Mark 13:30

Verily I say unto you, that this generation shall not pass, till all these things be done.

EXPOSITORY (ENGLISH BIBLE)

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

13:28-37 We have the application of this prophetic sermon. As to the destruction of Jerusalem, expect it to come very shortly. As to the end of the world, do not inquire when it will come, for of that day and that hour knoweth no man. Christ, as God, could not be ignorant of anything; but the Divine wisdom which dwelt in our Saviour, communicated itself to his human soul according to the Divine pleasure. As to both, our duty is to watch and pray. Our Lord Jesus, when he ascended on high, left something for all his servants to do. We ought to be always upon our watch, in expectation of his return. This applies to Christ's coming to us at our death, as well as to the general judgment. We know not whether our Master will come in the days of youth, or middle age, or old age; but, as soon as we are born, we begin to die, and therefore we must expect death. Our great care must be, that, whenever our Lord comes, he may not find us secure, indulging in ease and sloth, mindless of our work and duty. He says to all, Watch, that you may be found in peace, without spot, and blameless.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

On the house-top - See the notes at Matthew 9:1-8.

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

30. Verily I say unto you, that this generation shall not pass fill all these things be done—or "fulfilled" (Mt 24:34; Lu 21:32). Whether we take this to mean that the whole would be fulfilled within the limits of the generation then current, or, according to a usual way of speaking, that the generation then existing would not pass away without seeing a begun fulfilment of this prediction, the facts entirely correspond. For either the whole was fulfilled in the destruction accomplished by Titus, as many think; or, if we stretch it out, according to others, till the thorough dispersion of the Jews a little later, under Adrian, every requirement of our Lord's words seems to be met.

Matthew Poole's Commentary

See Poole on "Mark 13:28"

Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

Verily I say unto you, that this generation shall not pass,.... Not the generation of men, in general, or Jews in particular, nor of Christians; but that present generation of men, they should not all go off the stage of life,

till all these things be done; which were now predicted by Christ, concerning the destruction of Jerusalem, the signs of it, and what, should immediately follow upon it; See Gill on Matthew 24:34.

Geneva Study Bible

Verily I say unto you, that this generation shall not pass, till all these things be done.

EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)

Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

30. this generation shall not pass] The word thus rendered denotes (1) birth, age, as in the phrases “younger,” “older in age;” (2) descent; (3) a generation of men living at the same time; (4) in a wider sense, a race. He, Who surveys all things as an Eternal Present, “turns the thoughts of His disciples to two horizons, one near and one far off:”—

(i)  In reference to the destruction of Jerusalem, He declares that the generation of the literal Israel then living would not pass away before the judgments here predicted would fall upon Jerusalem, just as God had made their forefathers wander in the wilderness “until all the generation was consumed” that had come out of Egypt “and done evil in the sight of the Lord” (Numbers 32:13);

(ii)  In reference to His own Second Coming, and the world at large, He affirms that the race of men, and especially the generation of them that sought the Lord (Psalm 24:6), the faithful seed of Abraham, should not pass away until all these things should be fulfilled.

Bengel's Gnomen

[30. Ἡ γενεὰ, generation) These words were spoken in the 30th year of the Dion. Era, and it was in A.D. 70 that they came to pass. Comp. on Matthew 24:34.]

Pulpit Commentary

Verse 30. This generation shall not pass away, until all these things be accomplished. This is one of those prophecies which admit of a growing fulfillment. If the word "generation" (γανεὰ) be understood (as it may undoubtedly be understood) to mean the sum total of those living at any time on the earth, the prediction would hold true as far as the destruction of Jerusalem was concerned. The destruction of Jerusalem took place within the limits of the generation living in our Lord's time; and there might be some of those whom he was then addressing who would live to see the event. His prediction amounted, in fact, to this, that the destruction of Jerusalem would take place within forty years of the time when he was speaking. But it may have a wider meaning. It may mean the Jewish people. Their city would be destroyed their power overthrown. They would be "peeled and scattered." But they would still remain a distinct and separate nation to the end of the world. And there are other prophecies which show that with their national conversion to Christianity will be associated all that is most glorious in the future Church of God. Mark 13:30