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Mat 24:33. Ταῦτα πάντα, these things all) The order of words ought not to be always overlooked: the emphasis, and, in speaking, the accent, frequently falls upon the first of two words. The present is the first passage which has required this to be demonstrated; we will therefore do so [by the following examples]:-(1.) Luk 11:36, εἰ οὖν τὸ σῶμά σου ὉΛΟΝ φωτεινὸν, μὴ ἔχον τὶ ΜΕΡΟΣ σκοτεινὸν, ἔσται ΦΩΤΕΙΝΟΝ ὅλον, ὡς ὅταν ὁ λύχνος τῇ ἀστραπῇ ΦΩΤΙΖΗ σέ, if then thy body [be] ALL light, not having any PART dark, it shall be LIGHT all over, as when the candle by its shining LIGHTETH thee. In this passage ὁλον (all, the whole, Lat. totum, Fr. tout) is emphatic before φωτεινὸν (light, Lat. lucidum), in opposition to μέρος (part): and φωτεινὸν is emphatic before ὅλον, its emphasis being declared by the verb φωτὶζῃ (lighteth, Lat. illuminet. (2.) Joh 14:2-3, πορεύομαι ἑτοιμάσαι ΤΟΠΟΝ ὑμῖν. καῖ ἐὰν πορευθῶ καὶ ἑτοιμάσω ὙΜΙΝ τόπον, κ.τ.λ. I go to prepare A PLACE for you, and if I go and prepare FOR YOU a place, etc. Here the apparent contradiction is removed by the order of the words, “A PLACE is not to be prepared for you, since it is already prepared,”[1058] is the negative proposition. “FOR YOU is to be prepared a place, i.e. the entrance into that place is to be rendered sure,” is the affirmative proposition. Both are equally true. (3.) Eph 2:1; Eph 2:5, ὙΜΑΣ ὄντας νεκροὺς-ὈΝΤΑΣ ἡμᾶς νεκροὺς, YOU being dead-BEING us dead [Fr. VOUS etant morts, ETANT nous morts]. Here ὑμᾶς (you) is put antithetically to ἡμᾶς (us), in Eph 1:19 : and then ὄντας (being), denotes the past state of death, opposed to vivification. (4.) Jam 2:18, δεῖξόν μοι τὴν ΠΙΣΤΙΝ σου ἐκ (others read χωρὶς[1059]) τῶν ἔργων σου, κἀγὼ δείξω σοι ἐκ τῶν ἘΡΓΩΝ μου τὴν πίστιν μου, Show me thy FAITH by (others read without) thy WORKS, and I will show thee by my WORKS my faith. Here the first πίστιν (faith) refers to the words σὺ πίστιν ἔχεις (thou hast faith), and the second, ἔργων (works), to the words κἀγὼ ἔργα ἔχω (and I have works). These instances, extracted from four different writers of the New Testament, will suffice for the present. Now let us return to St Matthew. As the best MSS. have ΤΑΥΤΑ πάντα, THESE things all, in Mat 24:33, and ΠΑΝΤΑ ταυτα, ALL these things, in Mat 24:34 (although others confound the two modes of expression);[1060] the first ταῦτα placed before πάντα is emphatic, so as to express things about to happen next (for which reason in the parallel passage, Mar 13:29; the πάντα is omitted); and this emphasis being granted, the second πάντα expresses all, including these, things which were to come to pass next, in that generation. The pronoun ταῦτα (these) does not refer to the whole preceding discourse (for the previous signs, and the events which were to follow them indicated by the signs, are distinct from each other), but to the beginnings, which are compared with the fig-tree, in contradistinction to the summer itself, i.e. the approaching kingdom of God. Those things having been fulfilled which are described from Mat 24:4 to Mat 24:28, room was made for the kingdom of God, which would grow stronger and stronger, in one continuous progress. The beginnings, after all hindrances had been removed, were equivalent to the whole.[1061] Furthermore, in St Matthew and St Mark, ταῦτα (these) is in each case contrasted with ἐκείνης (that) in Mat 24:36, with the following sense: THESE all which concern Jerusalem shall come to pass before this generation passes away; but of THAT (remoter and last) day (of judgment) knoweth no one, etc. This observation facilitates the interpretation of the whole of this discourse. St Luke also contrasts with each other ταῦτα, these, and ἐκείνη, that. See Gnomon on Luk 21:36.-γινώσκετε, ye know, Indicative): Cf. Mat 24:32, or know ye, Imperative.-ἐγγὺς, near) sc. the thing itself is.-ἐπὶ θύραις, at the doors) i.e. extremely near.
[1058] See ch. Mat 25:34, “Inherit the kingdom prepared (ἡτοιμασμένην) for you from the foundation of the world.”-ED.
[1059] Such is the reading of E. M.-(I. B.)
[1060] Dabc Vulg. Syr. Memph. with Bengel, read ταῦτα πάντα in Mat 24:33. But B and Rec. Text, τάντα ταῦτα, and so Lachm. Bc and Amiat. MS. of Vulg. read πάντα ταῦτα, with Lachm., Tisch., Beng., and Rec. Text, in Mat 24:34 But DLa read ταῦτα πάντα.-ED.
[1061] Sc. Were tantamount to a pledge that the whole would be accomplished.-ED.