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Albert Barnes

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible - Matthew 23:38

Your house - The temple. The house of worship of the Jews. The chief ornament of Jerusalem.Desolate - About to be desolate or destroyed. To be forsaken as a place of worship, and delivered into the hands of the Romans, and destroyed. See the notes at Matthew 24:0. read more

Joseph Benson

Joseph Benson's Commentary of the Old and New Testaments - Matthew 23:38-39

Matthew 23:38-39. Behold, your house The temple, which is now your house, not God’s; is left unto you desolate Forsaken of God and his Christ, and sentenced to utter destruction. Our Lord spake this as he was going out of it for the last time. For I say unto you Ye Jews in general, ye men of Jerusalem in particular; shall not see me henceforth Απ ’ αρτι , hereafter, as the words signify, Matthew 26:64; till After a long interval of desolation and misery, Ye shall say, Blessed, ... read more

Donald C. Fleming

Bridgeway Bible Commentary - Matthew 23:1-39

129. More about scribes and Pharisees (Matthew 23:1-39; Mark 12:38-40; Luke 20:45-47)Instead of teaching only the law of Moses, the scribes and Pharisees added countless laws of their own. Instead of making the people’s load lighter, they made it heavier. People could profit from listening to the scribes’ teaching of Moses’ law, but they were not to copy the scribes’ behaviour (Matthew 23:1-4).Jesus gave two specific reasons for his condemnation of the scribes. First, they wanted to make a... read more

E.W. Bullinger

E.W. Bullinger's Companion Bible Notes - Matthew 23:38

your . . . you. Very emphatic. At the beginning of the Lord's ministry it was "My Father's house" (John 2:16 ); but at the end, after His rejection, it was "your house". house: i.e. the Temple, where He was speaking. is left = is being left. See Matthew 24:1 . desolate. Every "house" and every place is "desolate" where Christ is not. read more

James Burton Coffman

Coffman Commentaries on the Bible - Matthew 23:38

Behold, your house is left unto you desolate.Scholars omit the word "desolate" (see the ASV margin). Whether or not the word is in the original, the meaning surely is. "Behold your house is left unto you!" This was a seven-word summary of the seven woes just pronounced by the Lord. No longer would the city be disturbed by the teaching of her Saviour. His last public discourse was ended. The Holy City was then left to those vain captains of their sinking ship, unaware of their doom, even when... read more

Thomas Coke

Thomas Coke Commentary on the Holy Bible - Matthew 23:37-38

Matthew 23:37-38. O Jerusalem, Jerusalem!— Our Lord having laid before the Pharisees andthenationtheirheinousguiltandgrievouspunishment,thethought of the calamities which were comingupon them moved him exceedingly: his bowels were turned within him, and his breast was filled with the gracious meltings of pity to such a degree, that, unable to contain himself, he broke forth into tears; bewailing Jerusalem particularly, on account of the peculiar severity of its lot. For, as its inhabitants had... read more

Robert Jamieson; A. R. Fausset; David Brown

Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible - Matthew 23:38

38. Behold, your house—the temple, beyond all doubt; but their house now, not the Lord's. See on Matthew 23:2. is left unto you desolate—deserted, that is, of its Divine Inhabitant. But who is that? Hear the next words: read more

Thomas Constable

Expository Notes of Dr. Thomas Constable - Matthew 23:37-39

3. Jesus’ lamentation over Jerusalem 23:37-39 (cf. Luke 13:34-35)This lamentation should help us realize that the judgment Jesus just announced in such strong language was not something that delighted Him. It broke His heart. This is also clear in that He personalized the people in Jerusalem in these verses; Jesus spoke of the city as many people, not as an impersonal thing. He also spoke here as Israel’s Savior, not just a prophet but God Himself. These three verses are Jesus’ last public... read more

Thomas Constable

Expository Notes of Dr. Thomas Constable - Matthew 23:38

The house in view is probably the temple (cf. 1 Kings 9:7-8). Other views are that it refers to the city, the Davidic dynasty, the nation, or all of the above. Jesus had formerly claimed the temple as His own house (Matthew 5:35; Matthew 17:25-26; Matthew 21:12-16). Now He spoke of it as their house, the house of prayer that they had converted into a den of thieves (Matthew 21:13). Jesus and God would leave the temple desolate by removing Jesus’ presence from it. Instead of it becoming the... read more

John Dummelow

John Dummelow's Commentary on the Bible - Matthew 23:1-39

Denunciation of the Pharisees1-36. Final denunciation of the Scribes and Pharisees. The other synoptists insert in this place a brief utterance directed against the scribes (Mark 12:38-40; Luke 20:45-47), but the discourse as it stands is peculiar to St. Matthew. A portion of it, however, is inserted by St. Luke at an earlier period, on the occasion of a dinner at a Pharisee’s house (Luke 11:37-52) and this suggests that we have here a collection of sayings against the scribes and Pharisees... read more

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