Luke 19:42-44

19:42 saying, “If you had only known on this day, ¹  even you, the things that make for peace! ²  But now they are hidden ³  from your eyes. 19:43 For the days will come upon you when your enemies will build ⁴  an embankment ⁵  against you and surround you and close in on you from every side. 19:44 They will demolish you ⁶  – you and your children within your walls ⁷  – and they will not leave within you one stone ⁸  on top of another, ⁹  because you did not recognize the time of your visitation from God.” ¹⁰ 

Luke 21:22-24

21:22 because these are days of vengeance, ¹¹  to fulfill ¹²  all that is written. 21:23 Woe to those who are pregnant and to those who are nursing their babies in those days! For there will be great distress ¹³  on the earth and wrath against this people. 21:24 They ¹⁴  will fall by the edge ¹⁵  of the sword and be led away as captives ¹⁶  among all nations. Jerusalem ¹⁷  will be trampled down by the Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled. ¹⁸ 

Luke 23:28-30

23:28 But Jesus turned to them and said, “Daughters of Jerusalem, ¹⁹  do not weep for me, but weep for yourselves ²⁰  and for your children. 23:29 For this is certain: ²¹  The days are coming when they will say, ‘Blessed are the barren, the wombs that never bore children, and the breasts that never nursed!’ ²²  23:30 Then they will begin to say to the mountains, ²³  ‘Fall on us!’ and to the hills, ‘Cover us!’ ²⁴ 

Matthew 12:45

12:45 Then it goes and brings with it seven other spirits more evil than itself, and they go in and live there, so ²⁵  the last state of that person is worse than the first. It will be that way for this evil generation as well!”

Matthew 22:7

22:7 The ²⁶  king was furious! He sent his soldiers, and they put those murderers to death ²⁷  and set their city ²⁸  on fire.

Matthew 23:35-38

23:35 so that on you will come all the righteous blood shed on earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah son of Barachiah, ²⁹  whom you murdered between the temple and the altar. 23:36 I tell you the truth, ³⁰  this generation will be held responsible for all these things! ³¹ 

Judgment on Israel

23:37 “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, ³²  you who kill the prophets and stone those who are sent to you! ³³  How often I have longed ³⁴  to gather your children together as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but ³⁵  you would have none of it! ³⁶  23:38 Look, your house is left to you desolate!

Matthew 24:21-29

24:21 For then there will be great suffering ³⁷  unlike anything that has happened ³⁸  from the beginning of the world until now, or ever will happen. 24:22 And if those days had not been cut short, no one would be saved. But for the sake of the elect those days will be cut short. 24:23 Then if anyone says to you, ‘Look, here is the Christ!’ ³⁹  or ‘There he is!’ do not believe him. 24:24 For false messiahs ⁴⁰  and false prophets will appear and perform great signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect. 24:25 Remember, ⁴¹  I have told you ahead of time. 24:26 So then, if someone ⁴²  says to you, ‘Look, he is in the wilderness,’ ⁴³  do not go out, or ‘Look, he is in the inner rooms,’ do not believe him. 24:27 For just like the lightning ⁴⁴  comes from the east and flashes to the west, so the coming of the Son of Man will be. 24:28 Wherever the corpse is, there the vultures ⁴⁵  will gather. ⁴⁶ 

The Arrival of the Son of Man

24:29 “Immediately ⁴⁷  after the suffering ⁴⁸  of those days, the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light; the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of heaven will be shaken. ⁴⁹ 

[19:42]  ¹ sn On this day. They had missed the time of Messiah’s coming; see v. 44.

[19:42]  ² tn Grk “the things toward peace.” This expression seems to mean “the things that would ‘lead to,’ ‘bring about,’ or ‘make for’ peace.”

[19:42]  ³ sn But now they are hidden from your eyes. This becomes an oracle of doom in the classic OT sense; see Luke 13:31-35; 11:49-51; Jer 9:2; 13:7; 14:7. They are now blind and under judgment (Jer 15:5; Ps 122:6).

[19:43]  ⁴ sn Jesus now predicted the events that would be fulfilled in the fall of Jerusalem in a.d. 70. The details of the siege have led some to see Luke writing this after Jerusalem’s fall, but the language of the verse is like God’s exilic judgment for covenant unfaithfulness (Hab 2:8; Jer 6:6, 14; 8:13-22; 9:1; Ezek 4:2; 26:8; Isa 29:1-4). Specific details are lacking and the procedures described (build an embankment against you) were standard Roman military tactics.

[19:43]  ⁵ sn An embankment refers to either wooden barricades or earthworks, or a combination of the two.

[19:44]  ⁶ tn Grk “They will raze you to the ground.”

[19:44]  ⁷ tn Grk “your children within you.” The phrase “[your] walls” has been supplied in the translation to clarify that the city of Jerusalem, metaphorically pictured as an individual, is spoken of here.

[19:44]  ⁸ sn (Not) one stone on top of another is an idiom for total destruction.

[19:44]  ⁹ tn Grk “leave stone on stone.”

[19:44]  ¹⁰ tn Grk “the time of your visitation.” To clarify what this refers to, the words “from God” are supplied at the end of the verse, although they do not occur in the Greek text.

[21:22]  ¹¹ tn Or “of punishment.” This is a time of judgment.

[21:22]  ¹² tn The passive construction with the infinitive πλησθῆναι (plhsqhnai) has been translated as an active construction for simplicity, in keeping with contemporary English style.

[21:23]  ¹³ sn Great distress means that this is a period of great judgment.

[21:24]  ¹⁴ tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

[21:24]  ¹⁵ tn Grk “by the mouth of the sword” (an idiom for the edge of a sword).

[21:24]  ¹⁶ sn Here is the predicted judgment against the nation until the time of Gentile rule has passed: Its people will be led away as captives.

[21:24]  ¹⁷ tn Grk “And Jerusalem.” Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

[21:24]  ¹⁸ sn Until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled implies a time when Israel again has a central role in God’s plan.

[23:28]  ¹⁹ sn The title Daughters of Jerusalem portrays these women mourning as representatives of the nation.

[23:28]  ²⁰ sn Do not weep for me, but weep for yourselves. Judgment now comes on the nation (see Luke 19:41-44) for this judgment of Jesus. Ironically, they mourn the wrong person – they should be mourning for themselves.

[23:29]  ²¹ tn Grk “For behold.”

[23:29]  ²² tn Grk “Blessed are the barren, and the wombs that have not borne, and the breasts that have not nursed!”

[23:30]  ²³ sn The figure of crying out to the mountains ‘Fall on us!’ (appealing to creation itself to hide them from God’s wrath), means that a time will come when people will feel they are better off dead (Hos 10:8).

[23:30]  ²⁴ sn An allusion to Hos 10:8 (cf. Rev 6:16).

[12:45]  ²⁵ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “so” to indicate the concluding point of the story.

[22:7]  ²⁶ tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated.

[22:7]  ²⁷ tn Grk “he sent his soldiers, destroyed those murderers.” The verb ἀπώλεσεν (apwlesen) is causative, indicating that the king was the one behind the execution of the murderers. In English the causative idea is not expressed naturally here; either a purpose clause (“he sent his soldiers to put those murderers to death”) or a relative clause (“he sent his soldier who put those murderers to death”) is preferred.

[22:7]  ²⁸ tn The Greek text reads here πόλις (polis), which could be translated “town” or “city.” The prophetic reference is to the city of Jerusalem, so “city” is more appropriate here.

[23:35]  ²⁹ sn Spelling of this name (Βαραχίου, Baraciou) varies among the English versions: “Barachiah” (RSV, NRSV); “Berechiah” (NASB); “Berachiah” (NIV).

[23:36]  ³⁰ tn Grk “Truly (ἀμήν, amhn), I say to you.”

[23:36]  ³¹ tn Grk “all these things will come on this generation.”

[23:37]  ³² sn The double use of the city’s name betrays intense emotion.

[23:37]  ³³ tn Although the opening address (“Jerusalem, Jerusalem”) is direct (second person), the remainder of this sentence in the Greek text is third person (“who kills the prophets and stones those sent to her”). The following sentences then revert to second person (“your… you”), so to keep all this consistent in English, the third person pronouns in the present verse were translated as second person (“you who kill… sent to you”).

[23:37]  ³⁴ sn How often I have longed to gather your children. Jesus, like a lamenting prophet, speaks for God here, who longed to care tenderly for Israel and protect her.

[23:37]  ³⁵ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “but” to indicate the contrast present in this context.

[23:37]  ³⁶ tn Grk “you were not willing.”

[24:21]  ³⁷ tn Traditionally, “great tribulation.”

[24:21]  ³⁸ sn Suffering unlike anything that has happened. Some refer this event to the destruction of Jerusalem in a.d. 70. While the events of a.d. 70 may reflect somewhat the comments Jesus makes here, the reference to the scope and severity of this judgment strongly suggest that much more is in view. Most likely Jesus is referring to the great end-time judgment on Jerusalem in the great tribulation.

[24:23]  ³⁹ tn Or “Messiah”; both “Christ” (Greek) and “Messiah” (Hebrew and Aramaic) mean “one who has been anointed.”

[24:24]  ⁴⁰ tn Or “false christs”; both “Christ” (Greek) and “Messiah” (Hebrew and Aramaic) mean “one who has been anointed.”

[24:25]  ⁴¹ tn Or “Pay attention!” Grk “Behold.”

[24:26]  ⁴² tn Grk “they say.” The third person plural is used here as an indefinite and translated “someone” (ExSyn 402).

[24:26]  ⁴³ tn Or “in the desert.”

[24:27]  ⁴⁴ sn The Son of Man’s coming in power will be sudden and obvious like lightning. No one will need to point it out.

[24:28]  ⁴⁵ tn The same Greek term can refer to “eagles” or “vultures” (L&N 4.42; BDAG 22 s.v. ἀετός), but in this context it must mean vultures because the gruesome image is one of dead bodies being consumed by scavengers.

[24:28]  ⁴⁶ tn Grk “will be gathered.” The passive construction has been translated as an active one in English.

[24:29]  ⁴⁷ tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated.

[24:29]  ⁴⁸ tn Traditionally, “tribulation.”

[24:29]  ⁴⁹ sn An allusion to Isa 13:10, 34:4 (LXX); Joel 2:10. The heavens were seen as the abode of heavenly forces, so their shaking indicates distress in the spiritual realm. Although some take the powers as a reference to bodies in the heavens (like stars and planets, “the heavenly bodies,” NIV) this is not as likely.