Mark 13:1-9

The Destruction of the Temple

13:1 Now ¹  as Jesus ²  was going out of the temple courts, one of his disciples said to him, “Teacher, look at these tremendous stones and buildings!” ³  13:2 Jesus said to him, “Do you see these great buildings? Not one stone will be left on another. ⁴  All will be torn down!” ⁵ 

Signs of the End of the Age

13:3 So ⁶  while he was sitting on the Mount of Olives opposite the temple, Peter, James, John, ⁷  and Andrew asked him privately, 13:4 “Tell us, when will these things ⁸  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 ⁹  that no one misleads you. 13:6 Many will come in my name, saying, ‘I am he,’ ¹⁰  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. ¹¹  13:8 For nation will rise up in arms ¹²  against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be earthquakes in various places, and there will be famines. ¹³  These are but the beginning of birth pains.

Persecution of Disciples

13:9 “You must watch out for yourselves. You will be handed over ¹⁴  to councils ¹⁵  and beaten in the synagogues. ¹⁶  You will stand before governors and kings ¹⁷  because of me, as a witness to them.

[13:1]  ¹ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “now” to indicate the transition to a new topic.

[13:1]  ² tn Grk “he”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[13:1]  ³ sn The Jerusalem temple was widely admired around the world. See Josephus, Ant. 15.11 [15.380-425]; J. W. 5.5 [5.184-227] and Tacitus, History 5.8, who called it “immensely opulent.” Josephus compared it to a beautiful snowcapped mountain.

[13:2]  ⁴ sn With the statement not one stone will be left on another Jesus predicted the total destruction of the temple, something that did occur in a.d. 70.

[13:2]  ⁵ tn Grk “not one stone will be left here on another which will not be thrown down.”

[13:3]  ⁶ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “so” to indicate the implied result of previous action(s) in the narrative.

[13:3]  ⁷ 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.

[13:4]  ⁸ 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.

[13:5]  ⁹ tn Or “Be on guard.”

[13:6]  ¹⁰ tn That is, “I am the Messiah.”

[13:7]  ¹¹ tn Grk “it is not yet the end.”

[13:8]  ¹² tn For the translation “rise up in arms” see L&N 55.2.

[13:8]  ¹³ sn See Isa 5:13-14; 13:6-16; Hag 2:6-7; Zech 14:4.

[13:9]  ¹⁴ tn Grk “They will hand you over.” “They” is an indefinite plural, referring to people in general. The parallel in Matt 10:17 makes this explicit.

[13:9]  ¹⁵ sn Councils in this context refers to local judicial bodies attached to the Jewish synagogue. This group would be responsible for meting out justice and discipline within the Jewish community.

[13:9]  ¹⁶ sn See the note on synagogue in 1:21.

[13:9]  ¹⁷ sn These statements look at persecution both from a Jewish context as the mention of councils and synagogues suggests, and from a Gentile one as the reference to governors and kings suggests. Some fulfillment of Jewish persecution can be seen in Acts.