Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Luke 19:43
For the days shall come upon thee, that thine enemies shall cast a trench about thee, and compass thee round, and keep thee in on every side,
43. the days ] often used of troublous times, like the Latin tempora. shall cast a trench about thee
keep thee in on every side ] The blockade established was so terribly rigid that myriads of the Jews perished of starvation.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Verse 43. Cast a trench about thee] This was literally fulfilled when this city was besieged by Titus. Josephus gives a very particular account of the building of this wall, which he says was effected in three days, though it was not less than thirty-nine furlongs in circumference; and that, when this wall and trench were completed, the Jews were so enclosed on every side that no person could escape out of the city, and no provision could be brought in, so that they were reduced to the most terrible distress by the famine which ensued. The whole account is well worth the reader’s attention. See Josephus, War, book v. chap. xxii. sec. 1, 2, 3.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
It is a plain prophecy of the final destruction of Jerusalem by the Roman armies, which came to pass within less than forty years after. The cause of that dreadful judgment is assigned,
because thou knewest not the time of thy visitation. Gods visitations are either of wrath or mercy; of wrath, Exo 32:34; Lev 26:16; Jer 15:3; of mercy, Jer 29:10. It is plain that our Saviour useth the term here in the latter, not the former sense; and that by Gods visitation of this people here, is meant his visiting them with his prophets, by John the Baptist, and by himself. Their not knowing of it (here intended) was their not making use of it, not receiving and embracing the gospel. The contempt of the gospel is the great, cause of all those miseries which come upon people in this life, or shall come upon them in that life which is to come.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
43. a trencha rampart; firstof wood, and when this was burnt, a built wall, four miles incircuit, built in three daysso determined were they. This “cutoff all hope of escape,” and consigned the city to unparalleledhorrors. (See JOSEPHUS,Wars of the Jews, 6.2; 12.3,4.) All here predicted was withdreadful literally fulfilled.
Lu19:45-48. SECONDCLEANSING OF THE TEMPLEAND SUBSEQUENTTEACHING.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
For the days shall come upon thee,…. Suddenly, and very quickly, as they did within forty years after this:
that thine enemies; the Romans, and such the Jews took them to be, and might easily understand who our Lord meant:
shall cast a trench about thee, and compass thee round, and keep thee in on every side: which was not only verified in the Roman armies closely besieging them; but particularly in this, as Josephus relates t that Titus built a wall about the city, of thirty nine furlongs long, and thirteen forts in it which reached ten furlongs, and all done in three days time; by which means they were pent up, starved, and famished, and reduced to inexpressible distress.
t De Bello Jud. l. 6. c. 8.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
Shall cast up a bank ( ). Future active indicative of , a double compound (, , ) of long usage, finally in a military sense of line of battle or in camp. Here alone in the N.T. So also the word () for bank, stake, palisade, rampart, is here alone in the N.T., though common enough in the old Greek.
Compass thee round ( ). Future active indicative. Another common compound to make a circle () around (), though here only in the N.T.
Keep thee in ( ). Shall hold thee together on every side (). See about on 4:38.
Fuente: Robertson’s Word Pictures in the New Testament
A trench [] . Rev., correctly, as Tynd., a bank. Only here in New Testament. The word literally means a pointed stake, used in fortifying the intrenchments of a camp, and thence the palisade itself. In fortifying a camp or besieging a city, a ditch was dug round the entire circuit, and the earth from it thrown up into a wall, upon which sharp stakes were fixed. Every Roman soldier carried three or four of these stakes on the march. Wyc., with pale.
Keep thee in [] . See on ch. Luk 4:38.
Fuente: Vincent’s Word Studies in the New Testament
1) “For the days shall come upon thee,” (hoti eksousin hemerai epi se) “Because days will come upon you,” as a city, and as a nation, a race, Isa 29:2-4. For your fate is sealed, you have gone too far, Judgment closes in on you now; An awful picture of judgment follows:
2) “That thine enemies shall cast a trench about thee,” (kai parembalousin hoi echthroi sou charaka soi) “When your enemies-will raise up a rampart about you,” an armed, fort from which they will militarily assault you.
3) “And compass thee round,” (kai perikuklosousin se) “And they will surround or encircle you,” as surely as Joshua and his army encircled Jericho to defeat it, Jer 6:1-6.
4) “And keep thee in on every side.” (kai suneksousin se pantothen) “And they will press upon you on all sides,” to cause famine to come to you all within your city walls, a direct prophecy that alluded to the manner in which they were to be destroyed by the Roman army led by Titus, AD 70, Luk 21:20; Luk 21:24.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
43. For the days shall come upon thee. He now assumes, as it were, the character of a judge, and addresses Jerusalem with greater severity. In like manner the prophets also, though they shed tears over the destruction of those about whom they ought to feel anxiety, yet they summon up courage to pronounce severe threatenings, because they know that not only are they commanded to watch over the salvation of men, but that they have also been appointed to be the heralds of the judgment of God. Under these terms Jesus declares that Jerusalem will suffer dreadful punishment, because she did not know the time of her visitation; that is, because she despised the Redeemer who had been exhibited to her, and did not embrace his grace. Let the fearful nature of the punishments which she endured now alarm us, that we may not, by our carelessness, extinguish the light of salvation, but may be careful to receive the grace of God, and may even run with rigor to meet it.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
(43) The days shall come upon thee. We again come upon a cluster of words peculiar, as far as the New Testament is concerned, to St. Luke, and belonging to the higher forms of historical composition.
Shall cast a trench about thee.The Greek substantive means primarily a stake, then the stockade or palisade by which the camp of a besieging army was defended, then the earth-work upon which the stockade was fixed. In the latter case, of course, a trench was implied, but the word meant the embankment rather than the excavation. The better MSS. give for cast a verb which more distinctly conveys the idea of an encampment.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
43. The days shall come We have here one of the most striking predictions ever uttered.
A trench A ridge or low wall of earthworks, flung up from a ditch made by the excavation.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
“For the days will come on you, when your enemies will cast up a bank about you, and surround you, and keep you in on every side, and will dash you to the ground, and your children within you, and they will not leave in you one stone on another, because you did not know the time of your visitation.”
And there could be only one result. The same thing that had happened in the days of Jeremiah would happen again. Because they had missed their day of salvation, days of judgment would come on them. Jerusalem would be destroyed. The holy stones would lie scattered at the end of every street (Lam 4:1). In Jeremiah’s day it had been brought about because of their support for a false son of David, one of the rejected house, of whom God had warned that no son of that house would inherit the throne of David, so that it was rather to be given to One miraculously born (Isa 7:13-14; see also Isa 39:6-7). Here it was because of the rejection of that One Who had been miraculously born, Whose death would seal their fate unless they repented. The vivid description fits well with the descriptions of the siege of Nebuchadnezzar (compare Psa 137:7-8; Jer 6:6; Lam 1:15; Lam 2:8-9; Lam 2:17; Lam 4:1; Eze 4:2; Eze 26:8), as well as its repetition by Titus in 70 AD. (See also 2Sa 17:13; Isa 29:3; Isa 37:33; Hos 13:16; Nah 3:10). Sadly it was a description of all sieges where resistance was offered. There would be nothing unusual about it, only its severity and its cause.
And all this would come on them, the consequence of their own rash folly, because they had not recognised that the time of their visitation had come (compare Jer 10:15; Jer 51:18), that the acceptable year of the Lord was here (Luk 4:19), a time that would then be followed by the day of vengeance (Isa 61:1-2).
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
Luk 19:43. Shall cast a trench about thee, Jesus here foretold particularly the principal circumstances of the siege of Jerusalem, and with his prophesy the event corresponded most exactly; for when Titus attacked the city, the Jews defended themselves so obstinately, that he found there was no way to gain his purpose, but to encompass the city with a fence and a mound. By this means he kept the besieged in on every side, cut off from them all hope of safety by flight, and consumed them by famine. The work which he undertook was indeed a matter of extreme difficulty; for the wall measured thirty-nine furlongs, or almost five miles; nevertheless, the whole was finished in three days; for, to use the expression of Josephus, “the soldiers, in performing this work, were animated by a divine impulse.”See his Jewish War, book 6: chap. 13 and for the other circumstances, the notes on Matthew 24.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
43 For the days shall come upon thee, that thine enemies shall cast a trench about thee, and compass thee round, and keep thee in on every side,
Ver. 43. For the days shall come ] God hath his days for vengeance, as man hath his day for repentance. There is a prime of every man’s life and of every man’s ministry. The Levite lingered so long that he lost his concubine, she came short home; so doth many a man’s soul for like reason.
Shall cast a trench about thee ] Because, like the wild ass, thou wouldest not otherwise be tamed and kept within compass of God’s commandments.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
43. ] declares, not ‘ the things hidden from thine eyes ,’ so that it should be rendered, ‘ namely, that the days shall come ,’ &c.: but the awful reason which there was for the fervent wish just expressed for, or because.
, a mound with palisades. The account of its being built is in Jos. B. J. ver. 6. 2. When the Jews destroyed this, Titus built a wall round them (ib. 12. 2), see Isa 29:2-4 , to which our Lord here tacitly refers.
Fuente: Henry Alford’s Greek Testament
Luk 19:43 . , for, because, introducing a prophetic picture of coming ruin, either to explain the = what you would have escaped had you but known; or to substantiate the assertion of judicial blindness = no hope of your seeing now; your fate sealed; judgment days will surely come ( ). Then follows an awful picture of these judgment days in a series of clauses connected by a fivefold , the first being = when. The description recalls Isa 29:3 so closely that the use of such definite phrases before the event is quite conceivable, although many critics think the prophecy so certainly ex eventu as to use it for fixing the date of the Gospel. , a palisade (here only in N.T.). Titus did erect a palisaded mound around Jerusalem, and, after it was destroyed by the Jews in a sortie, he built a wall.
Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson
the days = days.
trench = rampart. Greek charax. Occurs only here. Compare Isa 29:3, Isa 29:4; Isa 37:33.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
43.] declares, not the things hidden from thine eyes, so that it should be rendered, namely, that the days shall come, &c.: but the awful reason which there was for the fervent wish just expressed-for, or because.
, a mound with palisades. The account of its being built is in Jos. B. J. ver. 6. 2. When the Jews destroyed this, Titus built a wall round them (ib. 12. 2),-see Isa 29:2-4,-to which our Lord here tacitly refers.
Fuente: The Greek Testament
Luk 19:43. ) days, which shall be many: because thou dost not regard the one day. See Luk 19:42.-, , , and, and, and) Three degrees of the straits to which they would be reduced.-, keep thee in, press hard upon) Titus built a wall round the city, and thereby precluded the possibility of egress.
Fuente: Gnomon of the New Testament
the days: Luk 21:20-24, Deu 28:49-58, Psa 37:12, Psa 37:13, Dan 9:26, Dan 9:27, Mat 22:7, Mat 23:37-39, Mar 13:14-20, 1Th 2:15, 1Th 2:16
cast: Or, “cast a bank” or rampart [Strong’s G5482]. This was literally fulfilled when Jerusalem was besieged by Titus; who surrounded it with a wall of circumvallation in three days, though not less than 39 furlongs in circumference; and when this was effected, the Jews were so enclosed on every side, that no person could escape from the city, and no provision could be brought in. Isa 29:1-4, Jer 6:3-6
Reciprocal: Deu 28:52 – General Deu 32:43 – avenge 1Sa 17:20 – trench 1Sa 23:7 – he is shut 2Sa 20:15 – cast up 1Ki 16:17 – besieged Tirzah 2Ki 19:32 – cast a bank 2Ki 25:1 – pitched Psa 2:5 – Then Psa 40:15 – desolate Isa 1:8 – besieged Isa 24:10 – city Isa 27:10 – the defenced Isa 29:3 – General Isa 37:33 – cast Jer 4:17 – keepers Jer 6:25 – the sword Jer 30:3 – the days Jer 52:4 – pitched Lam 1:17 – commanded Hos 2:6 – I will Mic 5:1 – he hath Zec 11:6 – I will no Zec 14:2 – the city Mal 4:1 – the day Mat 23:38 – General Mat 24:15 – ye Mat 24:21 – General Luk 21:23 – great Rev 20:9 – and compassed
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Luk 19:43. For. This introduces a prophetic proof that these things were hidden; and is also the awful reason for the fervent wish just expressed (Alford). Because our Lord knew that the judgment was inevitable, He voices His sorrow not only in loud weeping but in this pathetic unavailing wish.
Days shall come upon thee. There is a day of decision, but days of retribution. Comp. the discourse uttered two days afterwards (chap. Luk 21:7, etc.), and near the same spot (see on Mat 24:3). From this very quarter these things came upon the city. The first Roman camp was pitched on this slope of the Mount of Olives.
Shall throw an embankment about thee. A palisaded mound is meant, and according to Josephus, this was the first regular operation in the siege under Titus.
And com-pass thee round, etc. This indicates a different and subsequent act. After the Jews burned the palisades, Titus erected a wall, which hemmed in the city. Hence the famine.
Fuente: A Popular Commentary on the New Testament
Here we have a prophetical prediction of the total and final destruction of the city of Jerusalem by the Roman armies, who begirt the city round, burnt the temple, starved the people, and brought such ruin and destruction upon the place, as no history could ever parallel: the reason is assigned, because they knew not the time of their visitation; that is, the time when God visited them with his gospel, first by the ministry of John, then by the preaching of Christ himself, and afterwards by his disciples and apostles.
Hence learn,
1. That when God gives his gospel to a people, he gives that people a merciful and a gracious visitation.
2. That for a people not to know, but to neglect the time of their gracious visitation, is a God-provoking, and a wrath-procuring sin: Because thou knowest not the time of thy visitation, therefore the time shall come, that thine enemies shall lay thee even with the ground, and not leave one stone upon another; which, history tells us, was literally fulfilled, when Turnus Rufus, with his plough, ploughed up the very foundation stones upon which the temple stood. Lord, how has sin laid the foundation of ruin in the most flourishing cities and kingdoms! Here we have a prophetical prediction of the total and final destruction of the city of Jerusalem by the Roman armies, who begirt the city round, burnt the temple, starved the people, and brought such ruin and destruction upon the place, as no history could ever parallel: the reason is assigned, because they knew not the time of their visitation; that is, the time when God visited them with his gospel, first by the ministry of John, then by the preaching of Christ himself, and afterwards by his disciples and apostles.
Hence learn,
1. That when God gives his gospel to a people, he gives that people a merciful and a gracious visitation.
2. That for a people not to know, but to neglect the time of their gracious visitation, is a God-provoking, and a wrath-procuring sin: Because thou knowest not the time of thy visitation, therefore the time shall come, that thine enemies shall lay thee even with the ground, and not leave one stone upon another; which, history tells us, was literally fulfilled, when Turnus Rufus, with his plough, ploughed up the very foundation stones upon which the temple stood. Lord, how has sin laid the foundation of ruin in the most flourishing cities and kingdoms!
Fuente: Expository Notes with Practical Observations on the New Testament
The enemies in view proved to be the Roman soldiers under Titus who besieged Jerusalem as Jesus described, breached its walls, and finally leveled it in A.D. 70 (cf. Luk 21:20-24). The reason for its destruction was its failure to realize Messiah’s visit and His offer of salvation. Consequently His visit would result in judgment.