Albert Barnes Commentary Luke 21:24

"And they shall fall by the edge of the sword, and shall be led captive into all the nations: and Jerusalem shall be trodden down of the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled." — Luke 21:24 (ASV)

Shall fall, etc. No less than one million one hundred thousand perished in the siege of Jerusalem.

Shall be led away captive. More than ninety thousand were led into captivity. See Barnes on Matthew 24:1 and following.

Shall be trodden down by the Gentiles. This means it shall be in the possession of the Gentiles, or be subject to them. The expression also implies that it would be an oppressive subjection, as when a captive in war is trodden down under the feet of the conqueror. Anciently, conquerors trod on the necks of those who were subdued by them (Joshua 10:24; 2 Samuel 22:41; Ezekiel 21:29).

The bondage of Jerusalem has been long and very oppressive. It was for a long time under the dominion of the Romans, then of the Saracens, and is now of the Turks, and is aptly represented by a captive stretched on the ground whose neck is trodden by the foot of the conqueror.

Until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled. This passage has been understood very differently by different expositors. Some refer it to the time during which the Romans who conquered it had dominion over it, understanding it to mean that they would keep possession of it until a part of the pagans would be converted, at which point it would be rebuilt. Thus, it was rebuilt by the Emperor Hadrian. Others suppose that it refers to the end of the world, when all the Gentiles will be converted and will cease to be Gentiles by becoming Christians, meaning that it would always be desolate. Others suggest that Christ meant to say that in the times of the millennium, when the gospel would spread universally, he would reign personally on the earth, and that the Jews would return and rebuild Jerusalem and the temple. This is the opinion of the Jews and of many Christians.

The meaning of the passage clearly is:

1. That Jerusalem would be completely destroyed.
2. That this would be done by Gentiles—that is, by the Roman armies.
3. That this desolation would continue as long as God would judge it proper in a fitting manner to express his abhorrence of the crimes of the nation—that is, until the times allotted to them by God for this desolation would be accomplished, without specifying how long that would be, or what would occur to the city after that.

It may be rebuilt and inhabited by converted Jews. Such a thing is possible, and the Jews naturally seek that as their home. But whether this is so or not, the time when the Gentiles, as such, shall have dominion over the city is limited. Like all other cities on the earth, it will yet be brought under the influence of the gospel and will be inhabited by the true friends of God.

Pagan, infidel, anti-Christian dominion will cease there, and it will again be a place where God will be worshipped in sincerity—a place even then of peculiar interest from the recollection of the events that have occurred there. How long it is to be before this occurs is known only to Him who hath put the times and seasons in his own power (Acts 1:7).