Matthew 24:33

24:33 all these things: This expression, used first in 23:36 (“this judgment”), refers to the events associated with the destruction of the Temple (see 24:2, 8). • his return (literally he or it): It could mean Jesus’ return (see Jas 5:9; Rev 3:20), the destruction of the Temple, or the end of history (see Luke 21:31).

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

Mat 24:33. Ταῦτα πάντα, these things all) The order of words ought not to be always overlooked: the emphasis, and, in speaking, the accent, frequently falls upon the first of two words. The present is the first passage which has required this to be demonstrated; we will therefore do so [by the following examples]:—(1.) Luk 11:36, εἰ οὖν τὸ σῶμά σου ὉΛΟΝ φωτεινὸν, μὴ ἔχον τὶ ΜΕΡΟΣ σκοτεινὸν, ἔσται ΦΩΤΕΙΝΟΝ ὅλον, ὡς ὅταν ὁ λύχνος τῇ ἀστραπῇ ΦΩΤΙΖΗ σέ, if then thy body [be] ALL light, not having any PART dark, it shall be LIGHT all over, as when the candle by its shining LIGHTETH thee. In this passage ὁλον (all, the whole, Lat. totum, Fr. tout) is emphatic before φωτεινὸν (light, Lat. lucidum), in opposition to μέρος (part): and φωτεινὸν is emphatic before ὅλον, its emphasis being declared by the verb φωτὶζῃ (lighteth, Lat. illuminet. (2.) Joh 14:2-3, πορεύομαι ἑτοιμάσαι ΤΟΠΟΝ ὑμῖν. καῖ ἐὰν πορευθῶ καὶ ἑτοιμάσω ὙΜΙΝ τόπον, κ.τ.λ. I go to prepare A PLACE for you, and if I go and prepare FOR YOU a place, etc. Here the apparent contradiction is removed by the order of the words, “A PLACE is not to be prepared for you, since it is already prepared,”[1058] is the negative proposition. “FOR YOU is to be prepared a place, i.e. the entrance into that place is to be rendered sure,” is the affirmative proposition. Both are equally true. (3.) Eph 2:1; Eph 2:5, ὙΜΑΣ ὄντας νεκροὺς—ὈΝΤΑΣ ἡμᾶς νεκροὺς, YOU being dead—BEING us dead [Fr. VOUS etant morts, ETANT nous morts]. Here ὑμᾶς (you) is put antithetically to ἡμᾶς (us), in Eph 1:19: and then ὄντας (being), denotes the past state of death, opposed to vivification. (4.) Jas 2:18, δεῖξόν μοι τὴν ΠΙΣΤΙΝ σου ἐκ (others read χωρὶς[1059]) τῶν ἔργων σου, κἀγὼ δείξω σοι ἐκ τῶν ἘΡΓΩΝ μου τὴν πίστιν μου, Show me thy FAITH by (others read without) thy WORKS, and I will show thee by my WORKS my faith. Here the first πίστιν (faith) refers to the words σὺ πίστιν ἔχεις (thou hast faith), and the second, ἔργων (works), to the words κἀγὼ ἔργα ἔχω (and I have works). These instances, extracted from four different writers of the New Testament, will suffice for the present. Now let us return to St Matthew. As the best MSS. have ΤΑΥΤΑ πάντα, THESE things all, in Mat 24:33, and ΠΑΝΤΑ ταυτα, ALL these things, in Mat 24:34 (although others confound the two modes of expression);[1060] the first ταῦτα placed before πάντα is emphatic, so as to express things about to happen next (for which reason in the parallel passage, Mar 13:29; the πάντα is omitted); and this emphasis being granted, the second πάντα expresses all, including these, things which were to come to pass next, in that generation. The pronoun ταῦτα (these) does not refer to the whole preceding discourse (for the previous signs, and the events which were to follow them indicated by the signs, are distinct from each other), but to the beginnings, which are compared with the fig-tree, in contradistinction to the summer itself, i.e. the approaching kingdom of God. Those things having been fulfilled which are described from Mat 24:4 to Mat 24:28, room was made for the kingdom of God, which would grow stronger and stronger, in one continuous progress. The beginnings, after all hindrances had been removed, were equivalent to the whole.[1061] Furthermore, in St Matthew and St Mark, ταῦτα (these) is in each case contrasted with ἐκείνης (that) in Mat 24:36, with the following sense: THESE all which concern Jerusalem shall come to pass before this generation passes away; but of THAT (remoter and last) day (of judgment) knoweth no one, etc. This observation facilitates the interpretation of the whole of this discourse. St Luke also contrasts with each other ταῦτα, these, and ἐκείνη, that. See Gnomon on Luk 21:36.—γινώσκετε, ye know, Indicative): Cf. Mat 24:32, or know ye, Imperative.—ἐγγὺς, near) sc. the thing itself is.—ἐπὶ θύραις, at the doors) i.e. extremely near.

[1058] See ch. Mat 25:34, “Inherit the kingdom prepared (ἡτοιμασμένην) for you from the foundation of the world.”—ED.

[1059] Such is the reading of E. M.—(I. B.)

[1060] Dabc Vulg. Syr. Memph. with Bengel, read ταῦτα πάντα in Mat 24:33. But B and Rec. Text, τάντα ταῦτα, and so Lachm. Bc and Amiat. MS. of Vulg. read πάντα ταῦτα, with Lachm., Tisch., Beng., and Rec. Text, in Mat 24:34 But DLa read ταῦτα πάντα.—ED.

[1061] Sc. Were tantamount to a pledge that the whole would be accomplished.—ED.

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

Mat 24:33 . οὕτως κ . ὑ , so do ye also when ye see all these things, recognise that it is nigh, at the doors. What are “these things”? what “it”? The former are the things mentioned in Mat 24:15-21 ( ὅταν οὖν ἴδητε , Mat 24:15 ), the latter is the παρουσία .

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

(33) So likewise ye.—The pronoun is emphatic. Ye whom I have chosen, who are therefore among the elect that shall be thus gathered. The words are spoken to the four Apostles as the representatives of the whole body of believers who should be living—first, at the destruction of Jerusalem, and afterwards at the end of the world. Of the four, St. John alone, so far as we know, survived the destruction of Jerusalem.

That it is near.—Better, that He is near, in accordance with Jas_5:9.

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

33. know that it is near] it=the harvest time of God—the end of this æon or period at the fall 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.

Verily I say unto you, this generation shall not pass,.... Not the generation of men in general; as if the sense was, that mankind should not cease, until the accomplishment of these things; nor the generation, or people of the Jews, who should continue to be a people, until all were fulfilled; nor the generation of Christians; as if the meaning was, that there should be always a set of Christians, or believers in Christ in the world, until all these events came to pass; but it respects that present age, or generation of men then living in it; and the sense is, that all the men of that age should not die, but some should live

till all these things were fulfilled; see Mat 16:28 as many did, and as there is reason to believe they might, and must, since all these things had their accomplishment, in and about forty years after this: and certain it is, that John, one of the disciples of Christ, outlived the time by many years; and, as Dr. Lightfoot observes, many of the Jewish doctors now living, when Christ spoke these words, lived until the city was destroyed; as Rabban Simeon, who perished with it, R. Jochanan ben Zaccai, who outlived it, R. Zadoch, R. Ishmael, and others: this is a full and clear proof, that not anything that is said before, relates to the second coming of Christ, the day of judgment, and end of the world; but that all belong to the coming of the son of man, in the destruction of Jerusalem, and to the end of the Jewish state.

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

33 So likewise ye, when ye shall see all these things, know that it is near, even at the doors.

Ver. 33. Know that it is near, &c.] Some space then there shall be, it seems, between the foregoing signs and the coming of Christ. But though space be granted, yet grace is uncertain. Make sure work therefore betimes, lest ye come late, and be left without doors for your lingering.

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.

So likewise ye ... - In the same manner, when you see what I have predicted the “signs” around Jerusalem - then know that its destruction is at hand,

Is near - Luke says Luk 21:28, “your redemption draweth nigh, and Luk 21:31 the kingdom of God is nigh at hand.” Your deliverance from the dangers that threaten the city approaches, and the kingdom of God will be set up in the earth; or your everlasting redemption from sin and death will come at the day of judgment, and his eternal kingdom will be established in the heavens.

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

33. These things — The these things specified in the apostle’s question, Mat_24:3. It is near — There is no supplied antecedent to this it. The meaning, however, is plain. When ye see the train of calamitous events passing successively before your eyes, know that the ruin which is included in the train is near. At the doors — Like the Roman at the portal of the temple.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

So likewise ye (outw kai umeiv , so also ye, emphatic). As surely as buds and leaves prove the coming of summer, so ye, who have been taught, may gather from the fulfilment of the signs mentioned (vers. 15-22, etc.) the approach of the end. Know that it is near (oti egguv estin). The subject is not expressed, but it must be the Son of man (ver. 30), so that the rendering ought to be, he is near. Many, however, take the understood nominative to be the judgment, or the kingdom of God, or the occurrences last spoken of. At the doors; as Jam_5:9, on the very threshold, and therefore about to enter.

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

33. ὅτι ἐγγύς ἐστιν. The harvest-time of God—the end of this œon or period at the fall 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.

(M) 33. So also ye, when ye have seen all these things, perceive that it is near at the doors.] Mk. has “these things happening” for “all these things”.—ἐγγύς—ἐπὶ θύραις] is one of the pleonasms so characteristic of Mk. The subject of ἐστίν in Mk. seems to be the coming of the Son of Man. In Mt. the insertion of πάντα seems to suggest a wider reference to all that has gone before, including the appearance of the Son of Man, which is regarded as closely connected with the preceding events; cf. εὐθέως (v. 29).

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