The Fallible Study Bible

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Mark13:28–31

The Lesson of the Fig Tree

✦ Public-domain source — quoted & attributed⚙ AI synthesis — generated, verify

Mark 13:28–31 — The Lesson of the Fig Tree. Each verse below carries the full apparatus: the Berean Standard Bible, the vocalized original (tap any word), and a parsed breakdown of every term transcribed from the interlinear. Synthesized commentary, canonical threads, and the reading of Christ gather at the end, over the whole unit.

28

Now learn this lesson from the fig tree: As soon as its branches become tender and sprout leaves, you know that summer is near.

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Greek — tap a word ↓

de mathete tēn parabolēn Apo tēs sykēs hotan ēdē autēs ho klados genētai hapalos kai ekphyē ta phylla ginōskete hoti to theros estin engys

Word by word24 · parsed
δὲdeNowG1161
√ δέ — but, and, etcConjunction
μάθετεmathetelearnG3129
√ μανθάνω — to learn (in any way)VerbAorist Imperative Active2nd Person Plural
manthanō: to learn (in any way) Aorist imperative plural. The verb from which mathētēs, disciple, is formed: Jesus does not ask them to admire the tree but to be taught by it. JFB reads the imperative as pointing to "the high lesson which this teaches", so the tree is put in the position of instructor over the twelve.
τὴνtēnthisG3588
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleAccusative Feminine Singular
παραβολήνparabolēnlessonG3850
√ παραβολή — a similitude ("parable"), iNounAccusative Feminine Singular
parabolē: a similitude (parable) Accusative, articular. Strong's root sense is a thing thrown alongside for comparison. Cambridge argues the article means the tree's own parable, the single thing this particular creature is fitted to say; and since Mark's parables both disclose and withhold (Mark 4:11), a hearer who will not look at the tree is left with only a tree.
ἈπὸApofromG575
√ ἀπό — "off," iPreposition
τῆςtēstheG3588
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleGenitive Feminine Singular
συκῆςsykēsfig treeG4808
√ συκῆ — a fig-treeNounGenitive Feminine Singular
sykē: a fig-tree Genitive after apo. Gill notes they were on the Mount of Olives, where fig trees grew in great plenty, so one may well have been in view; Pulpit adds that the Asiatic fig needs real heat and then produces flower and fruit at once and ripens fast. Cambridge observes that this is the second lesson Mark draws from a fig tree: the first was the withered one of 11:12-21.
ὅτανhotanAs soon asG3752
√ ὅταν — whenever (implying hypothesis or more or less uncertainty)Conjunction
Whenever, with the subjunctive: the season is certain in kind, indefinite in date.
ἤδηēdē. . .G2235
√ ἤδη — even nowAdverb
αὐτῆςautēsitsG846
√ αὐτός — the reflexive pronoun self, used (alone or in the comparative G1438 (ἑαυτοῦ)) of the third person , and (with the proper personal pronoun) of the other personsPersonal / Possessive PronounGenitive Feminine 3rd Person Singular
ὁhoG3588
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleNominative Masculine Singular
κλάδοςkladosbranchesG2798
√ κλάδος — a twig or bough (as if broken off)NounNominative Masculine Singular
klados: a twig or bough (as if broken off) Nominative singular with a singular verb, though English idiom pluralises to "branches". Strong's derives the noun from breaking off, which is worth holding beside Paul's branches broken off in Romans 11; here, though, the bough is not broken but softening.
γένηταιgenētaibecomeG1096
√ γίνομαι — to cause to be ("gen"-erate), iVerbAorist Subjunctive Middle3rd Person Singular
ἁπαλὸςhapalostenderG527
√ ἀπαλός — softAdjectiveNominative Masculine Singular
hapalos: soft A rare adjective. The first sign of the turning year is not visible but tactile: the wood goes soft before anything shows in the sky. Pulpit calls it the young shoot become tender under the quickening influences of the spring.
καὶkaiandG2532
√ καί — and, also, even, so then, too, etcConjunction
ἐκφύῃekphyēsproutG1631
√ ἐκφύω — to sprout upVerbPresent Subjunctive Active3rd Person Singular
ekphyō: to sprout up Present subjunctive active. The Verifier's candidate list shows this verb standing in only two verses of the New Testament, here and Matthew 24:32, which makes it the tightest single verbal bond between Mark's version of this saying and Matthew's.
τὰtaG3588
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleAccusative Neuter Plural
φύλλαphyllaleavesG5444
√ φύλλον — a sprout, iNounAccusative Neuter Plural
γινώσκετεginōsketeyou knowG1097
√ γινώσκω — to "know" (absolutely) in a great variety of applications and with many implications (as follow, with others not thus clearly expressed)VerbPresent Indicative Active2nd Person Plural
ginōskō: to know Present indicative, second plural. The knowledge is ordinary and universal: no farmer needs revelation to read a bud. That is the force of the comparison, and it is why v. 29 can turn the same word into a command.
ὅτιhotithatG3754
√ ὅτι — demonstrative, that (sometimes redundant)Conjunction
τὸtoG3588
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleNominative Neuter Singular
θέροςtherossummerG2330
√ θέρος — properly, heat, iNounNominative Neuter Singular
theros: properly heat, hence summer Strong's root is heat, not calendar. Only three verses in the New Testament carry the word, and the Verifier shows all three are this one parable in its three Gospel forms.
ἐστίνestinisG1510
√ εἰμί — I exist (used only when emphatic)VerbPresent Indicative Active3rd Person Singular
ἐγγὺςengysnearG1451
√ ἐγγύς — akin to the base of G43 (ἀγκάλη))Adverb
engys: near The hinge word of the unit, repeated in v. 29 and there attached not to a season but to a person.
29

So also, when you see these things happening, know that He is near, right at the door.

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Greek — tap a word ↓

houtōs kai hotan idēte tauta ginomena hymeis ginōskete hoti estin engys epi thyrais

Word by word13 · parsed
οὕτωςhoutōsSoG3779
√ οὕτω — in this way (referring to what precedes or follows)Adverb
καὶkaialsoG2532
√ καί — and, also, even, so then, too, etcConjunction
ὅτανhotanwhenG3752
√ ὅταν — whenever (implying hypothesis or more or less uncertainty)Conjunction
ἴδητεidēteyou seeG3708
√ ὁράω — by extension, to attend toVerbAorist Subjunctive Active2nd Person Plural
horaō: by extension, to attend to Aorist subjunctive. Strong's extended sense matters: this is not a glance but attention paid. The disciples are not told to wait for a sign nobody could miss, they are told to watch as a man watches a tree.
ταῦταtautathese thingsG3778
√ οὗτος — the he (she or it), iDemonstrative PronounAccusative Neuter Plural
γινόμεναginomenahappeningG1096
√ γίνομαι — to cause to be ("gen"-erate), iVerbPresent Participle Middle or PassiveAccusative Neuter Plural
ginomai: to cause to be, to come to pass Present participle, middle or passive, accusative plural, agreeing with "these things". JFB corrects the older "come to pass" to "coming to pass": the signs are read while still in process, not counted up afterward.
ὑμεῖςhymeisG4771
√ σύ — thouPersonal / Possessive PronounNominative 2nd Person Plural
Emphatic pronoun, grammatically unnecessary, untranslated in BSB: you, for your part.
γινώσκετεginōsketeknowG1097
√ γινώσκω — to "know" (absolutely) in a great variety of applications and with many implications (as follow, with others not thus clearly expressed)VerbPresent Imperative Active2nd Person Plural
ginōskō: to know Present imperative. The comparison in v. 28 turns here into a command, and it is a command to draw a conclusion, which is a strange and very concrete kind of obedience.
ὅτιhotithatG3754
√ ὅτι — demonstrative, that (sometimes redundant)Conjunction
ἐστινestinHe isG1510
√ εἰμί — I exist (used only when emphatic)VerbPresent Indicative Active3rd Person Singular
eimi: I exist, to be Third singular with no expressed subject, the single most consequential silence in the unit. Cambridge fills it with the Judge of v. 26 and cites James 5:9; Gill offers three candidates without choosing; JFB supplies the kingdom of God from Luke 21:31. Any English rendering has already taken sides.
ἐγγύςengysnearG1451
√ ἐγγύς — akin to the base of G43 (ἀγκάλη))Adverb
engys: near The same adverb as in v. 28, now carried over from a season to a subject: the nearness of summer becomes the measure of the nearness of the One who comes. The Verifier shows the word standing in 30 verses, and the parallel candidates Matthew 24:33 and Luke 21:31 use it in this same clause. JFB brings in the words Luke sets just before it, that your redemption draweth nigh, and reads the nearness in two registers at once, relief from present oppression and the second appearing of the Lord Jesus.
ἐπὶepiright atG1909
√ ἐπί — properly, meaning superimposition (of time, place, order, etcPreposition
θύραιςthyrais[the] doorG2374
√ θύρα — a portal or entrance (the opening or the closure, literally or figuratively)NounDative Feminine Plural
thyra: a portal or entrance, the opening or the closure Dative plural, anarthrous. Strong's allows both the opening and the thing that closes it. The plural suggests gates rather than one panel, the point at which a city or a house is either entered or barred.
30

Truly I tell you, this generation will not pass away until all these things have happened.

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Greek — tap a word ↓

amēn legō hymin hoti hautē hē genea ou mē parelthē mechris hou panta tauta genētai

Word by word15 · parsed
ἀμὴνamēnTrulyG281
√ ἀμήν — properly, firm, iHebrew Word
amēn: properly, firm Parsed by the Berean interlinear as a Hebrew word. In the synagogue it answers a prayer already made; on Jesus' lips it stands in front of his own saying, so that he underwrites his words before he has spoken them. That prefixed usage is one of the most distinctive things about how he talks.
λέγωlegōI tellG3004
√ λέγω — properly, to "lay" forth, iVerbPresent Indicative Active1st Person Singular
ὑμῖνhyminyouG4771
√ σύ — thouPersonal / Possessive PronounDative 2nd Person Plural
ὅτιhotiG3754
√ ὅτι — demonstrative, that (sometimes redundant)Conjunction
αὕτηhautēthisG3778
√ οὗτος — the he (she or it), iDemonstrative PronounNominative Feminine Singular
ἡhēG3588
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleNominative Feminine Singular
γενεὰgeneagenerationG1074
√ γενεά — a generationNounNominative Feminine Singular
genea: a generation The interpretive fault line. Cambridge sets out the four possible senses and then reads the verse on two horizons, one near and one far off, taking the near one as literal Israel and the far one as the race of men or the faithful seed of Abraham; Gill holds only to the men then alive; Pulpit allows both and adds the Jewish people as a continuing nation; JFB says the facts answer the words on either reading. The honest position is that the Greek noun carries all these senses and the verse itself does not adjudicate between them.
οὐouvvvG3756
√ οὐ — the absolute negative (compare G3361 (μή)) adverbAdverb
Part of the emphatic double negative with the following word.
μὴmēvvvG3361
√ μή — (adverb) not, (conjunction) lestAdverb
ou mē: the double negative Together with ou this is the strongest negation available, used with the aorist subjunctive to deny a future possibility outright. Note that the identical pair returns in v. 31, applied there to the words of Jesus: the same absolute No guards both statements, and that parallel is the argument of the two verses.
παρέλθῃparelthēwill not pass awayG3928
√ παρέρχομαι — to come near or aside, iVerbAorist Subjunctive Active3rd Person Singular
parerchomai: to come near or aside, to pass by or pass away Aorist subjunctive. The same verb governs both halves of v. 31, so Mark builds three sentences on one root: a generation that will not pass, a heaven and earth that will, and words that will not.
μέχριςmechrisuntilG3360
√ μέχρι — as far as, iPreposition
As far as, up to the point that.
οὗhou. . .G3739
√ ὅς — the relatively (sometimes demonstrative) pronoun, who, which, what, thatPersonal / Relative PronounGenitive Masculine Singular
πάνταpantaallG3956
√ πᾶς — all, any, every, the wholeAdjectiveNominative Neuter Plural
ταῦταtautathese thingsG3778
√ οὗτος — the he (she or it), iDemonstrative PronounNominative Neuter Plural
γένηταιgenētaihave happenedG1096
√ γίνομαι — to cause to be ("gen"-erate), iVerbAorist Subjunctive Middle3rd Person Singular
ginomai: to come to pass Aorist subjunctive middle, the same form as in v. 28 where the branch becomes tender, and the participle of the same verb in v. 29 for the things coming to pass. Mark ties the sign, the season and the fulfilment together with one verb.
31

Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will never pass away.

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Greek — tap a word ↓

ho ouranos kai hē gē pareleusontai de mou hoi logoi ou mē pareleusontai

Word by word13 · parsed
ὁhoG3588
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleNominative Masculine Singular
οὐρανὸςouranosHeavenG3772
√ οὐρανός — the skyNounNominative Masculine Singular
ouranos: the sky Articular and singular, paired with earth to name the whole created order by its two halves. Pulpit takes the prediction as a real change in the structure of the universe rather than annihilation, reading it with the new heavens and new earth of 2 Peter 3:13.
καὶkaiandG2532
√ καί — and, also, even, so then, too, etcConjunction
ἡhēG3588
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleNominative Feminine Singular
γῆgēearthG1093
√ γῆ — soilNounNominative Feminine Singular
gē: soil, earth Strong's root is soil: the ground underfoot, the most stable thing a hearer could point to, and it is placed in the perishable column without argument. The Verifier records the same lexeme (in 223 vv) in both Matthew 5:18 and Luke 21:33, where the identical formula measures the endurance of the law and of these words. Pulpit reads the passing as refashioning rather than annihilation, with 2 Peter 3:13 in view.
παρελεύσονταιpareleusontaiwill pass awayG3928
√ παρέρχομαι — to come near or aside, iVerbFuture Indicative Middle3rd Person Plural
parerchomai: to pass by, to pass away Future indicative middle. Stated flatly, without argument: the most permanent things a first century hearer could point to are conceded as temporary before the claim about the words is even made.
δὲdebutG1161
√ δέ — but, and, etcConjunction
μουmouMyG1473
√ ἐγώ — I, mePersonal / Possessive PronounGenitive 1st Person Singular
egō: I, me Genitive, fronted before its article and noun for emphasis. Everything in the verse turns on this one syllable: not the words of God spoken through a prophet, but my words.
οἱhoiG3588
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleNominative Masculine Plural
λόγοιlogoiwordsG3056
√ λόγος — something said (including the thought)NounNominative Masculine Plural
logos: something said, including the thought Nominative plural. Cambridge notes that the claim seemed least likely to be fulfilled at the moment it was made and asks what human teacher ever dared to claim an eternity for his words; JFB says such language would be unsuitable in any merely human mouth. Neither commentator softens it, and neither can, because the only two options the sentence leaves are blasphemy or deity.
οὐouvvvG3756
√ οὐ — the absolute negative (compare G3361 (μή)) adverbAdverb
μὴmēvvvG3361
√ μή — (adverb) not, (conjunction) lestAdverb
παρελεύσονταιpareleusontaiwill never pass awayG3928
√ παρέρχομαι — to come near or aside, iVerbFuture Indicative Middle3rd Person Plural
parerchomai with ou mē: shall by no means pass away The same verb as in the first clause, now under the double negative. Formally the sentence is a comparison; materially it is a claim that the speaker's words belong to the category of what outlasts creation.

The verse-by-verse work is done. What follows gathers the whole unit. All three layers below are machine-generated (⚙). Weigh them; they have no authority.

⚙

Grand Commentary — the unit, read whole

synthesis · verify

AI synthesis — woven from the public-domain voices above and the original text; generated and fallible.

i. The tree that knows its season — 13:28

⚙ The discourse turns from terror to horticulture. After wars, false christs, the abomination and the darkened sun, the Lord points at a tree. JFB restores the Greek order, "from the fig tree learn the parable", and Cambridge presses the article: it is the tree's own parable, the one lesson this particular creature exists to teach. Gill places them on the Mount of Olives where fig trees grew in great plenty and notes that the Passover was at hand, which is exactly the season of the tender branch; Pulpit adds the botanical point that the Asiatic fig needs real heat, flowers and fruits at once, and ripens fast, and concludes that the lesson is the speed with which she ripens her fruit when she feels the warmth of summer. The sign the Lord chooses is deliberately unspectacular. ἁπαλὸς (hapalos, soft) is something you feel before you see, and γινώσκετε in this verse is a plain indicative: nobody needs a prophet to read a bud. Cambridge also remembers that this is the second fig tree in Mark, the first being the withered one of 11:12-21, so the same species preaches judgment in one chapter and hope in another.

ii. So also you: the command to draw the conclusion — 13:29

⚙ The comparison is applied, and one word changes mood. γινώσκετε returns identical in form but now imperative: what the tree does by nature the disciple is commanded to do. The emphatic ὑμεῖς, which BSB rightly leaves untranslated because English cannot carry it, sets the hearers over against the tree. Then Mark writes a sentence with a hole in it: ἐστιν ἐγγύς, "he is near", with no subject. Cambridge quotes Bishop Wordsworth on the solemnity of the brevity of the phrase, without the nominative expressed, and fills it with the Judge of v. 26, citing James 5:9; JFB fills it from Luke 21:31 with the kingdom of God; Gill will not choose, offering the destruction of Jerusalem, or the Son of man come to take vengeance, or Luke's kingdom. Henry, writing across the whole of 13:28-37, draws the practical conclusion the Greek mood demands: we ought to be always upon our watch, in expectation of his return. ⚙ Note what the gap does. A named subject would let the reader file the verse under one event. The bare verb keeps every reader of every century standing at the same doors.

iii. This generation, and the word that outlasts the world — 13:30-31

⚙ Two sentences, both built on παρέρχομαι, and between them the hardest interpretive question in Mark. On γενεὰ the sources openly disagree: Gill restricts it to that present generation of men and rules out the alternatives by name; Cambridge sets out four lexical senses and then reads two horizons, one near and one far off; Pulpit calls this one of those prophecies which admit of a growing fulfillment and allows both Jerusalem within forty years and the Jewish people to the end of the world; JFB judges that on either reading the facts entirely correspond, whether the whole was fulfilled under Titus or stretched to the dispersion under Hadrian. ⚙ We record the disagreement rather than resolving it, and we note that the Greek noun genuinely bears every sense they claim for it. Then v. 31, and the ground shifts. Heaven and earth are conceded as perishable, and against them stands μου, fronted: my words. JFB says such language would be unsuitable in any merely human mouth; Cambridge, looking back across the centuries, asks what human teacher ever dared to claim an eternity for his words. Gill raises the grammatical question of whether the first clause is a prediction or a comparative figure; Pulpit takes it as a real prediction of a universe refashioned in a more beautiful form. On any of these readings the claim in the second clause is the same, and it is not a modest one.

Read under Sola Scriptura — this tool’s own fallible reading (⚙)

⚙ Under Sola Scriptura, offered to be tested: this unit is about the difference between reading and calculating. The fig tree gives no date. It gives a season, and it gives it through a sign so ordinary that a child can read it, softness in the wood. Everything in the discourse that invites calculation has been refused, and everything that invites attention has been commanded. That is why the missing subject in v. 29 should probably be left missing in our reading too: the text says he is near, at doors, and the moment we settle exactly which arrival is meant we have turned a summons into a timetable. The commentators before us split precisely where the Greek is silent, and their split is honest. Then v. 31 does something the parable did not prepare us for. Having asked the disciples to read the creation as a sign, Jesus tells them that the creation they are reading will itself pass, and that his own sentences will not. The sign is temporary; the word about the sign is permanent. Isaiah said that of the word of God (Isaiah 40:8) and the psalmist said it of the Lord who founded the earth (Psalm 102:25-27). Here a man on the Mount of Olives says it of what he has just finished saying. We take that as the point of the unit: the tree teaches you how to watch, and the speaker tells you whose word you are watching by. We hold this reading as fallible and correctable by the text.

The fig tree gives no date; it gives a season, and the One who points at it says that his sentence will outlast the tree, the summer and the sky. (This line is our own synthesis, not Scripture.)

⚙

Canonical Threads — out to the whole of Scripture

cross-refs · verify

AI-generated connections. Each carries a verification badge with a recorded basis; contested links are flagged.

The same parable in three Gospels, welded by a verb used twice in the New Testament verbal / quotation: confirmed

Matthew and Luke carry this parable in nearly the same words, and the Verifier shows how tight the bond is at the level of vocabulary. ἐκφύω (G1631, to sprout up) stands in only two verses of the whole New Testament, Mark 13:28 and Matthew 24:32; θέρος (G2330, summer) in only three, which are these plus Luke 21:30. A word that rare, shared in the same clause of the same saying, is a verbal link in the strict sense and not merely a shared theme. Luke's version is looser (he shares theros and the common ginōskō and hotan), so the tightest pairing is Mark with Matthew. JFB and Poole both simply refer the reader across to Matthew 24:32 for the exposition, treating the three as one text.

Matthew 24:32 · Luke 21:30

basis: Verifier: shared Greek lexemes G1631 ἐκφύω (in 2 vv, i.e. only Mark 13:28 and Matthew 24:32), G2330 θέρος (in 3 vv), G2798 κλάδος (in 11 vv); Luke 21:30 shares G2330 θέρος (in 3 vv). All three refs are Greek New Testament, so the shared Strong's numbers are a valid basis; the rarity of ἐκφύω and θέρος carries the verbal tier.

Mark's other fig tree: leaves that promised and leaves that signal structural / thematic: confirmed

Two chapters earlier Mark staged a fig tree in leaf that had no fruit, and it was cursed and withered (Mark 11:12-21; Matthew 21:19 tells the same incident). The Verifier records the shared vocabulary: συκῆ (G4808, in 15 verses) and φύλλον (G5444, leaves, in only 5 verses). Cambridge makes the connection explicitly for this verse: they had already been taught one lesson from the withered fig-tree, and are now bidden to learn another from the tree when her branch is yet tender. ⚙ The two scenes use the same leaves for opposite ends: in chapter 11 leaves without fruit are a lie, in chapter 13 leaves are an honest sign of the season. We record this as a deliberate structural pairing within Mark, not as a quotation.

Mark 11:13 · Matthew 21:19

basis: Verifier: shared Greek lexemes G4808 συκῆ (in 15 vv) and G5444 φύλλον (in 5 vv). Though φύλλον is rare, nothing here is a citation of anything, so we under-claim and tier it structural; Cambridge independently draws the same pairing between the withered tree and this one.

"This generation shall not pass": the saying in all three Synoptics verbal / quotation: confirmed

The difficult verse is not peculiar to Mark. Matthew 24:34 and Luke 21:32 carry it in the same shape, with the same Hebrew oath-word in front, the same noun for generation, and the same verb for passing away. The Verifier records the shared lexemes: ἀμήν (G281, in 104 verses), γενεά (G1074, in 37 verses), παρέρχομαι (G3928, in 25 verses). None of the three is rare on its own; it is the combination in one clause, across three Gospels, that makes this a genuine verbal parallel rather than a theme. JFB and Gill both simply cross-refer to Matthew's wording when expounding Mark's.

Matthew 24:34 · Luke 21:32

basis: Verifier: shared Greek lexemes G281 ἀμήν (in 104 vv), G1074 γενεά (in 37 vv), G3928 παρέρχομαι (in 25 vv), all Greek New Testament, occurring together in the same clause of the same saying. No individual lexeme is rare; the verbal tier rests on the whole clause being a synoptic parallel, and we would downgrade if the co-occurrence were not exact.

Heaven and earth will pass: the same claim at Luke 21:33 and Matthew 5:18 verbal / quotation: confirmed

Luke 21:33 is the direct parallel, sharing παρέρχομαι (G3928, in 25 verses), λόγος (G3056) and γῆ (G1093). Matthew 5:18 makes the same move at the opposite end of the ministry, where heaven and earth passing is the measure against which not one jot of the law will fail, and shares amēn, parerchomai and gē. ⚙ Set side by side the two verses say something sharp: in the Sermon the permanence belongs to the law, here it belongs to the speaker's own sentences, and the same formula carries both. That is exactly the point JFB presses when he says the language would be unsuitable in any merely human mouth.

Luke 21:33 · Matthew 5:18

basis: Verifier: Luke 21:33 shares G3928 παρέρχομαι (in 25 vv), G3056 λόγος (in 318 vv), G1093 γῆ (in 223 vv); Matthew 5:18 shares G281 ἀμήν (in 104 vv), G3928 παρέρχομαι (in 25 vv), G1093 γῆ (in 223 vv). All Greek New Testament, so shared Strong's numbers are a valid basis. Luke 21:33 is the near-identical synoptic parallel and carries the tier; Matthew 5:18 is included because it repeats the same construction, not because it is a quotation of Mark.

Isaiah's contrast: the grass withers, the word of our God stands forever structural / thematic: confirmed

The form of Mark 13:31 (the most permanent things named, then conceded, then outlasted by a word) is Isaiah's. Isaiah 40:8 sets the withering grass against the word of our God that stands forever; Isaiah 51:6 has the heavens vanishing like smoke and the earth waxing old while God's salvation is forever; Psalm 102:25-27 has the founder of the earth outlasting the heavens that perish like a garment. ⚙ Mark quotes none of these. There is no citation formula, no "it is written", and because the link crosses from Greek into Hebrew no shared Strong's number can be computed for it, so it cannot be tiered verbal however obvious the resonance sounds in English. What can be said, and it is enough, is that Jesus uses Isaiah's structure and places his own words where Isaiah places the word of God. Cambridge feels the same weight without citing Isaiah when it asks what human teacher ever dared to claim an eternity for his words.

Isaiah 40:8 · Isaiah 51:6 · Psalm 102:26

basis: Cross-Testament (Greek Gospel to Hebrew prophets and psalm), so shared Strong's lexemes cannot be computed and a verbal tier is impossible in principle. Basis recorded is a shared rhetorical structure: the perishing of heaven and earth set against an enduring divine word. Isaiah 40:8 is the clearest case and it is still structural, not verbal: Mark carries no citation formula and no quotation of the Isaiah wording.

The fig tree as a figure for Israel: a reading to be verified, not a basis in the text flagged: verify source

In the prophets the fig tree repeatedly stands for Israel under inspection: Hosea 9:10 (the fathers seen as the firstripe in the fig tree), Joel 1:7 (the vine laid waste and the fig tree barked), Micah 7:1 (no firstripe fig to eat), Jeremiah 8:13 (no figs on the fig tree, and the leaf shall fade). Since Mark 11:12-21 already puts a fruitless fig tree beside the cleansing of the temple, many readers take the fig tree of 13:28 as Israel too, and read the tender branch as Israel's revival. ⚙ We flag this rather than assert it. Not one of the nine commentators supplied for this unit draws that connection at 13:28: Gill, Pulpit and JFB all read the tree here simply as a seasonal sign, and Pulpit's only national comment is about the continuance of the Jewish people at v. 30. The prophetic background is real; the claim that Mark intends it here is a later interpretive move whose provenance a reader should check for himself.

Hosea 9:10 · Joel 1:7 · Micah 7:1 · Jeremiah 8:13

basis: Cross-Testament, so no shared Strong's lexemes can be computed; no Verifier candidate links these refs to Mark 13:28. The prophetic fig-tree-as-Israel motif is well attested in those OT texts, but the application to this verse is asserted by none of the public-domain voices supplied here and is contested among later interpreters. Flagged so the reader verifies the source of the claim rather than trusting this entry.

⚙Christ in the Unittypology · verify

AI-generated reading; weigh it against the text.

The word that will not pass: Isaiah's predicate on Jesus' own lips ancient/widely-held

⚙ The redemptive-historical weight of the unit sits in one fronted pronoun. Isaiah 40:8 gives permanence to the word of our God; Psalm 102:25-27 gives it to the Lord who laid the foundation of the earth and who remains when the heavens perish. Mark 13:31 puts heaven and earth in the perishing column and then sets μου οἱ λόγοι, my words, in the column Isaiah reserved for God. No argument is offered for the move, and that is itself the point: it is asserted as a matter of course. JFB says plainly that this is the strongest possible expression of the divine authority by which He spake, and that such language would be unsuitable in any merely human mouth, adding that not even Moses or Paul could have said it of their own inspiration. Cambridge, looking back across eighteen centuries of laws, doctrines, proverbs and consolations formed out of those words, asks what human teacher ever dared to claim an eternity for his words. This is the ancient and widely held reading of the verse, and the alternatives to it are not modest ones.

Isaiah 40:8 · Psalm 102:26 · Mark 13:31

He is near, at the doors: the Judge who is already standing there ancient/widely-held

⚙ The subjectless verb of v. 29 is where the Christology of the passage is decided. Cambridge argues for "He is nigh", identifying the subject as the Judge of v. 26, the Son of man coming in clouds with great power and glory, and quotes James 5:9, where the Judge stands before the door, as the apostolic echo of exactly this phrase; Bishop Wordsworth, whom Cambridge cites, hears something solemn in the brevity of the phrase, without the nominative expressed. JFB supplies the kingdom of God from Luke 21:31 and then insists that its full manifestation is what is meant, redemption in the first instance from Jewish oppression but in the highest sense from all the miseries of the present state at the second appearing of the Lord Jesus. Gill holds the possibilities open, including the Son of man come to take vengeance. ⚙ The three agree on what matters: the nearness announced is personal before it is chronological. The fig tree teaches that a season announces itself; this verse says that a person does.

Mark 13:26 · James 5:9 · Luke 21:28

The Lord who came looking for fruit and now teaches from the branch novel

⚙ A reading we offer as our own, and mark as such. Mark has arranged two fig trees around the temple. In 11:12-21 the Lord comes to a tree in leaf, finds nothing, and it withers, and the temple is cleansed between the two halves of the scene; here in 13:28, seated on the Mount of Olives opposite that same temple, he takes a fig tree and makes it a teacher of hope. Cambridge notices the pairing and calls the second a further lesson from the same kind of tree. The figure that follows is ours: the One who came seeking fruit and found leaves is the One who now says that softening wood is a reliable sign, and the difference between the two trees is not botany but whether the sign tells the truth about what is inside. ⚙ We mark this as novel in this form. Neither the pairing's meaning nor the christological application is asserted by the sources supplied; what is sourced is only that Mark has two fig trees and that Cambridge connects them.

Mark 11:13 · Mark 11:20 · Mark 13:28

Apparatus & Provenance

The biblical text is the Berean Standard Bible (BSB), public domain (CC0). Hebrew/Greek text, transliteration, morphology and Strong’s are transcribed from the Berean interlinear (CC0) + Strong’s lexicons (PD); the literal renderings, divergence notes, word notes and all synthesis are this tool’s own work (⚙) — fallible; verify them.

Named voices, quoted verbatim from public-domain works:

  • Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges, — (1880s)
  • Charles Ellicott, Commentary for English Readers (1878)
  • Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory (1871)
  • John Gill, Exposition of the Entire Bible (1746–63)
  • Matthew Henry, Concise Commentary on the Whole Bible (1706)
  • The Pulpit Commentary, Spence & Exell, eds. (1880s)

⚙ Honesty notes for this unit. (1) Text: the BSB and the Berean interlinear parse are the sourced base. Ellicott reports that many of the best manuscripts read "it is known" rather than "ye know" at the end of 13:28; his explanation of the variant, that an early transcriber of a document underlying all three Gospels erred, is a nineteenth century source-critical hypothesis and not a manuscript datum, and we do not adopt it. We assert no other variants, since none were supplied. (2) Sources: nine authors were supplied, but three carry no usable comment here. The Barnes text attached to all four verses is a stray note ("On the house-top", pointing to Matthew 9) that belongs to an earlier verse of the chapter and has not been used; Poole refers the reader to Matthew 24:32-35 and says that no more words need be repeated; Geneva supplies only the verse text with a heading. The unit therefore rests on Ellicott, Henry, JFB, Gill, Cambridge and Pulpit. Henry's note is a single block written across 13:28-37 rather than a comment on any one verse. (3) What is genuinely uncertain: the referent of γενεά in v. 30 and the missing subject of ἐστιν in v. 29. The supplied voices disagree on both, and we have recorded the disagreement instead of settling it. (4) Cross-Testament links here (Isaiah, the Psalms, the prophetic fig tree) cannot be verified by shared Strong's numbers, since those run only within one language; every such thread in this unit is tiered structural or flagged for that reason, and the fig-tree-as-Israel reading is flagged because no supplied voice asserts it at this verse. (5) The ⚙ material throughout, including the sola reading and the third christological entry, is machine synthesis: fallible, and offered to be tested against the text.

✦ = human, public-domain source, quoted and named. ⚙ = machine synthesis, to be verified. Flagged cross-references are left visible on purpose — the verifier working in the open. “Search the Scriptures daily, whether those things were so.” (Acts 17:11)