Matthew 24:2

2 Then He replied to them, "Don't you see all these things? I assure you: Not one stone will be left here on another that will not be thrown down!"

Matthew 24:2 Meaning and Commentary

Matthew 24:2

And Jesus said unto them, see ye not all these things?
&c.] "These great buildings", as in Mark; all these goodly stones, so beautiful and large, and so firmly put together: verily, I say unto you, there shall not be left here one stone upon
another, that shall not be thrown down;
or broken, as Munster's Hebrew Gospel reads it: which prediction had a full and remarkable accomplishment; and which is not only attested by Josephus ^F25, who relates, that both the city and temple were dug up, and laid level with the ground; but also by other Jewish writers; who tell us ^F26 that

``on the ninth of Ab, a day prepared for punishments, Turnus Rufus the wicked, (lkyhh ta vrx) , "ploughed up the temple", and all round about it, to fulfil what is said, "Zion shall be ploughed as a field".''

Yes, and to fulfil what Christ here says too, that not one stone should be left upon another, which a plough would not admit of.

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FOOTNOTES:

F25 De Bello Jud. l. 7. c. 7.
F26 Maimon. Hilch. Taaniot, c. 5. sect. 3. T. Bab. Taanith, fol. 23. 1. & Gloss. in ib.

Matthew 24:2 In-Context

1 As Jesus left and was going out of the temple complex, His disciples came up and called His attention to the temple buildings.

2 Then He replied to them, "Don't you see all these things? I assure you: Not one stone will be left here on another that will not be thrown down!"

3 While He was sitting on the Mount of Olives, the disciples approached Him privately and said, "Tell us, when will these things happen? And what is the sign of Your coming and of the end of the age?"

4 Then Jesus replied to them: "Watch out that no one deceives you.

5 For many will come in My name, saying, 'I am the Messiah,' and they will deceive many.