Zechariah 14:1-2

The Sovereignty of the Lord

14:1 A day of the Lord ¹  is about to come when your possessions ²  will be divided as plunder in your midst. 14:2 For I will gather all the nations against Jerusalem ³  to wage war; the city will be taken, its houses plundered, and the women raped. Then half of the city will go into exile, but the remainder of the people will not be taken away. ⁴ 

Deuteronomy 32:22

32:22 For a fire has been kindled by my anger,

and it burns to lowest Sheol; ⁵ 

it consumes the earth and its produce,

and ignites the foundations of the mountains.

Matthew 24:1-2

The Destruction of the Temple

24:1 Now ⁶  as Jesus was going out of the temple courts and walking away, his disciples came to show him the temple buildings. ⁷  24:2 And he said to them, ⁸  “Do you see all these things? I tell you the truth, ⁹  not one stone will be left on another. ¹⁰  All will be torn down!” ¹¹ 

Luke 19:41-44

Jesus Weeps for Jerusalem under Judgment

19:41 Now ¹²  when Jesus ¹³  approached ¹⁴  and saw the city, he wept over it, 19:42 saying, “If you had only known on this day, ¹⁵  even you, the things that make for peace! ¹⁶  But now they are hidden ¹⁷  from your eyes. 19:43 For the days will come upon you when your enemies will build ¹⁸  an embankment ¹⁹  against you and surround you and close in on you from every side. 19:44 They will demolish you ²⁰  – you and your children within your walls ²¹  – and they will not leave within you one stone ²²  on top of another, ²³  because you did not recognize the time of your visitation from God.” ²⁴ 

Luke 21:23-24

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 ²⁵  on the earth and wrath against this people. 21:24 They ²⁶  will fall by the edge ²⁷  of the sword and be led away as captives ²⁸  among all nations. Jerusalem ²⁹  will be trampled down by the Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled. ³⁰ 

[14:1]  ¹ sn The eschatological day of the Lord described here (and through v. 8) is considered by many interpreters to refer to the period known as the great tribulation, a seven year time of great suffering by God’s (Jewish) people culminating in the establishing of the millennial reign of the Lord (vv. 9-21). For other OT and NT references to this aspect of the day of the Lord see Amos 9:8-15; Joel 1:15–2:11; Isa 1:24-31; 2:2-4; 4:2-6; 26:16–27:6; 33:13-24; 59:1–60:22; 65:13-25; Jer 30:7-11; 32:36-44; Ezek 20:33-44; Dan 11:40; 12:1; Matt 24:21, 29; 25:31-46; Rev 19:11-16.

[14:1]  ² tn Heb “your plunder.” Cf. NCV “the wealth you have taken.”

[14:2]  ³ map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

[14:2]  ⁴ tn Heb “not be cut off from the city” (so NRSV); NAB “not be removed.”

[32:22]  ⁵ tn Or “to the lowest depths of the earth”; cf. NAB “to the depths of the nether world”; NIV “to the realm of death below”; NLT “to the depths of the grave.”

[24:1]  ⁶ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “now” to indicate the transition to a new topic.

[24:1]  ⁷ 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.

[24:2]  ⁸ tn Grk “answering, he said to them.” The participle ἀποκριθείς (ajpokriqei") is redundant in English and has not been translated.

[24:2]  ⁹ tn Grk “Truly (ἀμήν, amhn), I say to you.”

[24:2]  ¹⁰ 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.

[24:2]  ¹¹ tn Grk “not one stone will be left here on another which will not be thrown down.”

[19:41]  ¹² tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “now” to indicate the transition to a new topic.

[19:41]  ¹³ tn Grk “he.”

[19:41]  ¹⁴ sn When Jesus approached and saw the city. This is the last travel note in Luke’s account (the so-called Jerusalem journey), as Jesus approached and saw the city before entering it.

[19:42]  ¹⁵ sn On this day. They had missed the time of Messiah’s coming; see v. 44.

[19:42]  ¹⁶ 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]  ¹⁷ 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]  ¹⁸ 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]  ¹⁹ sn An embankment refers to either wooden barricades or earthworks, or a combination of the two.

[19:44]  ²⁰ tn Grk “They will raze you to the ground.”

[19:44]  ²¹ 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]  ²² sn (Not) one stone on top of another is an idiom for total destruction.

[19:44]  ²³ tn Grk “leave stone on stone.”

[19:44]  ²⁴ 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.

[21:23]  ²⁵ sn Great distress means that this is a period of great judgment.

[21:24]  ²⁶ tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

[21:24]  ²⁷ tn Grk “by the mouth of the sword” (an idiom for the edge of a sword).

[21:24]  ²⁸ 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]  ²⁹ tn Grk “And Jerusalem.” Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

[21:24]  ³⁰ sn Until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled implies a time when Israel again has a central role in God’s plan.