Matthew 23 · Verse 38

Matthew 23:38

Behold, your house is left unto you desolate.
Matthew 23:38, King James Version

Matthew 23:38 in other translations

BSBLook, your house is left to you desolate.
WEBBehold, your house is left to you desolate.
ASVBehold, your house is left unto you desolate.
YLTLo, left desolate to you is your house;
DARBYBehold, your house is left unto you desolate;
BBESee, your house is made waste.
WebsterBehold, your house is left to you desolate.

What does Matthew 23:38 mean?

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown
38. Behold, your house--the temple, beyond all doubt; but their house now, not the Lord's. See on Mt 22:7. is left unto you desolate--deserted, that is, of its Divine Inhabitant. But who is that? Hear the next words:

Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown, 1871 · public domain

Barnes' Notes
Verse 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. Mt 24:1 and following.

(y) "desolate" Zech 6:6

Albert Barnes, 1834 · public domain

Adam Clarke's Commentary
Verse 38 Behold, your house - Ο οικος, the temple: - this is certainly what is meant. It was once the Lord's temple, God's Own house; but now he says, Your temple or house - to intimate that God had abandoned it. See the note on Mat 23:21; see also on Luk 13:35 (note).

Adam Clarke, 1831 · public domain

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on Matthew 23:34-39

Our Lord declares the miseries the inhabitants of Jerusalem were about to bring upon themselves, but he does not notice the sufferings he was to undergo. A hen gathering her chickens under her wings, is an apt emblem of the Saviour's tender love to those who trust in him, and his faithful care of them. He calls sinners to take refuge under his tender protection, keeps them safe, and nourishes them to eternal life…

Read the full comment on Matthew 23:34-39 →

Matthew 23:38 in the original Greek

Word-by-word with transliteration, English gloss and Strong's number. Tap a number for the full definition and every place the word is used.

ἰδοὺidouBeholdG2400
ἀφίεταιaphietaiis leftG863
ὑμῖνhuminto youG4771
ὁhotheG3588
οἶκοςoikoshouseG3624
ὑμῶνhumōnof youG4771
ἔρημος.erēmosdesolate!G2048

Source: STEPBible TAHOT/TAGNT (Tyndale House, CC BY 4.0).

Cross references for Matthew 23:38

  • Jeremiah 22:5

    But if ye will not hear these words, I swear by myself, saith the Lord, that this house shall become a desolation.

  • Luke 13:35

    Behold, your house is left unto you desolate: and verily I say unto you, Ye shall not see me, until the time come when ye shall say, Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord.

  • Luke 21:24

    And they shall fall by the edge of the sword, and shall be led away captive into all nations: and Jerusalem shall be trodden down of the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled.

  • 1 Kings 9:7

    Then will I cut off Israel out of the land which I have given them; and this house, which I have hallowed for my name, will I cast out of my sight; and Israel shall be a proverb and a byword among all people:

  • Acts 6:13-14

    And set up false witnesses, which said, This man ceaseth not to speak blasphemous words against this holy place, and the law: For we have heard him say, that this Jesus of Nazareth shall destroy this place, and shall change the customs which Moses delivered us.

  • Luke 21:6

    As for these things which ye behold, the days will come, in the which there shall not be left one stone upon another, that shall not be thrown down.

  • Luke 21:20

    And when ye shall see Jerusalem compassed with armies, then know that the desolation thereof is nigh.

  • Luke 19:43-44

    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, And shall lay thee even with the ground, and thy children within thee; and they shall not leave in thee one stone upon another; because thou knewest not the time of thy visitation.

  • Mark 13:14

    But when ye shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, standing where it ought not, (let him that readeth understand,) then let them that be in Judea flee to the mountains:

  • Psalms 69:24

    Pour out thine indignation upon them, and let thy wrathful anger take hold of them.

  • Matthew 24:2

    And Jesus said unto them, See ye not all these things? verily I say unto you, There shall not be left here one stone upon another, that shall not be thrown down.

  • Isaiah 64:10-12

    Thy holy cities are a wilderness, Zion is a wilderness, Jerusalem a desolation. Our holy and our beautiful house, where our fathers praised thee, is burned up with fire: and all our pleasant things are laid waste. Wilt thou refrain thyself for these things, O Lord? wilt thou hold thy peace, and afflict us very sore?

Ranked by reader votes · OpenBible.info cross references (CC BY).

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
24:2; 2Ch 7:20,21; Ps 69:24; Isa 64:10-12; Jer 7:9-14; Da 9:26
Zec 11:1,2,6; 14:1,2; Mr 13:14; Lu 13:35; 19:43,44; 21:6,20,24
Ac 6:13,14

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (Samuel Bagster, c. 1836) · public domain

Context

  • Matthew 23:37

    O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them which are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not!

  • Matthew 23:38

    Behold, your house is left unto you desolate.

  • Matthew 23:39

    For I say unto you, Ye shall not see me henceforth, till ye shall say, Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord.

Read all of Matthew 23

Matthew 23:38 in other languages

Spanish
Reina-Valera 1909
He aquí vuestra casa os es dejada desierta.
French
Bible J.N. Darby 1885
Voici, votre maison vous est laissée déserte,
German
Elberfelder 1871
Siehe, euer Haus wird euch öde gelassen;
Latin
Clementine Vulgate
Ecce relinquetur vobis domus vestra deserta.