly be described by the words of Christ took place and in the order he announced. M.

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

All these things - Relating to the temple and the city.

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

30. This generation shall not pass. See notes on Matt. 24:34.

B. W. Johnson's The People's New Testament with Notes (1889–1891) — public domain. Electronic text from the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (CCEL) ThML edition.

Truly I say to you

This indicates that the statement that follows is especially important. See how you translated this in Mark 3:28.

will not pass away

This is a polite way to talk about someone dying. AT: "will not die" or "will not end" (See: Euphemism)

until all of these things

The phrase "these things" refers to the days of tribulation.

Heaven and earth

The two extremes are given to refer to all of the sky, including the sun, moon, stars, and planets, and all of the earth. AT: "The sky, the earth, and everything in them" (See: Merism)

will pass away

"will cease to exist." Here this phrase refers to the world ending.

my words will never pass away

Jesus speaks of words not losing their power as if they were something that will never physically die. AT: "my words will never lose their power" (See: Metaphor)

that day or that hour

This refers to the time that the Son of Man will return. AT: "that day or that hour that the Son of Man will return" or "the day or the hour that I will return" (See: Assumed Knowledge and Implicit Information)

no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but the Father

These words specify some of those who do not know when the Son of Man will return, different from the Father, who does know. AT: "no one knows—neither the angels in heaven nor the Son know—but the Father" or "neither the angels in heaven nor the Son know; no one knows but the Father" (See: Ellipsis)

the angels in heaven

Here "heaven" refers to the place where God lives.

but the Father

It is best to translate "Father" with the same word that your language naturally uses to refer to a human father. Also, this is an ellipsis, stating that the Father knows when the Son will return. AT: "but only the Father knows" (See: Ellipsis)

translationWords

generation

heaven

word

hour, hours

angel

Son of Man

Son of God

God the Father

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

[30. Ἡ γενεὰ, generation) These words were spoken in the 30th year of the Dion. Era, and it was in A.D. 70 that they came to pass. Comp. on Mat 24:34.]

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

30–32. CERTAINTY OF THE EVENT; UNCERTAINTY OF THE TIME

Mat 24:34-36. Luk 21:32-33

30. ἀμὴν λέγω ὑμῖν. This important Saying (30, 31), with its solemn introduction, has nearly the same wording in all three.

οὐ μὴ παρέλθῃ. Shall assuredly not pass away; cf. Mar 13:2; Mar 13:19, Mar 9:1; Mar 9:41, Mar 10:15.

ἡ γενεὰ αὕτη. Here, as elsewhere in the Gospels (see on Mar 8:12) this expression can hardly mean anything else than Christ’s own contemporaries; see esp. Mat 23:36. To make it mean the Jewish race, or the race of believers, or the whole race of mankind, is not satisfactory. But, if any of these be adopted, the sentence is only an expansive way of saying that some persons in some period will see the fulfilment of the predictions. If Christ’s own generation is meant, then we may suppose that either (1) tradition has confused what was said of the destruction of Jerusalem with what was said of the End; or (2) the destruction, as removing Judaism, the great obstacle of the Gospel, was the beginning of the End; or (3) the destruction of Jerusalem is a symbol of the End and is treated as identical with it.

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.

30. ἡ γενεὰ αὕτη] See on Matt. ver. 34. Meyer, who is strongly for the literal and exact γενεά, states in a note that γενεά never absolutely means ‘nation,’ but that it may by the context acquire this sense accidentally from its meaning as race, ‘progenies.’ This is exactly what is here wanted. Never were a nation so completely one γενεά, in all accuracy of meaning, as the Jewish people.

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

30. ἡ γενεὰ αὕτη—this generation. The word is always used by Jesus to denote the men living at that time. This use is sufficient against the supposition that it means the Jewish race, or the human race, devices introduced to make it possible to interpret the prophecy as applying to the end of the world. But what meaning would either have as marks of time for the general winding up of human affairs? No, the statement means that these events are to take place during the lifetime of Jesus’ contemporaries, and the events are, therefore, what the whole prophecy surely indicates, those connected with the fall of the Jewish state and the destruction of Jerusalem. πάντα ταῦτα—Here is the answer to those who suppose that the prophecy is to be divided into two parts, one predicting the Jewish catastrophe, and the other the world-catastrophe. All these things, and not the minor part of them, are to take place within that generation.

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