There shall not be left here one stone upon another … what shall be the sign of thy coming, and of the end of the world?
Matthew presents a compound question that explicitly includes the coming and completion of the age.
Synoptic parallel viewer
The Olivet Discourse
A synchronized comparison of Matthew 24, Mark 13, and Luke 21.
The columns align corresponding passage units without pretending their wording is identical. Public-domain excerpts, wording notes, and interpretive cautions remain separately labeled.
Selected correspondence
Gathering of the elect
Luke's omission prevents treating the three accounts as word-for-word duplicates.
Interpretive caution: Correlation with 1 Thessalonians 4 is strong in theme but remains an intertextual judgment rather than an explicit citation.
DISPUTED
DisputedMatthew 24
Take heed that no man deceive you.
The warning introduces the whole response.
Many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many.
Matthew emphasizes many claimants and many deceived.
Ye shall hear of wars and rumours of wars … the end is not yet. For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom.
Matthew explicitly says the end is not yet.
There shall be famines … in divers places.
Famine appears with pestilence in some later textual forms, but the earliest textual question must be handled carefully.
There shall be … earthquakes, in divers places.
Matthew predicts earthquakes without quantifying trend or magnitude.
Famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places.
The KJV includes pestilences; critical editions treat the term as textually uncertain in Matthew.
They shall deliver you up to be afflicted, and shall kill you: and ye shall be hated of all nations.
Matthew compresses persecution, death, and hatred.
No close verbal parallel is present in this account.
Matthew's mission discourse contains the closer wording.
Then shall many be offended, and shall betray one another, and shall hate one another.
Matthew emphasizes communal breakdown.
Because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold.
Matthew uses anomia and agapē in a causal relationship.
When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place.
Matthew names Daniel and a holy-place setting.
Abomination of desolation … then let them which be in Judaea flee into the mountains.
Matthew uses the Danielic sign rather than naming armies.
Let them which be in Judaea flee into the mountains … neither on the sabbath day.
Matthew includes rooftop, field, pregnancy, winter, and Sabbath details.
Then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world … except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved.
Matthew uses thlipsis megalē and shortened-days language.
The sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven.
Matthew explicitly says the signs follow the tribulation.
They shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.
Matthew adds the sign of the Son of Man and worldwide mourning.
He shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds.
Matthew adds a great trumpet sound.
This generation shall not pass, till all these things be fulfilled.
Matthew links fig-tree recognition, nearness, and the generation statement.
Of that day and hour knoweth no man … Watch therefore: for ye know not what hour your Lord doth come.
Matthew extends vigilance through several parables into chapter 25.
Mark 13
There shall not be left one stone upon another … what shall be the sign when all these things shall be fulfilled?
Mark asks when the Temple prediction will occur and what sign marks its fulfillment.
Take heed lest any man deceive you.
Mark closely parallels Matthew.
Many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many.
Mark closely parallels Matthew.
When ye shall hear of wars and rumours of wars, be ye not troubled … but the end shall not be yet.
Mark closely matches Matthew's restraint.
There shall be earthquakes in divers places, and there shall be famines and troubles.
Mark adds 'troubles' in the KJV wording.
There shall be earthquakes in divers places.
Mark closely parallels Matthew.
No close verbal parallel is present in this account.
Mark includes famines and troubles but not the same explicit disease term.
They shall deliver you up to councils; and in the synagogues ye shall be beaten: and ye shall be brought before rulers and kings … for a testimony against them.
Mark names councils, synagogues, governors, and kings.
Take no thought beforehand what ye shall speak … for it is not ye that speak, but the Holy Ghost.
Mark attributes the speech to the Holy Spirit.
The brother shall betray the brother to death, and the father the son … and ye shall be hated of all men.
Mark foregrounds household betrayal.
No close verbal parallel is present in this account.
Mark emphasizes persecution and endurance without this wording.
When ye shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, standing where it ought not.
Mark's grammatical form and location wording differ from Matthew.
Abomination of desolation … then let them that be in Judaea flee to the mountains.
Mark closely parallels Matthew's sign and flight command.
Let him that is on the housetop not go down … pray ye that your flight be not in the winter.
Mark omits Matthew's Sabbath reference.
In those days shall be affliction, such as was not from the beginning of the creation … the Lord had shortened those days.
Mark closely parallels the superlative distress and shortening.
The sun shall be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars of heaven shall fall.
Mark closely parallels Matthew.
They shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds with great power and glory.
Mark gives a compact cloud-coming statement.
Then shall he send his angels, and shall gather together his elect from the four winds.
Mark closely parallels the gathering without Matthew's trumpet phrase.
This generation shall not pass, till all these things be done.
Mark closely parallels Matthew.
Of that day and that hour knoweth no man … What I say unto you I say unto all, Watch.
Mark's closing parable concerns servants awaiting the householder.
Luke 21
The days will come, in the which there shall not be left one stone upon another … what sign will there be when these things shall come to pass?
Luke focuses the question on the Temple prediction and its sign.
Take heed that ye be not deceived.
Luke adds a warning not to follow claimants who announce that the time has drawn near.
Many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and the time draweth near: go ye not therefore after them.
Luke joins identity claims with premature timing claims.
When ye shall hear of wars and commotions, be not terrified: for these things must first come to pass; but the end is not by and by.
Luke says the end does not come immediately.
Great earthquakes shall be in divers places, and famines, and pestilences.
Luke explicitly pairs famine with pestilence.
Great earthquakes shall be in divers places.
Luke uses language rendered 'great earthquakes.'
Famines, and pestilences; and fearful sights and great signs shall there be from heaven.
Luke is the clearest Synoptic source for pestilence in the discourse.
They shall lay their hands on you, and persecute you, delivering you up to the synagogues, and into prisons … and it shall turn to you for a testimony.
Luke emphasizes imprisonment and testimony.
Settle it therefore in your hearts, not to meditate before what ye shall answer: For I will give you a mouth and wisdom.
Luke frames the promise through the speaker's provision of wisdom.
Ye shall be betrayed both by parents, and brethren, and kinsfolks, and friends … and ye shall be hated of all men.
Luke supplies the broadest family-and-friend list.
No close verbal parallel is present in this account.
Luke emphasizes betrayal, endurance, and watchfulness without this wording.
When ye shall see Jerusalem compassed with armies, then know that the desolation thereof is nigh.
Luke names the siege circumstance rather than using the abomination phrase.
When ye shall see Jerusalem compassed with armies … then let them which are in Judaea flee to the mountains.
Luke directly links surrounding armies with flight.
Let them which are in Judaea flee to the mountains; and let them which are in the midst of it depart out.
Luke adds departure from the city and warns outsiders not to enter.
There shall be great distress in the land, and wrath upon this people … Jerusalem shall be trodden down of the Gentiles.
Luke localizes the distress to the land and this people and adds captivity and Gentile trampling.
Signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars; and upon the earth distress of nations … the powers of heaven shall be shaken.
Luke adds national distress, sea and wave imagery, and human fear.
Then shall they see the Son of man coming in a cloud with power and great glory.
Luke uses singular 'a cloud' in the KJV.
Your redemption draweth nigh … know ye that the kingdom of God is nigh at hand.
Luke does not repeat the angelic gathering in this location but emphasizes redemption and kingdom nearness.
When ye see these things come to pass, know ye that the kingdom of God is nigh at hand … This generation shall not pass away, till all be fulfilled.
Luke explicitly frames the analogy through the kingdom's nearness.
Take heed to yourselves … Watch ye therefore, and pray always.
Luke warns against overindulgence, drunkenness, and life's anxieties.
TEXTINTERPRETATIONDISPUTED
Point of divergence
Why Luke 21:20 matters
Matthew 24:15 and Mark 13:14 invoke the Danielic “abomination of desolation.” Luke 21:20 instead describes Jerusalem surrounded by armies and says that its desolation has drawn near. This is one of the strongest reasons many interpreters connect the warning with the Roman siege.
The wording does not make every interpretive question disappear. Some readings treat Luke as an explanatory parallel to the same event; others argue that Luke emphasizes a historical layer while Matthew and Mark also permit a typological or future extension.
Strong historical correlation
Jerusalem was surrounded, besieged, captured, and the Temple destroyed during the Jewish War, giving Luke's wording a concrete first-century referent.
Remaining dispute
The degree to which the Synoptic language is exhausted by 70 CE, typologically repeated, or joined to a final horizon depends on broader assumptions about prophecy and apocalyptic imagery.
Sources and provenance (6)
Source coverage6 linked sources
- Primary text4
- Ancient history1
- Research provenance1
Coverage identifies source families present; it is not a truth score or certainty percentage.
Gospel according to Matthew
primary textCoverage class: Primary text
Relevant text: Matthew 24–25
What it supports: Primary source for the Matthew 24 passage navigator and text-only sequence.
Limitations: Relationship to Mark, Luke, Daniel, and Revelation requires literary analysis.
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Gospel according to Mark
primary textCoverage class: Primary text
Relevant text: Mark 13
What it supports: Synoptic parallel to Matthew 24 with distinctive wording and structure.
Limitations: Priority and redaction questions are scholarly matters rather than conclusions of the text itself.
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Gospel according to Luke
primary textCoverage class: Primary text
Relevant text: Luke 21
What it supports: Synoptic parallel whose siege language is central to interpretation.
Limitations: Its relationship to the other accounts is debated.
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Daniel
primary textCoverage class: Primary text
Relevant text: Daniel 2; 7–12
What it supports: Supplies kingdom, Son of Man, seventy-weeks, desecration, distress, and resurrection material.
Limitations: Dating, historical referents, and future extensions are heavily disputed.
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The Jewish War
ancient historical sourceCoverage class: Ancient history
Author or issuer: Flavius Josephus
Relevant text: Books 4–7
Publication date: late first century CE
What it supports: Major narrative source for the Jewish War and the destruction of Jerusalem.
Limitations: Josephus writes with apologetic, political, and personal interests that require critical use.
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The Abomination of Desolation — Daniel, the Olivet Discourse, and Historical Fulfillments
research reportCoverage class: Research provenance
Report: CCX-RPT-14
What it supports: Integrated analysis of Danielic desecration and later interpretations.
Limitations: Report inclusion records provenance, not independent verification.
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Integrated report provenance (4)
- CCX-RPT-02 Test the Claim: Christian Discernment Without Cynicism or Credulity
- CCX-RPT-12 Evidence Before Persona: A Public Source Atlas for Christ.cx
- CCX-RPT-14 The Abomination of Desolation — Daniel, Jesus, and Historical Fulfillments
- CCX-RPT-24 The Abomination of Desolation: Exegetical, Historical, and Eschatological Trajectories
Accessible correspondence list
All mapped themes
ThemeMatthewMarkLuke
Temple setting and questionsMatthew 24:1–3Mark 13:1–4Luke 21:5–7Opening warning against deceptionMatthew 24:4Mark 13:5Luke 21:8False messiahsMatthew 24:5Mark 13:6Luke 21:8Wars and disturbancesMatthew 24:6–7Mark 13:7–8Luke 21:9–10FaminesMatthew 24:7Mark 13:8Luke 21:11EarthquakesMatthew 24:7Mark 13:8Luke 21:11PestilenceMatthew 24:7Mark 13:8Luke 21:11Persecution and legal testimonyMatthew 24:9Mark 13:9Luke 21:12–13Spirit-given testimonyMatthew 24Mark 13:11Luke 21:14–15Betrayal by family and communityMatthew 24:10Mark 13:12–13Luke 21:16–17Lawlessness and cooling loveMatthew 24:12Mark 13Luke 21Abomination of DesolationMatthew 24:15Mark 13:14Luke 21:20Jerusalem surrounded by armiesMatthew 24:15–16Mark 13:14Luke 21:20–21Urgent flight from JudeaMatthew 24:16–20Mark 13:14–18Luke 21:21–22Severe tribulationMatthew 24:21–22Mark 13:19–20Luke 21:23–24Cosmic signsMatthew 24:29Mark 13:24–25Luke 21:25–26Coming of the Son of ManMatthew 24:30Mark 13:26Luke 21:27Gathering of the electMatthew 24:31Mark 13:27Luke 21:28, 31Generation languageMatthew 24:32–34Mark 13:28–30Luke 21:29–32Vigilance and unknown timingMatthew 24:36, 42Mark 13:32–37Luke 21:34–36 Selected theme sources (4)
Source coverage4 linked sources
- Primary text4
Coverage identifies source families present; it is not a truth score or certainty percentage.
Gospel according to Matthew
primary textCoverage class: Primary text
Relevant text: Matthew 24–25
What it supports: Primary source for the Matthew 24 passage navigator and text-only sequence.
Limitations: Relationship to Mark, Luke, Daniel, and Revelation requires literary analysis.
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Gospel according to Mark
primary textCoverage class: Primary text
Relevant text: Mark 13
What it supports: Synoptic parallel to Matthew 24 with distinctive wording and structure.
Limitations: Priority and redaction questions are scholarly matters rather than conclusions of the text itself.
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Gospel according to Luke
primary textCoverage class: Primary text
Relevant text: Luke 21
What it supports: Synoptic parallel whose siege language is central to interpretation.
Limitations: Its relationship to the other accounts is debated.
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First Thessalonians
primary textCoverage class: Primary text
Relevant text: 1 Thessalonians 4:13–5:11
What it supports: Primary text for resurrection, gathering, and Day-of-the-Lord discussions.
Limitations: Its chronological relation to Matthew 24 and Revelation is interpretive.
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Corpus provenance
Research inputs
Authentic source titles are shown for provenance. Raw report files remain private, and inclusion does not verify every claim.
- CCX-RPT-13The Great Tribulation: Biblical Origins and Interpretations
- CCX-RPT-14The Abomination of Desolation — Daniel, Jesus, and Historical Fulfillments
- CCX-RPT-24The Abomination of Desolation: Exegetical, Historical, and Eschatological Trajectories
- CCX-RPT-44The Great Tribulation: Exegetical Origins, Chronology, and Competing Eschatological Models