Bible Commentaries
Matthew 24

Verses 1-99

24-25. Discourse on the last things.

24:1-3 Occasion of the speech.

4-14 Events preceding the final apostasy.

15-28 The affliction preceding the Second Coming.

29-31 The Second Coming.

32-51 Admonitions to watchfulness.

25:1-46 Three parables,—the first inculcating watchfulness, the second diligence, the third describing the final judgement.

Part of this discourse is contained in Mar_13.

Matthew 24:1, Matthew 24:2 = Mark 13:1, Mark 13:2

3 = 3, 4

4, 5 = 5, 9a

Mt. has already inserted Mark 13:9b, Mark 13:10a, Mark 13:11-13 in 10:17-22. He therefore does not repeat them here, but summarises 9b, 11, 12 in the words: τότε παραδώσουσιν ὑμᾶς εἰς θλίψιν καὶ�

Matthew 24:9a = Mark 13:9b, Mark 13:11, Mark 13:12

9b = 13a

[10-12]

13 = 13b

14 = 10

15-25 = 14-23

[26-28]

29-31 = 24-27

32-33 = 28-29

34-36 = 30-32

[37-41]

42 summarises 33-37

[43-51]

25 [1-13]

[14-30]

[31-46]



Mt. and Lk. agree against Mk. in the following:

οὐ καταλυθήσεται, Mat_2, Luk_6; οὐ μὴ καταλυθῇ, Mar_2.

λέγοντες, Mat_3, Luk_7.

εἶπεν, Mat_4, Luk_8; ἤρξατο λέγειν, Mar_5.

γάρ, Mat_5, Luk_8.

γάρ, Mat_6, Luk_9;

καί, Mat_7, Luk_10.

ἐ τῷ�Mat_18 = ἐν�Luke 17:31; εἰς τὸν�Mar_16

ἰδού, Mat_23, Luke 17:21; ἴδε, Mk 21.

ἤ, Mat_23, Luke 17:21.

τῶν οὐρανῶν, Mt 29, Lk 26; αἱ ἐν τοῖς οὐρανοῖς, Mk 25.

καὶ δόξης πολλῆς, Mt 30, Lk 27; πολλῆς καὶ δόξης, Mk 26.

ἕως ἄν, Mt 34, Lk 32; μέχρις ουͅ, Mk 30.

οὐ μή, Mt 35, Lk 33; οὐ, Mk 31.

It seems clear that Mt. has seen in Mar_13 an eschatological discourse to which he could attach other sayings of a similar nature. By so doing he has built up a discourse forecasting the future from the moment of utterance to the final judgement. The general drift of this discourse seems clear.

In v. 3 the disciples ask, “When will these things, i.e. the destruction of the temple, be? And what shall be the sign of Thy coming and of the end of the world?” In vv. 4-14 Christ foretells the events that will happen before the end. There are to be false Christs, v. 5; wars and rumours, v. 6; political disturbances, famines, and earthquakes, v. 7; persecution of Christians by pagans, v. 9 treachery and apostasy amongst Christians themselves, vv. 10-11; the gospel to be preached in all the world, v. 14.

Then will come the end (τὸ τέλος). This is to be ushered in by a period of unprecedented distress. Its beginning will be marked by the appearance of the βδέλυγμα τῆς ἐρημώσεως in the holy place. The Christians in Judæa are advised to flee to the mountains, v. 16, and the urgency and physical sufferings accompanying their flight are graphically depicted, vv. 17-22. False Christs and false prophets are once more to arise, vv. 22-24. Then amidst portents of nature the Son of Man will come upon the clouds of heaven, and gather His elect to Himself, vv. 29-31.

Here follow the words and parables of warning to watchfulness, 24:32-25:30. The whole discourse is magnificently ended by a description of the coming judgement.

(M) 24:1. And Jesus went forth from the temple, and was going on His way; and there came to Him His disciples, to show Him the buildings of the temple.] Mk. has: “And as He was going forth from the temple, one of His disciples saith to Him, Teacher, see what stones and what buildings !” For προσῆλθον, see on 4:3.

(M) 2. And He answered and said to them., See ye not all these things? Verily I say to you, There shall not be left here a stone upon a stone, which shall not be thrown down.] Mk. has: “And Jesus said to him, Thou seest these great buildings; there shall not be left here a stone upon a stone, which shall not be thrown down.” ὁ δέ for καὶ ὁ, often.— ὃς οὐ καταλυθήσεται] Mt. avoids Mk.’s harsh repeated οὐ μή. For οὐ μή as common in discourse, see Moulton, p. 191.

(M) 3. And as He was sitting on the mount of Olives, His disciples came to Him privately, saying, Tell us, when shall these things be? and what (shall be) the sign of Thy coming, and of the consummation of the age?] Mk. has: “And as He was sitting at the mount of Olives over against the temple, Peter and James and John and Andrew were asking Him privately, Tell us, when shall these things be, and what shall be the sign when all these things are about to be consummated?” —ἐπί] for Mk.’s harsh εἰς.—προσῆλθον] see on 4:3. Mt., in view of Mk vv. 24-27, transforms Mk.’s question about the fall of Jerusalem into one concerning the second coming and the end of the age. He introduces παρουσία without any antecedent explanation. In so doing he overlooks the fact that the disciples, according to the Gospel narrative, had not the requisite understanding of the future for a question about Christ’s coming. For παρουσία cf. Secrets of Enoch 32:1 “My second coming,” 425 “the last coming.”—συντελείας τοῦ αἰῶνος] is a technical apocalyptic expression; cf. Volz, Jüd. Eschat. p. 166. Cf. Apoc. Bar 13:3 “the consummation of the times,” 27:15, 29:8, 30:3, 54:21, 56:2, 59:8, 82:2, 83:7, 23, Ass. Mos 1:18; cf. Enoch 16:1 “until the day when the great consummation of the great world be consummated” (μέχρις ἡμέρας τῆς τελειώσεως—ἐν ᾖ ὁ αἰὼν ὁ μέγας τελεσθήσεται), Daniel 12:4 LXX., καιρὸς συντελείας; 12:13 LXX., συντέλεια ἡμερῶν; Test. Lev_10, συντέλεια τῶν αἰώνων.

(M) 4. And Jesus answered and said to them, Take heed lest any man lead you astray.] Mk. has: “And Jesus began to say to them,” etc. Mt. omits Mk.’s ἤρξατο, as often.

(M) 5. For many shall come in My name, saying, I am the Messiah; and shall lead many astray.] Mk. has: “Many shall come in My name, saying, that I am (He), and shall lead many astray.” Mt. inserts a connecting link (γάρ), omits ὅτι, as often, and adds the explanatory ὁ Χριστός.

(M) 6. And ye shall be about to hear of wars and rumours of wars. See that ye be not troubled. For they must come to pass; but not yet is the end.] Mk. has: “And when you shall hear of wars and rumours of wars, be not troubled. They must come to pass; but not yet (is) the end.”—μελλήσετε] see on 16:27.—γάρ] added to form a connecting link.—τὸ τέλος] i.e. the fall of Jerusalem, and the consequent παρουσία and συντέλεια τοῦ αἰῶνος.

(M) 7. For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and earthquakes, in divers places.] Mk. has: “For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There shall be earthquakes in divers places. There shall be famines.” Mt. smooths the jerky style of Mk. by adding particles.

(M) 8. And all these things are a beginning of sufferings.] Mk. has “A beginning of sufferings are these things.—ὠδίων] The Jews spoke of “the sufferings of the Messiah.” By the phrase they signified the time of unprecedented trouble which was to precede the Messianic salvation; see Volz, Jüd. Eschat. p. 173 ff.; Schürer, 11. ii. 154-156. Cf. B. Sanhed 98a “The disciple of Rabbi Eleasar asked him, What can one do to be preserved from the sufferings of the Messiah?”; Shabb 118a “three visitations, the sufferings of the Messiah, the judgement of Gehinnom, and the war of Gog and Magog.” For descriptions of the evils of the last days, cf. 2 Es 15. 16, Apoc. Bar 27. 48:31-37, 70:2-10, Jubilees 23:16-25, 2 Esther 5:1-12, 6:18-25, Enoch 99:4-7, 100:1-6.

(M) 9. Then shall they deliver you up to a affliction, and shall kill you.] In these words Mt. summarises Mk vv. 9b, 11, 12, which he has already inserted in 10:17-22, because they referred to the treatment of the Apostles.

(M) And you shall be hated of all nations for My name’s sake.] So Mark 13:18a omitting τῶν ἐθνῶν.

(L) 10. And then shall many be caused to stumble, and shall deliver one another up, and shall hate one another.]

(L) 11. And many false prophets shall arise, and shall lead many astray.]

(L) 12. And because that lawlessness is multiplied, the love1 of many shall wax cold.]

10-12. These verses are not in Mk. For the apostasy of the righteous in the last days, see the references in Volz, Jüd. Eschat. p. 179.—πληθυνθῆναι τὴν�Esther 5:2 “iniquity shall be increased,” 10 “unrighteousness shall be multiplied,” Enoch 91:7.

(M) 13. But he who endured to the end, he shall be saved.] So Mark 13:13. Cf. Daniel 12:12 Theod. μακάριος ὁ ὐπομένων (LXX. ἐμμένων); 2 Es 6:25 “And it shall be that whosoever remaineth after all these things … he shall be saved,” 9:7, 8 “And every one that shall be saved … he shall be preserved.”

(M) 14. And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a testimony to all the nations, and then shall come the end.] Mark 13:10 has: “And to all the nations must first the gospel be preached.”—τὸ τέλος] i.e. the fall of Jerusalem and the end of the world. The editor defines τὸ εὐαγγέλιον by adding τῆς βασιλείας, and somewhat limits the conception of the preaching to all nations by inserting εἰς μαρτύριον, which he borrows from Mk v. 9.—πᾶσιν τοῖς ἔθνεσιν] for Mk.’s harsh εἰς πάντα τὰ ἔθνη; see on 10:18.

(M) 15. When, therefore, ye see “the abomination of desolation,” which was spoken of by Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place. Let the reader understand.] Mk. has: “And when you see ‘the abomination of desolation’ standing where he ought not. Let the reader understand.”

τὸ βδέλυγμα τῆς ἐρημώσεως] the phrase in Mk. seems to be borrowed from Daniel 12:11; cf. 9:27 βδέλυγμα τῶν ἐρημώασεων, 11:31 βδέλυγμα ἐρημώσεως. The object alluded to in these passages seems to have been an idol altar. Cf. 1 Mac 1:54, 59 “they builded an abomination of desolation upon the altar;—and they sacrificed upon the idol altar, which was upon the altar of God.” Cf. Driver on Daniel 11:31. In Mk. the phrase denotes an undefined object described as fulfilling the prophecy of Daniel. But see Swete on Mark 13:14. The participle which follows is in the masc. gender, and suggests that the Evangelist had in mind a statue or other personal object.—ὁ�Acts 6:13, Acts 21:28 τόπος ἅγιος means the temple. But in both places it has the article which we should expect here. However, the temple is probably intended. The editor may have had in mind Daniel 9:27 καὶ ἐπὶ τὸ ἱερὸν βδέλυγμα τῶν ἐρημώσεων ἔσται ἕως συντελείας. In 2 Mac 2:18 “the holy place” means the Holy Land.

(M) 16. Then let those in Judæa flee to the mountains.] So Mk.

(M) 17. He who is on the housetop, let him not come down to take things out of his house.] Mk. has μὴ καταβάτω μηδὲ εἰσελθάτω. For Mt.’s omission of one clause, see Introduction, p. xxiv.

(M) 18. And he who is in the field, let him not turn back to take his coat.]—ἐν τῷ�

(M) 21. For there shall be then great affliction, such as hath not happened from the beginning of the world until now, nor shall happen.] Mk. has: “For those days shall be affliction such as there hath not happened like it from the beginning of the creation which God created until now, and shall not happen.” Mt. omits Mk.’s redundant τοιαύτη and ἣν ἔκτισεν ὁ θεός, cf. on 8:16, and substitutes τότε ἔσται for Mk.’s Semitic ἔσονται αἱ ἡμέραι ἐκεῖμαι. For the idea of the last days as a period of unprecedented tribulation, Cf. Daniel 12:1 ἐκείνη ἡ ἡμέρα θλίψεως οἵα οὐκ ἐγενήθη�Jeremiah 30:7, Jeremiah 30:1 Mac 9:27.—γέγονεν. For the perfect cf. Daniel 12:1 Th.

(M) 22. And except those days were shortened, no flesh should be saved: but because of the elect, those days shall be shortened.] Mk. has: “And except the Lord shortened the days, no flesh should be saved. But because of the elect whom He elected, He shortened the days.”—ἐκολοβώθησαν] pass for Mk.’s act; cf. Introduction, p. xxiii. For the omission of Mk.’s redundant οὓς ἐξελέξατο, cf. on 8:3.—οὐκ—πᾶς] A Hebraism; cf. Blass, p. 178. But see also Class. Rev. 1901, p. 442. κολοβόω is elsewhere used of physical amputation.—ἐκλεκτούς] For the elect in the final tribulation, cf. Enoch 1:1, 28:2, 3, 4, 48:9, 62:8, 11, 12, 13 “the elect shall be saved on that day.”

In Enoch 80:2 it is said that “in the days of the sinners the years, will be shortened”; cf. Apok. Abrahams 29: “zür Verkürzung des Äons der Gottlosigkeit.”

(M) 23. Then if any one say to you, Behold, here is the Messiah, or here; believe (him) not.] Mk. has: “And then if any one say to you, Behold, here is the Messiah; behold, there; do not believe (him).”—μὴ πιστεύσητε] Mk. has μὴ πιστεύετε, which is less applicable to a future occurrence. See Moulton, p. 124.

(M) 24. For there shall arise false Messiahs, and false prophets, and shall give great signs and marvels; so as to lead astray, if possible, even the elect.] Mk. has: “For there shall arise false Messiahs and false prophets, and shall give signs and marvels to lead astray, if possible, the elect.”

(M) 25. Behold, I have told you before.] Mk. has: “But take ye heed, I have told you beforehand all things.”

26-27. Occur in Luke 17:23-24.

(L) 26. If, therefore, they say to you, Behold, he is in the desert; go not forth: behold, he is in the chambers; believe (them) not.] Lk. has “And they will say to you, Behold there, or behold here. Go not after nor follow (them).”

(L) 27. For as the lightning goes forth from the east, and appears to the west; so shall be the presence of the Son of Man.] Lk. has: “For as the lightning, when it flashes from the one part under the heaven shines to the other part under the heaven, so shall be the Son of Man.” The idea apparently is that the presence of the Son of Man will be not local, but everywhere visible. See on Luke 17:24, Luke 17:37.

28. Occurs in Luke 17:37.

(L) 28. Wheresoever the corpse is, there will be gathered the eagles.] An enigmatic sentence, probably a proverbial saying; cf. Job 39:30 οὗ δʼ ἄν ὦσι τεθνεῶτες παραχρῆμα εὑρίσκονται, sc. “young vultures.” Here the meaning probably is that the Parousia will be at the destined time when evil has reached its fated climax. Just as when life has abandoned a body, and it becomes a corpse, the vultures immediately swoop down upon it; so when the world has become rotten with evil, the Son of Man and His angels will come to execute the divine judgement. See Hastings, DCG. i. p. 65.

(M) 29. And immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun shall be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall all from the heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken.] Mk. has: “But in those days after that tribulation the sun shall be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall be falling from the heaven, and the powers which are in the heavens shall be shaken.” Such signs are symbolical of any great manifestation of Jehovah’s power. Cf. Isaiah 13:10 at the fall of Babylon, “The stars of heaven and the constellations thereof shall not give their light, the sun shall be darkened in his going forth, and the moon shall not cause her light to shine”; 34:4 at the destruction of Edom, “All the host of heaven shall be dissolved, and the heavens shall be rolled together like a scroll”; Ezekiel 32:7-8 at the desolation of Egypt, “I will cover the heaven, and make the stars thereof dark; I will cover the sun with a cloud, and the moon shall not give her light.” In the Apocalyptic literature such portents are to recur in the last evil time. Cf. Joel 2:31 “The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood”; 3:15 “The sun and the moon are darkened, and the stars withdraw their shining”; 2 Esther 5:4 “The sun shall suddenly shine forth in the night, and the moon in the day”; Enoch 80:4 “And the moon will alter her order, and not appear at the (appointed) time”; Ass. Mos 10:5 “And the horns of the sun will be broken, and he will be turned into darkness; and the moon will not give her light, and will be turned wholly into blood.” Mt. inserts εὐθέως. He has not, like Lk., definitely interpreted the βδέλυγμα of Mar_14 with reference to the last siege of Jerusalem. But nevertheless it remains probable that by his ἑστὸς ἐν τόπῳ ἁγίῳ he tacitly alludes to something that was to happen in the temple during the final invasion of Palestine by the Roman armies. By inserting εὐθέως in v. 29 he signifies his understanding that the παρουσία of the Son of Man was to take place at no great length of time after the fall of Jerusalem. Cf. ταχύ, Revelation 22:20.

(E) 30. And then shall appear the sign of the Son of Man in heaven.] The words do not occur in Mk. They appear to be the answer to v. 3 τί τὸ σημεῖον τῆς σῆς παρουσίας; There, however, the “sign” seems to be distinct from the “coming.” “What shall be the sign which warns of Thy coming?” Here by analogy we should render: “Then shall appear the sign which precedes the Son of Man,” as though the sign were some independent and unexplained phenomenon. Possibly this is the editor’s meaning, who thinks of the sign as some unique portent which heralds the immediate coming of the Son of Man. But more probably the direct reference is to Daniel 7:13. The coming of one like a Son of Man there predicted was itself a sign: “Then shall appear the well-known sign of the Son of Man predicted by Daniel.”

(E) And then shall all the tribes of the land wail.] The words are not in Mk. They are based on Zechariah 12:12 καὶ κόψεται ἡ γῆ κατὰ φυλὰς φυλάς.

(M) And they shall see the Son of Man coming upon the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.] Mk. has: “And then shall they see the Son of Man coming in clouds with great power and glory.” Mt. has transferred τότε to the previous clause. The words are based on Daniel 7:13, with a reminiscence of Zechariah 12:10 For Mk.’s ἐν νεφέλαις, Mt. substitutes ἐπὶ τῶν νεφελῶν τοῦ οὐρανοῦ, to assimilate to the LXX. of Daniel. See Driver on Daniel 7:13. For the “glory” of the Son of Man, see on 16:27.

The same combination of Zechariah 12:10-12 with Daniel 7:13 occurs in Revelation 1:7. It is, of course, possible that one writer is dependent on the other, but equally possible that this combination of the two passages was a commonplace of Christian Apocalyptic study. For the Messianic application of the previous clause of Zec 12:10, cf. John 19:37. Bousset on Revelation 1:7 suggests that there is implied in the passage a belief that Christ would appear with or on the cross. If Mt. had this in mind, the “sign of the Son of Man” would mean the crucified Saviour appearing in the air.

(M) 31. And He shall send His angels with a great trumpet, and they shall gather His elect from the four winds, from the ends of heavens to their ends.] Mk. has: “And then shall He send the angels, and gather His elect from the end of earth to the end of heaven”.—ἀποστελεῖ τοὺς�Isaiah 27:13, Apok. Abrahams 31. Schemoneh Esreh 10: “Blow the great trumpet for our freedom, and raise a signal for the gathering of our dispersion.”

(M) 32. And from the fig-tree learn its parable. So soon as its branch becomes soft, and it puts forth leaves, ye perceive that the summer is near.] So Mk., with ἐστίν and two variations in order.

(M) 33. So also ye, when ye have seen all these things, perceive that it is near at the doors.] Mk. has “these things happening” for “all these things”.—ἐγγύς—ἐπὶ θύραις] is one of the pleonasms so characteristic of Mk. The subject of ἐστίν in Mk. seems to be the coming of the Son of Man. In Mt. the insertion of πάντα seems to suggest a wider reference to all that has gone before, including the appearance of the Son of Man, which is regarded as closely connected with the preceding events; cf. εὐθέως (v. 29).

(M) 34. Verily I say to you, That this generation shall not pass away, until all these things have happened.] Mk. has μέχρις οὗ for ἕως ἄν.

(M) 35. Heaven and earth shall pass away, but My words shall not pass away.]—οὐ μὴ παρέλθωσιν] for Mk.’s οὐ παρελεύσονται. Cf. on v. 18, and Moulton, 190-192.

(M) 36. But concerning that day and hour no one knoweth, not even the angels of the heavens, except the Father alone.] Mk. has “in heaven,” “or hour,” and omits “alone.” In Mk. the “day” and “hour” are synonymous expressions for the period of the coming. Mt. westernizes, by treating “hour” as a nearer specification of time within the “day.”—οὐδὲ ὁ υἱός] is omitted in S1 א c a E F g1 2 al; and its omission would be so consonant with Mt.’s treatment of Mk. in respect of statements about the person of Christ, that it is difficult to think that he would have retained the clause here. See Introduction, p. xxxi. For God’s knowledge of the period of the Messiah, cf. Ps.-Sol. 17:28, Zechariah 14:7.

Vv.37-41 find a parallel in Luke 17:26-27, Luke 17:30, Luke 17:34, Luke 17:35. Mt. drew them from the Logia, Lk. from an independent source.

(L) 37. For as the days of Noah, so shall be the presence of the Son of Man.] Lk. has: “And as it was in the days of Noah, so shall it be also in the days of the Son of Man.” “The days of the Messiah” was a technical expression for the Messianic period.1

(L) 38, 39. For as they were in those days which were before the flood, eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day in which Noah entered into the ark, and they knew not until the flood came and took away all; so shall be the presence of the Son of Man.] Lk. has: “They were eating, they were drinking, they were marrying, they were given in marriage, until the day in which Noah entered into the ark, and the flood came and destroyed all; so shall it be on the day in which the Son of Man is revealed”.—τρώγοντες] only here in Mt., not in Mk. or Lk., five times in Jn., always of eating the flesh of Christ. Lk. here has ἤσθιον. τρώγειν “would seem to be used in ordinary Greek exclusively to mean eating vegetables, fruit, sweetmeats, etc., never flesh,” Abbott, Johannine Vocabulary, 1710 n.

(L) 40. Then shall there be two in the field; one is taken away, and one is left. Lk. has: “I say to you, on this night there shall be two upon one bed. The one shall be taken away, and the other shall be left.” In Mt. the παραλαμβάνεται refers back to ἐπισυνάξουσι (v. 31). The Son of Man will come as unexpectedly as did the Flood. Just as this surprised men in their ordinary pursuits, and snatched them from their pleasures; so will the angels surprise men at work, and summon the elect from their daily toil. “Three things,” said Johanan ben Zaccai, “come unexpectedly, the Messiah, a discovery, and a scorpion,” B. Sanh 97a.

(L) 41. Two (women shall be) grinding at the mill; one is taken, and one is left.] Lk. has: “There shall be two (women) grinding together; the one shall be taken, and the other shall be left.”

30. καὶ τότε κόψονται πᾶσαι αἱ φυλαὶ τῆς γῆς] S1 omits, and has “ye will see” for the following ὄψονται. Merit believes the clause to be a gloss from Revelation 1:7 καὶ κόψονται ἐπʼ αὐτὸν πᾶσαι αἱ φυλαὶ τῆς γῆς. The clause is a résumé of Zechariah 12:10 κόψονται ἐπʼ αὐτόν, 12 κόψεται ἡ γῆ, 14 πᾶσαι—φυλαί. It is certainly curious that Mt. and Rev. should agree so closely in an inexact quotation of this kind. But the words may well have been a current Jewish-Christian adaptation of Zec. to the Second Coming known to both writers. Wellhausen remarks that the clause is not very suitable here, because in this connection the appearance of the Son of Man should be a sign of joy that the period of the great tribulation is at an end, and that the redemption of the elect has come. But to the anti-Pharisaic editor the joy of the elect would not be diminished by the remembrance that their anti-Christian Jewish persecutors would wail when the Son of Man appeared. The editor simply wishes to remind his readers that when the sign of the Son of Man was seen the prophecy of Zechariah would be fulfilled.

31. σάλπιγγος] add φωνῆς, B X al; καὶ φωνῆς, D al. Cf. 1 Thessalonians 4:16.

36. τῶν οὐρανῶν] א* et cb B D 13 28 86 124 346 a b c e f ff1 2 h l q add οὐδὲ ὁ υἱός. The words are genuine in Mk., but Mt. omitted them; cf. Introduction, p. xxxii. Their insertion here is due to assimilation to Mk. They are rightly omitted here by אc a E F G al g1 2 S1. Mt.’s μόνος is a kind of compensation for the omitted clause.

42. Mk. here has four verses (33-36) containing a double exhortation to watchfulness and a simile of an absent householder. Mt. abbreviates these into one verse.

(M) 42. Watch, therefore, because ye know not at what day your Lord cometh.] Cf. Mk 35. To compensate for the abbreviation, Mt. adds two similes of a householder and of an absent housemaster, which are found in a different connection in Luke 12:39, Luke 12:40, Luke 12:42-46. There is a remarkable amount of agreement here between Mt. and Lk., the only variations being the following:

Mt. Lk.

43 ἐκεῖνο. 39 τοῦτο.

φυλακῇ. ὥρᾳ.

ἂν εἴασεν.�

Mk vv. 33-36 seem to have suggested to the editor the insertion here of Matthew 24:43, for in 25:13 he repeats the text of Mk. from which this interpolation took its origin.

ποίᾳ] ποῖος is here equivalent to τίς, Moulton, 95; Blass, 176.

(L) 43. And know this, that if the master of the house had known in what watch the thief comes, he would have watched, and not have permitted his house to be broken through.]

(L) 44. Therefore be ye also ready; because at an hour which ye think not the Son of Man cometh.]

(L) 45. Who then is the faithful and prudent slave, whom the master set over his establishment, to give to them their food in season?]

(L) 46. Blessed is. that slave, whom his master shall find so doing when he comes.]

(L) 47. Verily I say to you, That he will set him over all his possessions.]

(L) 48, 49. But if that evil slave say in his heart, My master delays, and shall begin to beat his fellow-slaves, and shall eat and drink with the drunken;]

(L) 50. The master of that slave shall come on a day when he does not expect (him), and at an hour which he does not know,]

(L) 51. And shall cut him asunder, and set his portion with the hypocrites; there shall be the wailing and the gnashing of teeth.]—ἐκεῖ ἔσται, κ.τ.λ] See on 8:12.









M the Second Gospel.

LXX. The Septuagint Version.

L the Matthæan Logia.

1�