Mark 13 — Clausal Layout (Greek)

independentparticipialrelativepurposecausecomparativecontentconditionalphrase modifierdashed = verbless / suspended

Flush-left = a main (independent) clause. Each dependent line begins directly beneath the word it attaches to in the line above — the anchor word is dotted-underlined, and lights up when you hover its dependent clause; each tag also names the attachment. A dashed border marks verbless, elliptical, or suspended lines. Where a long sentence's staircase runs wider than the page, the diagram scrolls sideways. (In print, or without JavaScript, lines fall back to stepped indent columns.)

The temple's fall foretold and the disciples' question 13:1–4

vv. 1–2 — the temple's stones admired and doomed

Καὶ ἐκπορευομένου αὐτοῦ ἐκ τοῦ ἱεροῦparticipial — genitive absolute — forward-leaning on λέγει; Jesus' final departure from the precincts

λέγει αὐτῷ εἷς τῶν μαθητῶν αὐτοῦ·independent — historic present — an unnamed disciple; the speech-frame

Διδάσκαλε, ἴδε ποταποὶ λίθοι καὶ ποταπαὶ οἰκοδομαί.content — verbless exclamation — ἴδε a frozen pointing particle; Herod's famously massive masonry admired

καὶ ὁ Ἰησοῦς εἶπεν αὐτῷ·independent — the answering oracle — speech-frame

Βλέπεις ταύτας τὰς μεγάλας οἰκοδομάς;content — the counter-question — βλέπω, soon the discourse's refrain, first on Jesus' lips

οὐ μὴ ἀφεθῇ ὧδε λίθος ἐπὶ λίθονcontent — οὐ μή + aorist subjunctive — the strongest Greek denial; fulfilled A.D. 70

ὃς οὐ μὴ καταλυθῇ.relative — the οὐ μή doubled inside the relative — καταλύω, dismantled stone from stone

vv. 3–4 — the private question on the Mount of Olives

Καὶ καθημένου αὐτοῦ εἰς τὸ Ὄρος τῶν Ἐλαιῶν κατέναντι τοῦ ἱεροῦparticipial — genitive absolute — forward-leaning on ἐπηρώτα; the teacher seated facing the doomed shrine (cf. Zech 14:4)

ἐπηρώτα αὐτὸν κατ' ἰδίαν Πέτρος καὶ Ἰάκωβος καὶ Ἰωάννης καὶ Ἀνδρέας·independent — inceptive imperfect, singular verb with the four named askers — κατ' ἰδίαν, the insiders' schoolroom

Εἰπὸν ἡμῖνcontent — the request whose two halves frame the whole discourse

πότε ταῦτα ἔσται,content — the first question — πότε: timing; ταῦτα, the near referent (the temple's fall)

καὶ τί τὸ σημεῖονcontent — the second question, verbless — the demanded σημεῖον the discourse will refuse to date

ὅταν μέλλῃ ταῦτα συντελεῖσθαι πάντα.conditional — backward ὅταν on σημεῖον (typed cnd; no temporal key) — συντελεῖσθαι, consummation language widening the question

The Olivet discourse — birth pangs, tribulation, the Son of Man, and the watch 13:5–37

vv. 5–6 — the keynote: see that no one deceives you

ὁ δὲ Ἰησοῦς ἤρξατο λέγειν αὐτοῖς·independent — the discourse's single narrative frame — ingressive ἤρξατο; all thirty-three verses hang on λέγειν

Βλέπετεcontent — the keynote imperative — βλέπετε, the discourse's refrain (vv. 5, 9, 23, 33)

μή τις ὑμᾶς πλανήσῃ.content — μή + subjunctive of apprehension — deception, not war, the first danger named

πολλοὶ ἐλεύσονται ἐπὶ τῷ ὀνόματί μουcontent — the ground of the warning — impostors trading on his name

λέγοντες ὅτιparticipial — speech-participle with recitative ὅτι — the deceivers' one line

Ἐγώ εἰμι,content — the claim — Ἐγώ εἰμι, the divine self-designation (Exod 3:14; Isa 43:10) arrogated

καὶ πολλοὺς πλανήσουσιν.content — πολλοί deceiving πολλούς — the feared verb of v. 5 made a prediction

vv. 7–8 — wars and earthquakes: the beginning of birth pangs, not the end

ὅταν δὲ ἀκούσητε πολέμους καὶ ἀκοὰς πολέμων,conditional — fronted ὅταν (typed cnd; no temporal key) — forward-leaning on μὴ θροεῖσθε

μὴ θροεῖσθε·content — the command of calm — θροέομαι, panic forbidden to the forewarned

δεῖ γενέσθαι,content — the apocalyptic δεῖ — necessity inside God's plan (Dan 2:28 LXX δεῖ γενέσθαι)

ἀλλ' οὔπω τὸ τέλος.content — verbless — οὔπω, the great delaying word: wars are preliminaries, not the signal

ἐγερθήσεται γὰρ ἔθνος ἐπ' ἔθνος καὶ βασιλεία ἐπὶ βασιλείαν,cause — on τὸ τέλος — why it is not yet: Isa 19:2 / 2 Chr 15:6, the scripted convulsions

ἔσονται σεισμοὶ κατὰ τόπους,cause — coordinate in the ground — distributive κατὰ τόπους

ἔσονται λιμοί·cause — the asyndetic third — the woes pile up without connectives

ἀρχὴ ὠδίνων ταῦτα.content — verbless verdict — the messianic ὠδῖνες: onset of labor, not delivery

vv. 9–13 — handed over: persecution as testimony, the Spirit speaking, endurance

βλέπετε δὲ ὑμεῖς ἑαυτούς·content — the refrain turned inward — emphatic ὑμεῖς: from world events to the disciples' own bodies

παραδώσουσιν ὑμᾶς εἰς συνέδριαcontent — παραδίδωμι — the verb of Jesus' own passion (9:31; 14:41), now the disciples' future

καὶ εἰς συναγωγὰς δαρήσεσθεcontent — δέρω — the synagogue flogging (cf. 2 Cor 11:24)

καὶ ἐπὶ ἡγεμόνων καὶ βασιλέων σταθήσεσθε ἕνεκεν ἐμοῦcontent — the arenas widen — Jewish courts to Roman tribunals; ἕνεκεν ἐμοῦ, the charge is Christ

εἰς μαρτύριον αὐτοῖς.phrase modifier — εἰς μαρτύριον αὐτοῖς — the dock turned pulpit; a testimony for, or against, them (cf. 1:44)

καὶ εἰς πάντα τὰ ἔθνη πρῶτον δεῖ κηρυχθῆναι τὸ εὐαγγέλιον.content — the missionary δεῖ — πρῶτον: the world's evangelization stands between now and the end

καὶ ὅταν ἄγωσιν ὑμᾶς παραδιδόντες,conditional — fronted ὅταν (typed cnd) — forward-leaning on μὴ προμεριμνᾶτε; παραδιδόντες again

μὴ προμεριμνᾶτεcontent — προμεριμνάω — a Markan hapax: no rehearsed defense

τί λαλήσητε,content — indirect deliberative question — the content of the forbidden worry

ἀλλ' ὃ ἐὰν δοθῇ ὑμῖν ἐν ἐκείνῃ τῇ ὥρᾳ τοῦτο λαλεῖτε·content — fronted indefinite relative resumed by τοῦτο — the word a gift (divine passive δοθῇ), delivered in the hour itself

οὐ γάρ ἐστε ὑμεῖς οἱ λαλοῦντες ἀλλὰ τὸ πνεῦμα τὸ ἅγιον.cause — the ground — the Spirit the true speaker in the dock; Mark's one promise of the Paraclete's work

καὶ παραδώσει ἀδελφὸς ἀδελφὸν εἰς θάνατον καὶ πατὴρ τέκνον,content — Mic 7:6 — betrayal invades the family; the verb gapped in the second pair

καὶ ἐπαναστήσονται τέκνα ἐπὶ γονεῖςcontent — ἐπανίστημι — the household in revolt

καὶ θανατώσουσιν αὐτούς·content — θανατόω — the betrayal carried to its end

καὶ ἔσεσθε μισούμενοι ὑπὸ πάντων διὰ τὸ ὄνομά μου.content — future periphrastic — a standing state of hatred; the name of v. 6, now the offense

ὁ δὲ ὑπομείνας εἰς τέλος οὗτος σωθήσεται.content — resumptive οὗτος — endurance, not escape, the promised way; τέλος echoes v. 7, σωθήσεται anticipates v. 20

vv. 14–23 — the abomination of desolation: flee, for the tribulation is unequaled

Ὅταν δὲ ἴδητε τὸ βδέλυγμα τῆς ἐρημώσεως ἑστηκότα ὅπου οὐ δεῖ,conditional — fronted ὅταν (typed cnd) — leaning forward across the parenthesis on φευγέτωσαν; Dan 9:27/11:31/12:11, and the masculine ἑστηκότα against neuter βδέλυγμα: the grammar hints at a personal desolator

ὁ ἀναγινώσκων νοείτω,independent — the parenthesis crux — whose voice? anchored to the frame's λέγειν (like καθαρίζων, 7:19) as the Evangelist's nudge to his reader, though some keep it inside the speech as Jesus' pointer to the reader of Daniel

τότε οἱ ἐν τῇ Ἰουδαίᾳ φευγέτωσαν εἰς τὰ ὄρη,content — the apodosis — τότε answers the ὅταν; flight, not defense, is commanded

ὁ δὲ ἐπὶ τοῦ δώματος μὴ καταβάτω μηδὲ εἰσελθάτωcontent — the rooftop — straight down the outside stair and away, not into the house

ἆραί τι ἐκ τῆς οἰκίας αὐτοῦ,purpose — purpose infinitive — possessions forfeited to speed

καὶ ὁ εἰς τὸν ἀγρὸν μὴ ἐπιστρεψάτω εἰς τὰ ὀπίσωcontent — εἰς τὰ ὀπίσω — no turning back (cf. Gen 19:26; Lot's wife the standing warning)

ἆραι τὸ ἱμάτιον αὐτοῦ.purpose — purpose infinitive — the cloak laid off for field-work, left where it lies

οὐαὶ δὲ ταῖς ἐν γαστρὶ ἐχούσαις καὶ ταῖς θηλαζούσαις ἐν ἐκείναις ταῖς ἡμέραις.content — verbless woe — compassion, not curse: the burdened cannot run

προσεύχεσθε δὲcontent — continual prayer commanded over the flight's timing

ἵνα μὴ γένηται χειμῶνος·content — ἵνα-content of the prayer — genitive of time: swollen wadis and cold against escape

ἔσονται γὰρ αἱ ἡμέραι ἐκεῖναι θλῖψιςcause — the ground of flight and prayer — the days themselves are θλῖψις (Dan 12:1)

οἵα οὐ γέγονεν τοιαύτη ἀπ' ἀρχῆς κτίσεωςrelative — correlative οἵα … τοιαύτη — the pleonastic doubling Semitic; unprecedented affliction

ἣν ἔκτισεν ὁ θεὸςrelative — the cognate relative — the Creator's own scale invoked for the comparison

ἕως τοῦ νῦν καὶ οὐ μὴ γένηται.relative — the οἵα-clause resumed past the embedded relative — οὐ μή: the affliction singular, unrepeatable

καὶ εἰ μὴ ἐκολόβωσεν κύριος τὰς ἡμέρας,conditional — contrary-to-fact protasis — forward-leaning on οὐκ ἂν ἐσώθη; κολοβόω, 'dock, curtail'; the aorist views the decree as already taken

οὐκ ἂν ἐσώθη πᾶσα σάρξ·cause — the apodosis, continuing the ground — ἄν + aorist: contrary to fact; πᾶσα σάρξ … οὐ, the Semitic 'no one at all'

ἀλλὰ διὰ τοὺς ἐκλεκτοὺς οὓς ἐξελέξατο ἐκολόβωσεν τὰς ἡμέρας.cause — the mercy — the embedded οὓς ἐξελέξατο kept in line: election doubled, 'the chosen whom he chose'

Καὶ τότε ἐάν τις ὑμῖν εἴπῃ·conditional — protasis inside quoted speech — leans forward across the cries on μὴ πιστεύετε; τότε: in the tribulation itself

Ἴδε ὧδε ὁ χριστός,content — the locating cry, verbless — the deceiver's pointing finger

Ἴδε ἐκεῖ,content — the rival cry — christs multiplied by geography; the true coming will need no informant (v. 26)

μὴ πιστεύετε·content — the apodosis — flat prohibition: the only defense is disbelief

ἐγερθήσονται γὰρ ψευδόχριστοι καὶ ψευδοπροφῆταιcause — the ground — ψευδόχριστος, a word coined for the occasion

καὶ δώσουσιν σημεῖα καὶ τέραταcause — counterfeit credentials — the σημεῖον demanded at v. 4 arrives, faked (Deut 13:1–3)

πρὸς τὸ ἀποπλανᾶν εἰ δυνατὸν τοὺς ἐκλεκτούς.purpose — πρός + articular infinitive — the aim; εἰ δυνατόν concedes it is finally not possible: the elect are kept (v. 20)

ὑμεῖς δὲ βλέπετε·content — emphatic ὑμεῖς against the deceived — the refrain's third strike

προείρηκα ὑμῖν πάντα.content — perfect προείρηκα — the forewarning stands on record; prophecy as protection, sealing the tribulation section

vv. 24–27 — after the tribulation: the Son of Man comes and the elect are gathered

Ἀλλὰ ἐν ἐκείναις ταῖς ἡμέραις μετὰ τὴν θλῖψιν ἐκείνην ὁ ἥλιος σκοτισθήσεται,content — Isa 13:10 — the strong ἀλλά turns the page; μετὰ τὴν θλῖψιν ἐκείνην, the seam between the horizons

καὶ ἡ σελήνη οὐ δώσει τὸ φέγγος αὐτῆς,content — Isa 13:10 — the second luminary quenched

καὶ οἱ ἀστέρες ἔσονται ἐκ τοῦ οὐρανοῦ πίπτοντες,content — Isa 34:4 — future periphrastic: a continuing rain of stars

καὶ αἱ δυνάμεις αἱ ἐν τοῖς οὐρανοῖς σαλευθήσονται.content — the celestial host convulsed — the old order dissolving before the theophany

καὶ τότε ὄψονται τὸν υἱὸν τοῦ ἀνθρώπου ἐρχόμενον ἐν νεφέλαις μετὰ δυνάμεως πολλῆς καὶ δόξης.content — Dan 7:13 — the climax; supplementary ἐρχόμενον kept in line: the advent watched in progress, visible to all

καὶ τότε ἀποστελεῖ τοὺς ἀγγέλουςcontent — the Son commands the angels — they are his harvesters

καὶ ἐπισυνάξει τοὺς ἐκλεκτοὺς αὐτοῦ ἐκ τῶν τεσσάρων ἀνέμων ἀπ' ἄκρου γῆς ἕως ἄκρου οὐρανοῦ.content — Deut 30:4 / Zech 2:6 — the ingathering; the advent's one stated purpose is rescue, and judgment goes unmentioned

vv. 28–31 — the fig tree: near, at the doors; this generation; the abiding words

Ἀπὸ δὲ τῆς συκῆς μάθετε τὴν παραβολήν·content — the fronted συκῆ — the cursed tree of 11:12–21 turned teacher; μάθετε, the disciples' own verb

ὅταν ἤδη ὁ κλάδος αὐτῆς ἁπαλὸς γένηται καὶ ἐκφύῃ τὰ φύλλα,conditional — the double protasis (typed cnd) — forward-leaning on γινώσκετε; the fig's late leafing made it Palestine's calendar

γινώσκετεcontent — gnomic present (or imperative) — the parable's inner apodosis

ὅτι ἐγγὺς τὸ θέρος ἐστίν·content — ἐγγύς — the nearness-word the application will reuse

οὕτως καὶ ὑμεῖς,content — the suspended subject — held across its protasis until γινώσκετε

ὅταν ἴδητε ταῦτα γινόμενα,conditional — the ὅταν of the application (typed cnd) — forward-leaning on γινώσκετε; ταῦτα, the askers' own word (v. 4)

γινώσκετεcontent — the application's verb — imperative or indicative, as in v. 28

ὅτι ἐγγύς ἐστιν ἐπὶ θύραις.content — the subject unexpressed — the Son of Man, or the end; ἐπὶ θύραις, on the threshold (the θυρωρός of v. 34 will keep those doors)

ἀμὴν λέγω ὑμῖνcontent — the ἀμήν-formula — Jesus' oath-strength asseveration over the timing

ὅτι οὐ μὴ παρέλθῃ ἡ γενεὰ αὕτηcontent — ἡ γενεὰ αὕτη — the crux of reference: most naturally Jesus' contemporaries; 'the Jewish people' and 'the final generation' are the rival escapes, named and declined

μέχρις οὗ ταῦτα πάντα γένηται.conditional — backward μέχρις οὗ (typed cnd; no temporal key) — ταῦτα πάντα: the sign-complex of v. 4, or everything through v. 27; left open, the tension with v. 32 unharmonized

ὁ οὐρανὸς καὶ ἡ γῆ παρελεύσονται,content — the cosmos conceded transient — παρέρχομαι carried over from v. 30

οἱ δὲ λόγοι μου οὐ μὴ παρελεύσονται.content — οὐ μή with the future indicative — absolute denial; Isa 40:8, said of God's word, claimed for his own

vv. 32–37 — the unknown day: no one knows — watch

Περὶ δὲ τῆς ἡμέρας ἐκείνης ἢ τῆς ὥρας οὐδεὶς οἶδεν,content — περὶ δέ turns the topic — the WHEN withheld in the same breath that swore the THAT (v. 30)

οὐδὲ οἱ ἄγγελοι ἐν οὐρανῷ οὐδὲ ὁ υἱός,phrase modifier — οὐδὲ ὁ υἱός — the chapter's hardest word, the harder reading kept: the Son's confessed ignorance; the ladder of exclusion stops just short of the Father

εἰ μὴ ὁ πατήρ.phrase modifier — exceptive εἰ μή — the day rests in the Father's sole authority (Acts 1:7)

βλέπετε ἀγρυπνεῖτε·content — asyndetic double imperative — the refrain's last βλέπετε joined to sleeplessness; many witnesses add καὶ προσεύχεσθε, not printed

οὐκ οἴδατε γὰρcause — the ground — the disciples share the ignorance of v. 32

πότε ὁ καιρός ἐστιν.content — indirect question — ὁ καιρός, the appointed moment, hidden

ὡς ἄνθρωπος ἀπόδημοςcomparative — the comparison verbless — 'it is as when a man…'; the parable compressed to a sketch

ἀφεὶς τὴν οἰκίαν αὐτοῦparticipial — aorist participle — the departure; the house left, not abandoned

καὶ δοὺς τοῖς δούλοις αὐτοῦ τὴν ἐξουσίαν, ἑκάστῳ τὸ ἔργον αὐτοῦ,participial — delegated ἐξουσία, distributively assigned — the interim is a stewardship, not a vigil only

καὶ τῷ θυρωρῷ ἐνετείλατοcomparative — the finite verb at last inside the ὡς-picture — the θυρωρός singled out at the doors of v. 29

ἵνα γρηγορῇ.content — ἵνα-content of the command — γρηγορέω, the parable's key verb, about to be turned on the hearers

γρηγορεῖτε οὖν,content — the application — οὖν hands the doorkeeper's charge to all the servants at once

οὐκ οἴδατε γὰρcause — the ground repeated verbatim from v. 33 — ignorance as the engine of vigilance

πότε ὁ κύριος τῆς οἰκίας ἔρχεται,content — futuristic present ἔρχεται — the ἄνθρωπος of v. 34 is now ὁ κύριος; the allegory thins

ἢ ὀψὲ ἢ μεσονύκτιον ἢ ἀλεκτοροφωνίας ἢ πρωΐ,phrase modifier — the four Roman night-watches — the very hours of the passion night about to open (14:17; 14:72; 15:1)

μὴ ἐλθὼν ἐξαίφνης εὕρῃ ὑμᾶς καθεύδοντας.purpose — μή + subjunctive — the feared outcome; καθεύδοντας, the very word that will find Peter, James and John at Gethsemane (14:37, 40)

ὃ δὲ ὑμῖν λέγω, πᾶσιν λέγω, γρηγορεῖτε.content — the widening close — the fronted relative kept in line; past the four on the Mount to πᾶσιν, every hearer and reader, and the discourse's last word is γρηγορεῖτε

Analysis. Mark 13 is one frame and one speech. After the temple exit and its exchange (vv. 1–2 — the disciple's verbless ἴδε-exclamation answered by the doubled οὐ μή of the demolition oracle) and the second genitive absolute that seats Jesus on the Mount of Olives κατέναντι τοῦ ἱεροῦ for the four named askers' double question (vv. 3–4), the whole Olivet discourse hangs from a single ἤρξατο λέγειν (v. 5): thirty-three verses of coordinate blue cnt lines sharing the one λέγειν anchor, so the page shows what Mark wrote — an unbroken speech, his longest. Against that column the discourse's own grammar indents: fronted ὅταν-temporals lean forward anchor-less on their apodoses (vv. 7, 11, 14, 28, 29), the γάρ-grounds hang cau beneath the commands they motivate (vv. 8, 19, 22, 33, 35), and the βλέπετε refrain (vv. 5, 9, 23, 33) keeps returning at speech level to re-key the whole. The cruxes are taken openly. At v. 14 the parenthesis ὁ ἀναγινώσκων νοείτω is anchored — like the καθαρίζων verdict of 7:19 — to the frame's λέγειν and typed as a narrator's clause: read here as the Evangelist's nudge to his own reader over Jesus' head, though the tag concedes that some keep it inside the speech as Jesus' pointer to the reader of Daniel; the masculine ἑστηκότα against the neuter βδέλυγμα is flagged as the grammar's own hint of a personal desolator. At v. 30 ἡ γενεὰ αὕτη is glossed with its natural sense — Jesus' contemporaries — while the rival referents ('the Jewish people,' 'the final generation') are named and the tension with v. 32 is left standing, not harmonized: οὐδὲ ὁ υἱός is kept as the harder reading it is, the Son's confessed ignorance of the day set immediately beside the sworn permanence of his words (v. 31). Nor does the layout decide where the near horizon (the temple's fall — the ταῦτα of vv. 2, 4, 29, 30) gives way to the far one (that Day — vv. 24–27, 32); the tags track the seam at μετὰ τὴν θλῖψιν ἐκείνην (v. 24) and περὶ δὲ τῆς ἡμέρας ἐκείνης (v. 32), where ταῦτα-language stops and ἐκείνη-language begins. The four night-watches of v. 35 (evening, midnight, cockcrow, dawn) are tagged as the very hours of the passion narrative about to open, and the discourse's last word — γρηγορεῖτε, widened to πᾶσιν — hands the doorkeeper's charge to every reader.