Mark 13:3-8

Signs of the End of the Age

13:3 So while he was sitting on the Mount of Olives opposite the temple, Peter, James, John, and Andrew asked him privately, 13:4 “Tell us, when will these things happen? And what will be the sign that all these things are about to take place?” 13:5 Jesus began to say to them, “Watch out that no one misleads you. 13:6 Many will come in my name, saying, ‘I am he,’ and they will mislead many. 13:7 When you hear of wars and rumors of wars, do not be alarmed. These things must happen, but the end is still to come. 13:8 For nation will rise up in arms against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be earthquakes in various places, and there will be famines. These are but the beginning of birth pains.


tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “so” to indicate the implied result of previous action(s) in the narrative.

tn Grk “and James and John,” but καί (kai) has not been translated since English normally uses a coordinating conjunction only between the last two elements in a series of three or more.

sn Both references to these things are plural, so more than the temple’s destruction is in view. The question may presuppose that such a catastrophe signals the end.

tn Or “Be on guard.”

tn That is, “I am the Messiah.”

tn Grk “it is not yet the end.”

tn For the translation “rise up in arms” see L&N 55.2.

sn See Isa 5:13-14; 13:6-16; Hag 2:6-7; Zech 14:4.