Matthew 24:2

2 and Jesus said to them, `Do ye not see all these? verily I say to you, There may not be left here a stone upon a stone, that shall 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 And having gone forth, Jesus departed from the temple, and his disciples came near to show him the buildings of the temple,

2 and Jesus said to them, `Do ye not see all these? verily I say to you, There may not be left here a stone upon a stone, that shall not be thrown down.'

3 And when he is sitting on the mount of the Olives, the disciples came near to him by himself, saying, `Tell us, when shall these be? and what [is] the sign of thy presence, and of the full end of the age?'

4 And Jesus answering said to them, `Take heed that no one may lead you astray,

5 for many shall come in my name, saying, I am the Christ, and they shall lead many astray,