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Matthew24:15–25

The Abomination of Desolation

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Matthew 24:15–25 — The Abomination of Desolation. 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.

15

So when you see standing in the holy place ‘the abomination of desolation,’ spoken of by the prophet Daniel (let the reader understand),

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Greek — tap a word ↓

oun Hotan idēte hestos en hagiō topō To bdelygma tēs erēmōseōs to rhēthen dia tou prophētou Daniēl ho anaginōskōn noeitō

Word by word20 · parsed
οὖνounSoG3767
√ οὖν — (adverbially) certainly, or (conjunctionally) accordinglyConjunction
ὍτανHotanwhenG3752
√ ὅταν — whenever (implying hypothesis or more or less uncertainty)Conjunction
ὅταν: whenever, implying uncertainty of time The particle grants the event but withholds the date: the sign is certain, its hour is not.
ἴδητεidēteyou seeG3708
√ ὁράω — by extension, to attend toVerbAorist Subjunctive Active2nd Person Plural
ὁράω: to see, to attend to Aorist Subjunctive, 2nd person plural. Pulpit presses the plural: “By saying when ye shall see, he implies that some of his hearers shall behold this mysterious sign.” The verb is not speculation but observation; the sign is meant to be recognised by people standing in Judea, and acted on the same hour.
ἑστὸςhestosstandingG2476
√ ἵστημι — to stand (transitively or intransitively), used in various applications (literally or figuratively)VerbPerfect Participle ActiveAccusative Neuter Singular
ἵστημι: to stand, to take a stand Perfect Participle. The neuter accusative ties it to βδέλυγμα, not to Daniel or the prophet. A perfect standing in a place that may not be stood in is the whole horror of the clause; Mark's parallel says plainly “standing where it ought not,” a phrase Poole, Barnes and Gill all import here.
ἐνeninG1722
√ ἐν — "in," at, (up-)on, by, etcPreposition
ἁγίῳhagiō[the] holyG40
√ ἅγιος — sacred (physically, pure, morally blameless or religious, ceremonially, consecrated)AdjectiveDative Masculine Singular
τόπῳtopōplaceG5117
√ τόπος — a spot (general in space, but limited by occupancyNounDative Masculine Singular
τόπος: a spot, limited by occupancy The lexical sense is space claimed by an occupant. A holy place is defined by who occupies it, which is exactly what the abomination contests.
ΤὸTotheG3588
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleAccusative Neuter Singular
βδέλυγμαbdelygmaabominationG946
√ βδέλυγμα — a detestation, iNounAccusative Neuter Singular
βδέλυγμα: a detestation, a thing abhorred A rare noun (the Verifier finds it in only 6 verses of the Greek canon). It is the Septuagint word of Daniel 12:11, as Pulpit documents (“The term is from the Septuagint Version… of Daniel 12:11”), and it names revulsion rather than mere impurity. What the identification is remains disputed in the sources: Barnes, Poole, Benson and Gill all read the Roman army with its worshipped ensigns; Ellicott and Cambridge weigh the Zealots' profanation; Pulpit rejects both and looks for an idolatrous act analogous to Antiochus.
τῆςtēsG3588
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleGenitive Feminine Singular
ἐρημώσεωςerēmōseōsof desolationG2050
√ ἐρήμωσις — despoliationNounGenitive Feminine Singular
ἐρήμωσις: despoliation, making desolate Also rare (3 verses). Its other appearance in the Gospels is Luke 21:20, where the same root interprets the sign as armies encircling Jerusalem; Barnes, Poole and Gill all treat that verse as the key to this one, which makes the lexical link a real exegetical hinge rather than a coincidence.
τὸtoG3588
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleAccusative Neuter Singular
ῥηθὲνrhēthenspoken ofG2046
√ ἐρέω — an alternate for G2036 (ἔπω) in certain tensesVerbAorist Participle PassiveAccusative Neuter Singular
ἐρέω: to speak, to say Aorist Participle Passive: “the thing having been spoken.” The passive keeps the speaker out of view, and the next words supply the human channel (“through Daniel”) rather than the source. Poole notes what the citation accomplishes quite apart from which Daniel verse is meant: by it “our Saviour doth both give his testimony to that book, as a part of holy writ,” and warns that the Jewish worship was to cease.
διὰdiabyG1223
√ διά — through (in very wide applications, local, causal, or occasional)Preposition
διά: through, by means of Agency through a person, the ordinary formula for a prophet as conduit rather than author.
τοῦtoutheG3588
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleGenitive Masculine Singular
προφήτουprophētouprophetG4396
√ προφήτης — a foreteller ("prophet")NounGenitive Masculine Singular
ΔανιὴλDaniēlDanielG1158
√ Δανιήλ — Daniel, an IsraeliteNounGenitive Masculine Singular
Δανιήλ: Daniel, an Israelite Which Daniel text is in view is genuinely unsettled in the sources: Poole reports Calvin for Daniel 12:11 and others for Daniel 9:27, and concludes “It is of no great consequence to us to know which verse our Saviour refers to”; Barnes lists Daniel 9:26-27, 11:31 and 12:11 together; Gill excludes 11:31 as Antiochus and prefers 9:27 because the desolating abomination there follows the cutting off of Messiah. Ellicott adds that the naming of Daniel has been pressed into the authorship debate, and cautions against putting on the words “a strain which they will scarcely bear.”
ὁho({let} theG3588
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleNominative Masculine Singular
ἀναγινώσκωνanaginōskōnreaderG314
√ ἀναγινώσκω — to know again, iVerbPresent Participle ActiveNominative Masculine Singular
ἀναγινώσκω: to know again, to read Present Participle Active, substantival: “the one reading.” Reading here is an act of recognition (the root is literally to know again), which is precisely what the following imperative demands of it.
νοείτωnoeitōunderstand)G3539
√ νοιέω — to exercise the mind (observe), iVerbPresent Imperative Active3rd Person Singular
νοιέω: to exercise the mind, to perceive Present Imperative Active, 3rd person singular. The one command in the verse is laid not on soldiers or priests but on a reader: perceive what you are looking at. Cambridge judges the clause “almost beyond a doubt an insertion of the Evangelist”; Ellicott sees “no sufficient reason why they should not be received as part of the discourse itself.” Either way, the sentence makes understanding the condition of survival.
16

then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains.

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Greek — tap a word ↓

tote hoi en tē Ioudaia pheugetōsan eis ta orē

Word by word9 · parsed
τότεtotethen {let}G5119
√ τότε — the when, iAdverb
τότε: at that time, then The hinge word: the sign of v15 is not given for information but to time an action.
οἱhoithose who areG3588
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleNominative Masculine Plural
ἐνeninG1722
√ ἐν — "in," at, (up-)on, by, etcPreposition
τῇtēG3588
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleDative Feminine Singular
ἸουδαίᾳIoudaiaJudeaG2449
√ Ἰουδαία — the Judæan land (iNounDative Feminine Singular
Ἰουδαία: the Judaean land The whole province is addressed, which is why the flight is toward wild country rather than toward walls.
φευγέτωσανpheugetōsanfleeG5343
√ φεύγω — to run away (literally or figuratively)VerbPresent Imperative Active3rd Person Plural
φεύγω: to run away, to flee Present Imperative. The one duty commanded of the faithful at the appearing of the sign is not resistance, defence or protest but departure. Henry draws the theology out of the grammar: the flight is obedience, not cowardice, since a door opened by God and refused is God tempted rather than trusted.
εἰςeistoG1519
√ εἰς — to or into (indicating the point reached or entered), of place, time, or (figuratively) purpose (result, etcPreposition
τὰtatheG3588
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleAccusative Neuter Plural
ὄρηorēmountainsG3735
√ ὄρος — perhaps akin to G142 (αἴρω)NounAccusative Neuter Plural
ὄρος: mountain Barnes grounds the choice in the terrain: the caves of the Palestinian hills had long sheltered the pursued (1 Samuel 22:1 among his citations). The refuge is deliberately the opposite of a fortress: no gates, no provisions, no siege to lose.
17

Let no one on the housetop come down to retrieve anything from his house.

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Greek — tap a word ↓

ho epi tou dōmatos mē katabatō arai ta ek autou tēs oikias

Word by word12 · parsed
ὁho[Let no one]G3588
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleNominative Masculine Singular
ἐπὶepionG1909
√ ἐπί — properly, meaning superimposition (of time, place, order, etcPreposition
τοῦtoutheG3588
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleGenitive Neuter Singular
δώματοςdōmatoshousetopG1430
√ δῶμα — properly, an edifice, iNounGenitive Neuter Singular
δῶμα: an edifice, the flat roof A rare noun (7 verses). Its other Gospel occurrences are exactly the parallel flight sayings in Mark 13:15 and Luke 17:31, which is why the Verifier surfaces those verses here. Ellicott explains why the roof matters: the continuous line of flat roofs in the streets of Jerusalem made escape possible without ever entering the street.
μὴmēG3361
√ μή — (adverb) not, (conjunction) lestAdverb
καταβάτωkatabatōcome downG2597
√ καταβαίνω — to descend (literally or figuratively)VerbAorist Imperative Active3rd Person Singular
καταβαίνω: to descend Aorist Imperative. Between the roof and the door lies the room where a man's goods are; the command cuts the route that passes through them.
ἆραιaraito retrieveG142
√ αἴρω — to lift upVerbAorist Infinitive Active
αἴρω: to lift up, to take away The same infinitive recurs in v18 for the cloak. Twice the forbidden act is picking something up. Barnes reads the urgency as physical: the calamity is so sudden that going back for a garment endangers the life.
τὰtaanythingG3588
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleAccusative Neuter Plural
ἐκekfromG1537
√ ἐκ — literal or figurativePreposition
αὐτοῦautouhisG846
√ 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 Masculine 3rd Person Singular
τῆςtēsG3588
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleGenitive Feminine Singular
οἰκίαςoikiashouseG3614
√ οἰκία — properly, residence (abstractly), but usually (concretely) an abode (literally or figuratively)NounGenitive Feminine Singular
18

And let no one in the field return for his cloak.

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Greek — tap a word ↓

kai ho en tō agrō mē epistrepsatō opisō arai autou to himation

Word by word12 · parsed
καὶkaiAndG2532
√ καί — and, also, even, so then, too, etcConjunction
ὁho[let no one]G3588
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleNominative Masculine Singular
ἐνeninG1722
√ ἐν — "in," at, (up-)on, by, etcPreposition
τῷtōtheG3588
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleDative Masculine Singular
ἀγρῷagrōfieldG68
√ ἀγρός — a field (as a drive for cattle)NounDative Masculine Singular
ἀγρός: a field, open country Pulpit notes that the countryside was no safer than the city, the troops being dispersed for plunder. The verse does not offer the field as refuge; it only finds a man there.
μὴmēG3361
√ μή — (adverb) not, (conjunction) lestAdverb
ἐπιστρεψάτωepistrepsatōreturnG1994
√ ἐπιστρέφω — to revert (literally, figuratively or morally)VerbAorist Imperative Active3rd Person Singular
ἐπιστρέφω: to turn back, to revert Aorist Imperative with the negative. Read beside v17 the pair forms a single prohibition with two shapes, downward and backward: no descent for goods, no return for clothing. Benson and Gill both hear Lot behind it, the flight from Sodom where looking back was itself the fatal act.
ὀπίσωopisō. . .G3694
√ ὀπίσω — to the back, iAdverb
ἆραιaraiforG142
√ αἴρω — to lift upVerbAorist Infinitive Active
αὐτοῦautouhisG846
√ 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 Masculine 3rd Person Singular
τὸtoG3588
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleAccusative Neuter Singular
ἱμάτιονhimationcloakG2440
√ ἱμάτιον — a dress (inner or outer)NounAccusative Neuter Singular
ἱμάτιον: a garment, inner or outer The cloak was a poor man's blanket as well as his coat, so the command is not to abandon a luxury. That is what makes it a measure of fear rather than of detachment, which is Geneva's whole gloss on the verse.
19

How miserable those days will be for pregnant and nursing mothers!

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Greek — tap a word ↓

de Ouai en ekeinais tais hēmerais tais echousais en gastri kai tais thēlazousais

Word by word13 · parsed
δὲdeHowG1161
√ δέ — but, and, etcConjunction
ΟὐαὶOuaimiserableG3759
√ οὐαί — "woe"Interjection
οὐαί: woe, alas The only interjection in the unit. Everything else here is imperative or prediction; this is the one place the discourse simply cries out. Ellicott connects the same tenderness to Luke 23:28-29, the word to the daughters of Jerusalem, and both he and Pulpit note that the horrors of the siege fell hardest exactly here.
ἐνenG1722
√ ἐν — "in," at, (up-)on, by, etcPreposition
ἐκείναιςekeinaisthoseG1565
√ ἐκεῖνος — that one (or (neuter) thing)Demonstrative PronounDative Feminine Plural
ταῖςtaisG3588
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleDative Feminine Plural
ἡμέραιςhēmeraisdays [will be]G2250
√ ἡμέρα — day, iNounDative Feminine Plural
ἡμέρα: day The plural with the demonstrative fixes a period, not a date, and the same phrase returns twice in v22 as the thing that is cut short.
ταῖςtaisforG3588
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleDative Feminine Plural
ἐχούσαιςechousaispregnantG2192
√ ἔχω — to hold (used in very various applications, literally or figuratively, direct or remoteVerbPresent Participle ActiveDative Feminine Plural
ἔχω: to hold, to have Present Participle Active, dative feminine plural. The dative is one of disadvantage: the woe is not pronounced on these women but felt for them.
ἐνen. . .G1722
√ ἐν — "in," at, (up-)on, by, etcPreposition
γαστρὶgastri. . .G1064
√ γαστήρ — the stomachNounDative Feminine Singular
καὶkaiandG2532
√ καί — and, also, even, so then, too, etcConjunction
ταῖςtaisG3588
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleDative Feminine Plural
θηλαζούσαιςthēlazousaisnursing [mothers]G2337
√ θηλάζω — to suckle, (by implication) to suckVerbPresent Participle ActiveDative Feminine Plural
θηλάζω: to suckle, to nurse Rare (5 verses), and its other appearances are tender ones: the blessing cried out over the Lord's own mother in Luke 11:27, and the nursing infants whose praise is perfected in Matthew 21:16. Gill notes that Jewish practice already exempted pregnant and nursing women from certain fasts, so the exemption the law granted them, the siege will not.
20

Pray that your flight will not occur in the winter or on the Sabbath.

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Greek — tap a word ↓

de proseuchesthe hina hymōn hē phygē mē genētai cheimōnos mēde sabbatō

Word by word11 · parsed
δὲdeG1161
√ δέ — but, and, etcConjunction
προσεύχεσθεproseuchesthePrayG4336
√ προσεύχομαι — to pray to God, iVerbPresent Imperative Middle or Passive2nd Person Plural
προσεύχομαι: to pray to God Present Imperative. The grammar draws a line the commentators all notice: what lies in their hands is commanded (flee), what lies outside it is prayed about (the season). Barnes generalises it honestly, that a calamity known to be certain may still be prayed to come mildly.
ἵναhinathatG2443
√ ἵνα — compare G3588 (ὁ))Conjunction
ὑμῶνhymōnyourG4771
√ σύ — thouPersonal / Possessive PronounGenitive 2nd Person Plural
ἡhēG3588
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleNominative Feminine Singular
φυγὴphygēflightG5437
√ φυγή — a fleeing, iNounNominative Feminine Singular
φυγή: a fleeing, flight The cognate noun of v16's verb, and its only appearance in this unit. Its presence here settles that vv16 to 20 are one command, not several.
μὴmēvvvG3361
√ μή — (adverb) not, (conjunction) lestAdverb
γένηταιgenētaiwill not occurG1096
√ γίνομαι — to cause to be ("gen"-erate), iVerbAorist Subjunctive Middle3rd Person Singular
χειμῶνοςcheimōnosin the winterG5494
√ χειμών — akin to the base of 5490 through the idea of a channel), meaning a storm (as pouring rain)NounGenitive Masculine Singular
χειμών: a storm, winter Rare (6 verses). Cambridge lists what the season costs a fugitive: swollen streams, bitter cold, long nights. Gill adds a striking piece of Jewish tradition from Lightfoot, that the first temple's exiles counted it a mercy of God that their going out fell in summer and not in winter, which is precisely the mercy prayed for here.
μηδὲmēde[or]G3366
√ μηδέ — but not, not evenConjunction
σαββάτῳsabbatōon the SabbathG4521
√ σάββατον — the Sabbath (iNounDative Neuter Singular
σάββατον: the Sabbath Matthew alone records this clause, as Ellicott and Cambridge both note, and it is the most Jewish sentence in the unit: a church still keeping the sabbath is assumed. The obstacle is double, its own scruple (a journey of about two thousand cubits, too short to reach safety) and other people's observance (shut gates, so Barnes). Poole is careful that the clause establishes nothing about the sabbath after the resurrection; it only reckons with what the Judaean disciples would in fact be keeping.
21

For at that time there will be great tribulation, unseen from the beginning of the world until now, and never to be seen again.

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Greek — tap a word ↓

gar tote estai megalē thlipsis hoia ou gegonen ap’ archēs kosmou heōs tou nyn oud’ mē ou genētai

Word by word18 · parsed
γὰρgarForG1063
√ γάρ — properly, assigning a reason (used in argument, explanation or intensificationConjunction
τότεtoteat that timeG5119
√ τότε — the when, iAdverb
ἔσταιestaithere will beG1510
√ εἰμί — I exist (used only when emphatic)VerbFuture Indicative Middle3rd Person Singular
εἰμί: to be, to exist Future Indicative. The one future indicative in the verse carries the prediction; everything else measures it.
μεγάληmegalēgreatG3173
√ μέγας — big (literally or figuratively, in a very wide application)AdjectiveNominative Feminine Singular
θλῖψιςthlipsistribulationG2347
√ θλῖψις — pressure (literally or figuratively)NounNominative Feminine Singular
θλῖψις: pressure, affliction The lexicon gives the bare physical sense, pressure, literal or figurative: a weight bearing down rather than a labelled period on a prophetic chart. Ellicott and Pulpit both trace the clause to Daniel 12:1, where a time of trouble unequalled since there was a nation is followed by the deliverance of those written in the book, which is exactly the order this unit keeps: unequalled pressure in v21, days docked because of the chosen in v22. The link is thematic and independently attested in two commentators, but it crosses from Greek to Hebrew, so no shared lexeme can be recorded for it.
οἵαhoiaunseenG3634
√ οἷος — such or what sort of (as a correlation or exclamation)Personal / Relative PronounNominative Feminine Singular
οὐou. . .G3756
√ οὐ — the absolute negative (compare G3361 (μή)) adverbAdverb
γέγονενgegonen. . .G1096
√ γίνομαι — to cause to be ("gen"-erate), iVerbPerfect Indicative Active3rd Person Singular
ἀπ’ap’fromG575
√ ἀπό — "off," iPreposition
ἀρχῆςarchēs[the] beginningG746
√ ἀρχή — (properly abstract) a commencement, or (concretely) chief (in various applications of order, time, place, or rank)NounGenitive Feminine Singular
ἀρχή: a commencement, a beginning With κόσμου it sets the widest possible frame: not since Israel began, but since the ordered world did.
κόσμουkosmouof [the] worldG2889
√ κόσμος — orderly arrangement, iNounGenitive Masculine Singular
κόσμος: orderly arrangement, the world The lexicon's root sense is arrangement, which sharpens the sentence: the pressure is measured against the whole span of the ordered world, and Cambridge draws the corresponding conclusion at the other end, that with the fall of Jerusalem an age closed.
ἕωςheōsuntilG2193
√ ἕως — a conjunction, preposition and adverb of continuance, until (of time and place)Preposition
τοῦtouG3588
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleGenitive Masculine Singular
νῦνnynnowG3568
√ νῦν — "now" (as adverb of date, a transition or emphasis)Adverb
νῦν: now The one word that fixes the speaker inside the reckoning: the comparison runs up to the moment of speaking, then forward.
οὐδ’oud’[and]G3761
√ οὐδέ — not however, iConjunction
μὴmēvvvG3361
√ μή — (adverb) not, (conjunction) lestAdverb
οὐouneverG3756
√ οὐ — the absolute negative (compare G3361 (μή)) adverbAdverb
γένηταιgenētaito be [seen again]G1096
√ γίνομαι — to cause to be ("gen"-erate), iVerbAorist Subjunctive Middle3rd Person Singular
γίνομαι: to come to be, to occur Aorist Subjunctive under a triple negative. Gill and Barnes both pile up the historical measure (Josephus on the famine, the factions, the crucifixions outside the walls), and Gill states plainly why he thinks the superlative is warranted: a sin without parallel drew a calamity without parallel.
22

If those days had not been cut short, nobody would be saved. But for the sake of the elect, those days will be cut short.

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Greek — tap a word ↓

kai ei mē ekeinai hai hēmerai ekolobōthēsan ouk pasa sarx an esōthē de dia tous eklektous ekeinai hai hēmerai kolobōthēsontai

Word by word20 · parsed
καὶkaiG2532
√ καί — and, also, even, so then, too, etcConjunction
εἰeiIfG1487
√ εἰ — if, whether, that, etcConjunction
μὴmē. . .G3361
√ μή — (adverb) not, (conjunction) lestAdverb
ἐκεῖναιekeinaithoseG1565
√ ἐκεῖνος — that one (or (neuter) thing)Demonstrative PronounNominative Feminine Plural
αἱhaiG3588
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleNominative Feminine Plural
ἡμέραιhēmeraidaysG2250
√ ἡμέρα — day, iNounNominative Feminine Plural
ἐκολοβώθησανekolobōthēsanhad not been cut shortG2856
√ κολοβόω — to dock, iVerbAorist Indicative Passive3rd Person Plural
κολοβόω: to dock, to cut short Aorist Indicative Passive. A word so rare (2 verses) that its only canonical home is this saying, in Matthew and in Mark 13:20; the Verifier records the shared lexeme. The image is surgical, an amputation of days, and the divine passive puts the knife in God's hand without naming it. Gill is careful to say what the shortening is not: not natural days made shorter, which Jewish tradition did claim elsewhere, but the siege ended sooner than the guilt deserved.
οὐκouk. . .G3756
√ οὐ — the absolute negative (compare G3361 (μή)) adverbAdverb
πᾶσαpasanobodyG3956
√ πᾶς — all, any, every, the wholeAdjectiveNominative Feminine Singular
σάρξsarx. . .G4561
√ σάρξ — flesh (as stripped of the skin), iNounNominative Feminine Singular
σάρξ: flesh, as stripped of the skin The bluntest word in the unit. Geneva reads it as a Hebraism for humanity, Ellicott limits its reference to the scene of the prophecy, and both readings are needed: a universal idiom used of one land.
ἂνanvvvG302
√ ἄν — (what-, where-, wither-, who-)soeverParticle
ἐσώθηesōthēwould be savedG4982
√ σώζω — to save, iVerbAorist Indicative Passive3rd Person Singular
σῴζω: to save, to rescue Aorist Indicative Passive in an unreal condition. The salvation in view here is survival, not final salvation, which is why the verse can say that no flesh at all would have had it.
δὲdeButG1161
√ δέ — but, and, etcConjunction
διὰdiafor the sake ofG1223
√ διά — through (in very wide applications, local, causal, or occasional)Preposition
τοὺςtoustheG3588
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleAccusative Masculine Plural
ἐκλεκτοὺςeklektouselectG1588
√ ἐκλεκτός — selectAdjectiveAccusative Masculine Plural
ἐκλεκτός: select, chosen The word appears twice in this unit (here and v24) and nowhere else in it, and the Verifier finds it in only 22 verses of the Greek canon. Ellicott notes how new this prominence is in the Lord's later teaching, and declines to settle whether the choice rests on foreknowledge. The sources then divide on who is meant: Ellicott, Barnes, Benson and Gill read Christians, the remnant of the visible Israel; Pulpit records, without preferring, the reading that takes them as Jews yet to turn. What all agree on is the mechanism of mercy, that history's clock is set by them.
ἐκεῖναιekeinaithoseG1565
√ ἐκεῖνος — that one (or (neuter) thing)Demonstrative PronounNominative Feminine Plural
αἱhaiG3588
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleNominative Feminine Plural
ἡμέραιhēmeraidaysG2250
√ ἡμέρα — day, iNounNominative Feminine Plural
κολοβωθήσονταιkolobōthēsontaiwill be cut shortG2856
√ κολοβόω — to dock, iVerbFuture Indicative Passive3rd Person Plural
κολοβόω: to dock, to cut short Future Indicative Passive, the same rare verb repeated. Repetition is the argument: the unreal condition of the first clause becomes a plain promise in the second, and the promise is the only comfort offered in the whole unit.
23

At that time, if anyone says to you, ‘Look, here is the Christ!’ or ‘There He is!’ do not believe it.

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Greek — tap a word ↓

Tote ean tis eipē hymin Idou hōde ho Christos ē Hōde mē pisteusēte

Word by word13 · parsed
ΤότεToteAt that timeG5119
√ τότε — the when, iAdverb
τότε: at that time, then Cambridge sees a possible pause in the discourse marked by this word; Pulpit quotes Chrysostom that it relates not to the order of time but to the time when these things shall be done. Whether the pronoun of time still means the siege or reaches beyond it is the fault line between readings of the whole chapter, and it turns on this single adverb.
ἐάνeanifG1437
√ ἐάν — a conditional particleConjunction
τιςtisanyoneG5100
√ τὶς — some or any person or objectInterrogative / Indefinite PronounNominative Masculine Singular
εἴπῃeipēsaysG2036
√ ἔπω — to speak or say (by word or writing)VerbAorist Subjunctive Active3rd Person Singular
ὑμῖνhyminto youG4771
√ σύ — thouPersonal / Possessive PronounDative 2nd Person Plural
ἸδοὺIdouLookG2400
√ ἰδού — used as imperative lo!VerbAorist Imperative Active2nd Person Singular
ἰδού: lo! behold! An imperative used as an interjection. The word is the deceiver's opening move here, and in v25 the same word becomes the Lord's.
ὧδεhōdehere [is]G5602
√ ὧδε — in this same spot, iAdverb
ὁhotheG3588
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleNominative Masculine Singular
ΧριστόςChristosChristG5547
√ Χριστός — anointed, iNounNominative Masculine Singular
Χριστός: anointed The title in dispute. Ellicott observes that Josephus, full of deceivers claiming divine authority, is oddly silent about messianic pretenders, and suspects a suppression connected with the historian's own flattery of Vespasian; Gill supplies names the historian did not, Jonathan in the Cyrenian desert and later Barcochab.
ἤēorG2228
√ ἤ — disjunctive, orConjunction
ὯδεHōdeThere [He is]G5602
√ ὧδε — in this same spot, iAdverb
μὴmē{do} notG3361
√ μή — (adverb) not, (conjunction) lestAdverb
πιστεύσητεpisteusētebelieve [it]G4100
√ πιστεύω — to have faith (in, upon, or with respect to, a person or thing), iVerbAorist Subjunctive Active2nd Person Plural
πιστεύω: to have faith, to believe Aorist Subjunctive with μή. The only defence commanded against the counterfeit is withheld belief. Barnes grounds the refusal not in suspicion but in possession: they already have evidence that the Messiah has come, and therefore owe no hearing to plausible pretensions.
24

For false Christs and false prophets will appear and perform great signs and wonders to deceive even the elect, if that were possible.

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Greek — tap a word ↓

gar pseudochristoi kai pseudoprophētai egerthēsontai kai dōsousin megala sēmeia kai terata hōste planēsai kai tous eklektous ei dynaton

Word by word18 · parsed
γὰρgarForG1063
√ γάρ — properly, assigning a reason (used in argument, explanation or intensificationConjunction
ψευδόχριστοιpseudochristoifalse ChristsG5580
√ ψευδόχριστος — a spurious MessiahNounNominative Masculine Plural
ψευδόχριστος: a spurious Messiah The word occurs here and in the Markan parallel and nowhere else. Gill records the concrete case: Barcochab, son of a star from Numbers 24:17, crowned and proclaimed Messiah with Akiba applying prophecies to him, and afterwards renamed Barcoziba, son of a lie.
καὶkaiandG2532
√ καί — and, also, even, so then, too, etcConjunction
ψευδοπροφῆταιpseudoprophētaifalse prophetsG5578
√ ψευδοπροφήτης — a spurious prophet, iNounNominative Masculine Plural
ψευδοπροφήτης: a spurious prophet The second coinage of the pair, and the lighter claim of the two: a false Christ usurps the office, a false prophet only claims to speak for it. Benson explains why the two travel together in this period, that it was to little purpose to take on the character of Christ or even of a prophet without miracles to vouch the mission, so the impostors of the siege dealt in signs; Gill adds that the false Christs had their prophets, Barcochab his Akiba. Pulpit widens the category to any teacher claiming a revelation supplemental to the gospel, which is his application rather than the verse's definition.
ἐγερθήσονταιegerthēsontaiwill appearG1453
√ ἐγείρω — to waken (transitively or intransitively), iVerbFuture Indicative Passive3rd Person Plural
ἐγείρω: to waken, to raise up Future Indicative Passive. The passive is worth pausing on: in this unit the passives carry the hidden hands, days docked with no agent named in v22, counterfeits raised with no raiser named here.
καὶkaiandG2532
√ καί — and, also, even, so then, too, etcConjunction
δώσουσινdōsousinperformG1325
√ δίδωμι — to give (used in a very wide application, properly, or by implication, literally or figurativelyVerbFuture Indicative Active3rd Person Plural
μεγάλαmegalagreatG3173
√ μέγας — big (literally or figuratively, in a very wide application)AdjectiveAccusative Neuter Plural
σημεῖαsēmeiasignsG4592
√ σημεῖον — an indication, especially ceremonially or supernaturallyNounAccusative Neuter Plural
σημεῖον: an indication, a sign The Verifier finds this noun in 69 verses and τέρας (G5059, wonders) in only 16, and both are shared with Mark 13:22. Pulpit distinguishes them usefully: the first regards the evidential force, the second the marvel itself. Benson notes that Josephus uses these very two words of the impostors of the siege, which makes the pairing a reported fact of the period rather than only a formula.
καὶkaiandG2532
√ καί — and, also, even, so then, too, etcConjunction
τέραταteratawondersG5059
√ τέρας — a prodigy or omenNounAccusative Neuter Plural
τέρας: a prodigy, an omen Rare (16 verses), and almost always yoked to signs. A prodigy proves nothing by itself, which is the premise the verse depends on: the wonders are granted and the demand for belief is still refused.
ὥστεhōstetoG5620
√ ὥστε — so too, iConjunction
πλανῆσαιplanēsaideceiveG4105
√ πλανάω — to (properly, cause to) roam (from safety, truth, or virtue)VerbAorist Infinitive Active
πλανάω: to cause to roam, to lead astray Aorist Infinitive under ὥστε. The lexical root is causing something to roam away from safety, truth or virtue, and it lands in a unit whose one commanded action is precisely a journey: vv16 to 18 order a flight, and this verb names the effort to bend that flight off course. The deception here is not an argument to be refuted but a direction to be taken, which is why the answer given in v23 is refusal of belief rather than debate, and the answer in v25 is a word already spoken.
καὶkaievenG2532
√ καί — and, also, even, so then, too, etcConjunction
τοὺςtoustheG3588
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleAccusative Masculine Plural
ἐκλεκτούςeklektouselectG1588
√ ἐκλεκτός — selectAdjectiveAccusative Masculine Plural
ἐκλεκτός: select, chosen The second and last occurrence in the unit, three verses after the first. In v22 the chosen are the reason the days are shortened; here they are the target. That reversal is the unit's sharpest irony, and it is why security in v22 must not be read as immunity from error. Gill argues from election itself that final deception is impossible; Barnes agrees while allowing that Christians may be led far astray; Pulpit denies the impossibility outright, since the elect are not yet finally safe.
εἰeiifG1487
√ εἰ — if, whether, that, etcConjunction
δυνατὸνdynatonthat were possibleG1415
√ δυνατός — powerful or capable (literally or figuratively)AdjectiveNominative Neuter Singular
25

See, I have told you in advance.

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Greek — tap a word ↓

idou proeirēka hymin

Word by word3 · parsed
ἰδοὺidouSeeG2400
√ ἰδού — used as imperative lo!VerbAorist Imperative Active2nd Person Singular
ἰδού: lo! behold! The verse is only three words, and the first of them is the counterfeit's own word reclaimed. The contest of v23 is between two imperatives to look, and this one has nothing to display except a promise already spoken.
προείρηκαproeirēkaI have told you in advanceG4302
√ προλέγω — to say beforehand, iVerbPerfect Indicative Active1st Person Singular
προλέγω: to say beforehand, to foretell Perfect Indicative Active. Gill notes what the fulfilment would later be worth as evidence, showing the speaker omniscient and so establishing faith; Barnes reads the purpose as pastoral, that they might be on their guard. Pulpit sees in it both proof and care. ⚙ The grammar carries the argument the unit needs against every later claimant: the true Christ does not require a rumour, because the telling is already in the perfect tense.
ὑμῖνhymin. . .G4771
√ σύ — thouPersonal / Possessive PronounDative 2nd Person Plural
σύ: thou, you Dative plural: told to you, the same hearers commanded to flee, to pray and to withhold belief.

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. A sign to be read, not watched — 24:15

⚙ The verse gives one sign and one command, and the command is laid on a reader. βδέλυγμα (G946) is a rare noun, found in only six verses of the Greek canon, and Pulpit documents that it comes into this sentence straight from the Septuagint of Daniel 12:11; ἐρημώσεως (G2050) is rarer still, three verses, and one of the other two is Luke 21:20, which is why Barnes, Poole and Gill all treat Luke as the authorised gloss on Matthew. What the abomination is, the sources will not agree. Poole states the majority case plainly, that the best reading takes it of the Roman armies, made up of idolatrous soldiers carrying abominable images; Benson supplies the detail of the golden eagle with expanded wings, and Josephus (as both Benson and Barnes report him) for the ensigns set up at the eastern gate after the city fell. Ellicott rejects that on a point of sequence and of place: the sign must precede the destruction, and the abomination stands in a holy place, so he looks instead to the Zealots' seizure of the Temple, which in Josephus's own words made the Holy Place a garrison and stronghold. Cambridge lists both options and a third without choosing. Pulpit refuses all of them (“I must confess that neither of these explanations satisfies me”) on a lexical ground worth respecting: in Scripture abomination attaches to idolatry, and the Zealots, whatever their crimes, were not idolaters. ⚙ Our own judgment is that the unit does not require the identification to be settled, because the verb does not: ἑστὸς is a perfect participle, something that has taken its stand and remains, and the imperative νοείτω asks only that a reader recognise it when it does. Cambridge holds that clause to be the evangelist's aside; Ellicott keeps it in the discourse. Either way the sentence makes understanding a survival skill.

ii. Flight without a backward turn — 24:16-20

⚙ Four imperatives follow, and three of them are in the third person: let them flee, let him not come down, let him not turn back. Only the fourth, προσεύχεσθε, is spoken to the hearers' faces. The grammar sorts the duties exactly as Barnes does in prose: what lies in your hands is commanded, what lies outside them is prayed for. The verbs of the flight are physical and local. δῶμα (G1430, seven verses) is the flat roof, and Ellicott explains what it made possible, a continuous line of roofs by which a man could pass out of the city without setting foot in a street; Gill turns the prohibition into architecture, forbidding not descent but the inner stair; Cambridge offers the same two options. Twice the forbidden act is the same infinitive, ἆραι, to lift up: goods from the house, a cloak from the field. Ellicott notes the cloak is singular and belongs to a labourer stripped to his tunic; Cambridge reaches for the Latin tag the commentators all quote on ploughing unclothed; Geneva reads the detail as a measure of terror rather than of detachment, which is the honest reading, since the cloak was the poor man's blanket. Benson and Gill both hear Lot behind the whole movement, a flight as sudden as the going out of Sodom, and Pulpit says it outright. Then the one outcry: Οὐαὶ is an interjection with no verb, and Ellicott insists on its tone, alas rather than woe, pity rather than denunciation, with Gill saying the same. ⚙ The prayer clause is the most Jewish sentence in the unit, and its presence tells us something about the church Matthew wrote for: it assumes disciples who still keep sabbath, as Cambridge concedes and Pulpit states. Poole is right to add that nothing here legislates the sabbath after the resurrection; the clause simply reckons with the scruples its hearers would actually have, and with shut gates besides.

iii. Docked days, and the counterfeits that fill them — 24:21-25

⚙ The tribulation clause is built on comparison, not on measurement: οἵα is “of what sort,” γέγονεν a settled perfect, and the final denial stacks three negatives on an aorist subjunctive. Ellicott and Pulpit both trace the phrase to Daniel 12:1, and Ellicott is careful about the superlative in a way the modern reader should copy: other sieges may have matched the physical wretchedness, but nothing parallels the breaking up of the faith and polity of Israel. Cambridge says the same from the other side, that with the fall of Jerusalem an age closed. Barnes and Benson supply the Josephus numbers, and they do not agree with each other in detail. Gill assigns a cause the verse itself does not state, the rejection and murder of the Son of God; that is his inference, and it has had a cruel afterlife, so it belongs in the record marked as interpretation. Then the one word of comfort in the unit, and it turns on a verb so rare it lives nowhere else: κολοβόω (G2856, two verses, here and Mark 13:20), to dock, to amputate. The passive names no agent, and the reason clause supplies one obliquely: διὰ τοὺς ἐκλεκτούς, because of the chosen. Benson traces the shortening through entirely ordinary causes, a general impatient for Rome, the besieged burning their own granaries; Cambridge quotes Titus conceding that God ejected the Jews from those fortifications; Pulpit adds an intercession of the escaped Christians that the text does not mention. ⚙ Finally the same word ἐκλεκτούς returns in v24, now as the target of the counterfeits, which is the unit's sharpest irony: the ones for whose sake time is cut short are the ones the false Christs most want. Barnes thinks the signs would so nearly resemble true miracles as to defeat detection, yet holds the deception finally impossible; Gill argues the same impossibility from election itself; Pulpit corrects the Authorized Version's grammar in the opposite direction, so as to lead astray, if possible, even the elect, signifying the difficulty and not the impossibility. That disagreement is real and we do not paper it over. The unit ends on a perfect indicative, προείρηκα: the warning already stands given.

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

⚙ Read as a whole, this passage is strangely unheroic. Given a sign of sacrilege in a holy place, the faithful are not told to cleanse it, defend it, or die at its gates. They are told to read, to recognise, and to leave, and to leave so fast that a man does not pick up his coat. The one direct command to the hearers is to pray about the weather and the calendar. ⚙ We take that shape seriously. The holy place, once the abomination stands in it, is no longer where God's people are kept; the verbs of the unit move them out of it and into hill country with no walls. What holds them is not a location but an election: the only agent of rescue named in the whole passage is the docking of days because of the chosen, and Matthew leaves the docking in the passive, with the hand unnamed. ⚙ Two cautions against our own reading. It would be easy to make v22 a comfort that costs nothing, but the same word for the chosen reappears three verses later as the mark the deceivers aim at, so security here is never the same thing as safety from error. And it would be easy to read the horror of v21 as a settled verdict on a people; Gill does, and the verse does not. The text says the pressure was unequalled and the days were cut; it does not hand us the commentary. ⚙ The line printed beside this reading is our own interpretive summary, not a verse of Scripture, and it should be tested by the passage rather than quoted alongside it.

The sign God gives His people is not a rescue but a door, and the only command attached to it is to walk through.

⚙

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 sign, the same aside: Mark's parallel verbal / quotation: confirmed

Mark 13:14 carries this verse almost word for word, including the two verbs that matter most: ἀναγινώσκω (G314, to read) and νοιέω (G3539, to perceive), with ἵστημι for the standing. The Verifier records the shared lexemes. Mark supplies the phrase the commentators keep importing into Matthew, standing where it ought not: Poole, Barnes and Gill all quote it here as if it were part of Matthew's own text. JFB, in the brief, does not comment on Matthew at all but refers the whole chapter to Mark 13, which is itself evidence of how closely the two were read together.

Mark 13:14

basis: Verifier: shared Greek lexemes G3539 νοιέω (in 14 vv, rare), G314 ἀναγινώσκω (in 29 vv), G2476 ἵστημι (in 149 vv); both refs are Greek New Testament, so a verbal link is checkable on shared Strong's numbers

Luke's plain interpretation of the abomination verbal / quotation: confirmed

Luke 21:20 shares the rare noun ἐρήμωσις (G2050, three verses in the whole Greek canon) with this verse, along with ὅταν and τότε. Because Luke's wording replaces the abomination with Jerusalem encircled by armies, the sources treat it as the authorised gloss: Barnes says the abomination of desolation means the Roman army and is so explained by Luke 21:20; Poole says Luke, who has not these words, possibly gives us in other words the best interpretation of them; Gill cites the same verse. Pulpit dissents on other grounds. The lexical link is real and rare; the interpretive conclusion the commentators draw from it is a judgment, not a datum.

Luke 21:20

basis: Verifier: shared rare Greek lexeme G2050 ἐρήμωσις (in 3 vv) plus G3752 ὅταν (in 119 vv) and G5119 τότε (in 158 vv); both refs Greek New Testament

Two verses that own the verb for docking days verbal / quotation: confirmed

κολοβόω (G2856) occurs in only two verses of the Greek canon: Matthew 24:22 and Mark 13:20. The Verifier records the shared lexeme, together with ἐκλεκτός (G1588, 22 verses) and ἡμέρα. A word this rare, shared between parallel accounts of one saying, is about as secure as a verbal link gets inside the Greek canon. Both evangelists also keep the passive and the same reason clause, so the shortening is attributed the same way in both: because of the chosen, by an agent not named.

Mark 13:20

basis: Verifier: shared Greek lexeme G2856 κολοβόω (in 2 vv, the rarest link in this unit), with G1588 ἐκλεκτός (in 22 vv) and G2250 ἡμέρα (in 368 vv); both refs Greek New Testament

Daniel named, and why that still is not a verbal badge structural / thematic: confirmed

v15 names its own source: the abomination of desolation, spoken of through the prophet Daniel. Pulpit traces the exact wording to the Septuagint of Daniel 12:11, noting that Daniel 9:27 reads βδέλυγμα τῶν ἐρημώσεων and Daniel 11:31 the simple βδέλυγμα. Which verse is meant is disputed in the sources: Poole reports Calvin for 12:11 and others for 9:27, and judges the question of little consequence; Barnes cites all three; Gill excludes 11:31 as belonging to Antiochus and prefers 9:27 because there the desolating abomination follows the cutting off of Messiah. This is the clearest citation in the unit and it still cannot be tiered verbal: the link runs from a Greek text to a Hebrew one, so there is no shared Strong's number to record, and the Greek agreement is with a translation of Daniel rather than with Daniel itself.

Daniel 9:27 · Daniel 11:31 · Daniel 12:11

basis: Explicit named citation (Matthew names Daniel), but the refs cross the Testaments, Greek to Hebrew, so no shared Strong's lexeme can be recorded and the tier cannot be verbal; the agreement Pulpit documents is with the Septuagint wording of Daniel 12:11, not with the Hebrew text

Trouble such as has not been: Daniel 12:1 behind v21 structural / thematic: confirmed

Ellicott says of the tribulation clause simply that the words come from Daniel 12:1, and Pulpit prints the same reference beside it. Daniel there foretells a time of trouble unequalled since there was a nation, followed by the deliverance of those written in the book, which is the same order this unit follows: unequalled pressure, then days docked because of the chosen. The motif link is strong and attested in two independent commentators; the verbal link cannot be tested with Strong's numbers because the two texts are in different languages.

Daniel 12:1

basis: Ellicott and Pulpit both cite Daniel 12:1 for this clause; cross-Testament (Greek to Hebrew), so no shared Strong's lexeme exists and the link is recorded as a shared pattern of unequalled trouble followed by the preservation of a named remnant, not as a quotation

Out of the city, and do not look behind you typological

Benson says of vv17 to 19 that the Lord uses these expressions to intimate that their flight must be as sudden and hasty as Lot's was out of Sodom; Pulpit says the flight was to be precipitate, like that of Lot from Sodom; Gill draws the parallel twice, including the detail that as Lot was not to look back, the man in the field is not to return for his cloak. Genesis 19:17 supplies both halves of Matthew's command, escape to the mountain and do not look behind you. Ezekiel 7:16 shows the same figure in prophetic judgment, those who escape fleeing to the mountains. This is a figural reading, held by three of the commentators in the brief, and it is tiered accordingly rather than as a quotation.

Genesis 19:17 · Ezekiel 7:16

basis: Figural, ancient and widely held: Benson, Pulpit and Gill all read the flight of vv16 to 18 through Lot's escape from Sodom. Cross-Testament (Greek to Hebrew), so no shared Strong's lexeme can be recorded and no verbal claim is made; the Matthew text never names Genesis

Kindred abominations elsewhere: a link we do not vouch for flagged: verify source

Ellicott suggests that the mysterious prediction of 2 Thessalonians 2:4 may point, in the first instance, to some kindred abomination, and Pulpit and Ellicott both bring 2 Thessalonians 2:9 to the signs and wonders of v24. Separately the Verifier finds the rare noun βδέλυγμα (G946, six verses) shared with Revelation 17:5 and Luke 16:15. Two different things are being claimed here and neither is secure. The Pauline connection is a commentator's conjecture about referents, hedged by Ellicott himself with may; the lexeme shared with Revelation and Luke is real but carries no common subject matter beyond the word abomination, and treating it as a thread would let a word do work an argument has not done. We record the pair as flagged so a later reader can test it rather than inherit it.

2 Thessalonians 2:4 · Revelation 17:5 · Luke 16:15

basis: Contested on two counts: the 2 Thessalonians link is Ellicott's hedged conjecture about referents with no lexical basis in the Verifier output, and the Verifier's shared rare lexeme G946 βδέλυγμα (in 6 vv) with Revelation 17:5 and Luke 16:15 is a word in common without a common claim. Verify before promoting

The roof and the field in Luke's other telling verbal / quotation: confirmed

Luke 17:31 and Mark 13:15 share with v17 the rare noun δῶμα (G1430, seven verses) along with οἰκία and καταβαίνω; the Verifier records all three. Luke's setting is different, the day of the Son of Man rather than the siege, and Luke follows it with Remember Lot's wife, which is the same figure Benson, Gill and Pulpit read into Matthew's field and cloak. The shared wording is a genuine verbal link inside the Greek canon; what it shows is one saying travelling in two frames, not a quotation of one by the other.

Luke 17:31 · Mark 13:15

basis: Verifier: shared Greek lexemes G1430 δῶμα (in 7 vv, rare), G3614 οἰκία (in 85 vv), G2597 καταβαίνω (in 81 vv); all refs Greek New Testament, so shared Strong's numbers are the recorded basis

⚙Christ in the Unittypology · verify

AI-generated reading; weigh it against the text.

The house left desolate, and who left it ancient/widely-held

⚙ The unit never says who empties the holy place, but Matthew's own arrangement does: three chapters earlier the Lord says of the Temple that its house is left desolate, and walks out of it. Henry states the sequence bluntly, that from the time the Jews rejected Christ and he left their house desolate, the sword never departed from them; Gill assigns the same cause to the tribulation of v21; Pulpit, quoting Chrysostom, asks whence came wrath so intolerable and answers, for the deed of the cross and for this rejection. ⚙ This is the widely held patristic and Reformed reading, and it needs one honest guard: the verse itself states the pressure and the docking of days without naming a cause, so the link is drawn from Matthew's larger narrative and not from these words. Where it has been used to condemn a people rather than to read a text, it has been misused.

Matthew 23:38 · Luke 21:24

Days docked because of the chosen ancient/widely-held

⚙ The only mercy named in the unit runs through a passive verb with no stated agent and a reason clause with no stated merit: those days will be cut short because of the chosen. Barnes identifies the elect as Christians and cites 1 Peter 1:2, chosen through sanctification of the Spirit; Benson calls the elect a well known appellation for the Christians and traces the shortening through Titus's impatience and the besieged burning their own stores; Poole says God promises to shorten these days for the elect's sake that were amongst this sinful people; Gill grounds it in a choosing in Christ before the foundation of the world. ⚙ Read redemptive-historically, the shape is the remnant shape of the whole canon: judgment is bounded, and it is bounded for the sake of those who belong to the Anointed, not for the sake of the innocent, since v22 says that otherwise no flesh at all would have survived. The agent is unnamed here precisely because the reason clause already names Him by naming His own.

1 Peter 1:2 · Romans 11:5

Counterfeits, and the coming that needs no rumour ancient/widely-held

⚙ The unit's last movement is a warning about Christs, plural: ψευδόχριστοι and ψευδοπροφῆται who will give great signs and wonders. Ellicott points to Simon Magus and Elymas as representative claimants and to 2 Thessalonians 2:9 for signs and lying wonders; Gill names Barcochab, crowned and proclaimed Messiah with Akiba's backing and afterwards called son of a lie; Benson observes that Josephus uses the very words of this prophecy, signs and wonders, for the impostors of the siege. Barnes holds that the real friends of Christ are too firmly established to be wholly led away; Pulpit corrects the grammar in the other direction, reading it as difficulty rather than impossibility. ⚙ What the passage offers against every counterfeit is not a test of signs, since it grants the signs, but the fact that the true Christ has already spoken: προείρηκα, a perfect, I have told you beforehand and the telling stands. The counterfeit needs a rumour to be believed. The last word of the unit is that Christ needed none.

Matthew 24:27 · 2 Thessalonians 2:9

A holy place that cannot be occupied novel

⚙ One further reading, offered as ours and not as the commentators'. The sign of this unit is an occupant in a holy place, and the response commanded is departure: the sanctuary, once occupied, no longer shelters anyone. Elsewhere in the Gospels the Lord speaks of a temple that can be destroyed and raised in three days, meaning His body, and Paul's language of the church as a temple follows from that. If the holy place that finally matters is a person, then the logic of this unit is not despair over a building but relocation: the people of God are told to leave a place because their place is no longer a place. ⚙ None of the ten commentators in this brief draws that line here, and the text does not draw it either; Geneva comes nearest with its gloss that the kingdom of Christ will not be abolished when Jerusalem is utterly destroyed, but will be stretched out even to the end of the world. We mark this novel and offer it to be tested rather than received.

John 2:19-21 · Matthew 23:38

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:

  • Albert Barnes, Notes on the Bible (1834)
  • Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges, — (1880s)
  • Charles Ellicott, Commentary for English Readers (1878)
  • Geneva Study Bible, Marginal Notes (1599)
  • John Gill, Exposition of the Entire Bible (1746–63)
  • Joseph Benson, Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1810s)
  • Matthew Henry, Concise Commentary on the Whole Bible (1706)
  • Matthew Poole, Annotations upon the Holy Bible (1685)
  • The Pulpit Commentary, Spence & Exell, eds. (1880s)

Text and lemmas: BSB for the English, Berean interlinear with Strong's numbers for the Greek, parses and frequencies as given by the brief and the Verifier. Two mechanical notes on the interlinear itself: several slots in the BSB alignment carry only ellipsis marks where the Greek word has no separate English equivalent (v18 ὀπίσω, v19 ἐν γαστρί, v21 οὐ γέγονεν, v22 οὐκ and σάρξ), and our literal renderings restore those words. In v20 and v21 the alignment marks the negative with a placeholder; we read μή with the verb it governs.

Variants and source disagreements we have not resolved. The identity of the abomination is genuinely disputed in the brief: Roman armies with their worshipped ensigns (Poole, Barnes, Benson, Gill), the Zealots' profanation of the Temple (Ellicott, and one of Cambridge's three options), or an idolatrous act analogous to Antiochus (Pulpit, who rejects both of the others). Which Daniel verse is cited is likewise unsettled (Poole reports Calvin for 12:11 and others for 9:27; Gill prefers 9:27 and excludes 11:31; Barnes lists three). Whether the clause let the reader understand belongs to the discourse or to the evangelist divides Cambridge and Benson (citing Campbell and Bengel) from Ellicott and Poole. Pulpit's lemma at v16 reads ἐπὶ τὰ ὄρη where the Berean interlinear gives εἰς τὰ ὄρη; we have followed the interlinear and flagged his reading rather than harmonising. On v24 Barnes and Gill hold the deception of the elect strictly impossible while Pulpit reads the Greek as difficulty, not impossibility; we have printed both and chosen neither.

Source limitations. The JFB entry in this brief is not a comment on Matthew at all but a cross reference directing the reader to Mark 13, so no JFB excerpt could honestly be anchored and none is used. Henry's entry is a single undivided block on 24:4-28, so the sentence quoted at v16 is his on the passage rather than on that verse. The Pulpit entry at v15, and the Gill entries at vv20, 22 and 24, and the Benson entries at vv15 and 23, are capped in the brief; we quoted only inside the text supplied. Numbers drawn from Josephus differ between the commentators themselves (Barnes reports 1,100,000 dead in the siege plus 250,000 in the provinces; Cambridge gives 1,100,000 dead and 100,000 enslaved; Pulpit gives about 1,000,000 dead and 97,000 captive), and we have quoted rather than averaged them. Benson's statement that no Christian perished in Jerusalem, and Barnes's echo of it, rest on Eusebius writing some two and a half centuries later; that is tradition, not documentation.

What is uncertain in our own layer. The cross-Testament threads (Daniel, Genesis, Ezekiel) carry no shared Strong's lexeme and are tiered structural or typological for that reason, as the recorded bases state; no verbal claim is made for any of them, including the named Daniel citation. The 2 Thessalonians and Revelation pairing is flagged, not asserted. The fourth christ entry is marked novel because no commentator in this brief draws it.

✦ = 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)