Markchapter 13
37 verses · BSBMark book hub →
Speaks with:Matthew 24×21Luke 21×7Luke 12×5Mark 13×5Matthew 10×4Acts 1×2
Summary
Chapter summary
Olivet Discourse. The temple's coming fall; birth pangs. False Christs, wars, persecutions, the gospel to all nations. Abomination of desolation; great tribulation; the elect gathered from the four winds. 'Of that day and that hour knoweth no man.' The fig-tree parable of nearness. Watch, watch, watch.
Context
Gospel · Mark — Mark overview
- A. 1–13 Wars and Rumors: the Beginning of Birth Pangs
- B. 14–23 Flee to the Mountains: Days of Tribulation
- C. 24–31 The Son of Man Coming in Clouds
- D. 32–37 Watch: You Do Not Know the Hour
The outline
A.Wars and Rumors: the Beginning of Birth Pangsvv. 1 to 13
Read vv. 1 to 13 →B.Flee to the Mountains: Days of Tribulationvv. 14 to 23
Read vv. 14 to 23 →C.The Son of Man Coming in Cloudsvv. 24 to 31
Read vv. 24 to 31 →D.Watch: You Do Not Know the Hourvv. 32 to 37
Read vv. 32 to 37 →
The world behind this chapter
Mark 13The history
The disciple's remark about the stones was not flattery. Herod's platform used foundation blocks weighing well over a hundred tons, some of which are still in place in the western retaining wall, and Josephus describes the sanctuary's gold plating as unbearable to look at in morning sun.
The destruction came within a generation. Rome besieged the city in AD 70, burned the sanctuary, and demolished the buildings; Josephus, who was present with the Roman command, wrote the account we have.
The desecration Jesus warns of had a template. Antiochus IV had defiled the altar in the second century BC, sparking the Maccabean revolt, and the emperor Caligula had ordered his statue set up in the sanctuary around AD 40, bringing the province close to war before he died.
The escape instructions are pure practicality. Flat roofs had outside stairs, so you could leave without going back inside; a man in a field had left his outer cloak at the edge; winter meant flooded wadis and impassable roads. Eusebius records that the believers in Jerusalem did leave before the siege closed, crossing the Jordan to Pella.
The warning about false messiahs was not hypothetical either. Josephus names several figures in these decades who gathered followers with promises of signs and were cut down by Roman troops.
What it meant to them
Mark's readers were being told what to expect and what not to be frightened by. Wars, earthquakes, and famines are birth pains, not the end; and the specific promise given to them is that they will stand before governors and kings, and that when they do, they should not rehearse — the Holy Spirit will speak.
The command that closes the chapter is repeated four times: watch. For a church that did not know which night the soldiers would come, staying awake was not a metaphor.
Sources cited
- Flavius Josephus, The Wars of the Jews (Whiston translation)
- Eusebius of Caesarea, Ecclesiastical History
The text of this chapter
This page carries no textual note on Mark 13. Where this site has examined a place the manuscripts differ, the examination is in the manuscripts room. Every place this site examines →
This page draws on Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory; John Calvin, Commentaries; John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the New Testament and Matthew Henry, Complete Commentary.