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Mat_24:3. Κατʼ ἰδίαν ] unaccompanied by any but such as belonged to the number of the Twelve, because they were going to ask Him to favour them with a secret revelation. Differently Mar_13:3.
ταῦτα ] those disastrous events of Mat_24:2.
καὶ τί τὸ σημεῖον , κ . τ . λ .] The disciples assume, as matter of course, that immediately after the destruction in question the Lord will appear, in accordance with what is said Mat_23:39, for the purpose of setting up His kingdom, and that with this the current (the pre-Messianic) era of the world’s history will come to an end. Consequently they wish to know, in the second place (for there are only two questions, not three, as Grotius, Ebrard suppose), what is to be the sign which, after the destruction of the temple, is to precede this second coming and the end of the world, that by it they may be able to recognise the approach of those events. The above assumption, on the part of the disciples, is founded on the doctrine respecting the äáìé äîùéç , dolores Messiae, derived from Hos_13:13. See Schoettgen, II. p. 550; Bertholdt, Christol. p. 43 ff.
τῆς σῆς παρουσίας ] After his repeated intimations of future suffering and death, the disciples could not conceive of the advent of Jesus (1Co_15:23; 1Th_2:19; in the Gospels peculiar to Matthew) to set up His kingdom and make a permanent stay in any other way than as a solemn second coming. After His resurrection they expected the Risen One straightway to set up His kingdom (Act_1:6),—a very natural expectation when we bear in mind that the resurrection was an unlooked-for event; but, after the ascension, their hopes were directed, in accordance with the express promises of Jesus, to the coming from heaven, which they believed was going to take place ere long, Act_1:11; Act_3:20 f., al., and the numerous passages in the New Testament Epistles. Comp. Wittichen in the Jahrb. f. Deutsche Theol. 1862, p. 354 ff. Observe, too, the emphatic σῆς coming after the general expression ταῦτα .
καὶ συντελ . τοῦ αἰῶνος ] In the Gospels we find no trace of the millenarian ideas of the Apocalypse. The τοῦ αἰῶνος , with the article, but not further defined, is to be understood as referring to the existing, the then current age of the world, i.e. to the αἰὼν οὗτος , which is brought to a close ( συντέλεια ) with the second coming, inasmuch as, with this latter event, the αἰὼν μέλλων begins. See on Mat_13:39. The second coming, the resurrection and the last judgment, fall upon the ἐσχάτη ἡμέρα (Joh_6:39; Joh_11:24), which, as it will be the last day of the αἰὼν οὗτος in general, so of the ἐσχάτων ἡμερῶν (Act_2:17; 2Ti_3:1; Jam_5:3; Heb_1:2; 2Pe_3:3) in particular, or of the καιρὸς ἔσχατος (1Pe_1:5), or of the χρόνος ἔσχατος (Jud_1:18; 1Pe_1:20), which John likewise calls the ἐσχάτη ὥρα (1Jn_2:18). This concluding period, which terminates with the last day, is to be characterized by abounding distress and wickedness (see on Gal_1:4). The article was unnecessary before συντελείας , seeing that it is followed by the genitive of specification; Winer, p. 118 f. [E. T. 155].