Expositor's Bible Commentary Commentary Matthew 24:15

"When therefore ye see the abomination of desolation, which was spoken of through Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place (let him that readeth understand)," — Matthew 24:15 (ASV)

Having characterized the entire age during which the Gospel of the kingdom is preached as a time of distress, Jesus goes on to talk about one part of it where there will be particularly “great distress” (v.21), centered around “the abomination that causes desolation” (GK 1007 & 2247).

This expression occurs four times in Daniel (8:13; 9:27; 11:31; 12:11). The third one clearly refers to the desecration under Antiochus Epiphanes (see comment on Da 11:31), who erected an altar to Zeus over the altar of burned offering, sacrificed a swine on it, and made the practice of Judaism a capital offense. The other references in Daniel are more disputed.

Jesus is identifying Da 9:27 and 12:11 with certain events about to take place; and the parenthetical “let the reader understand” is designed to draw the attention of the reader of Daniel to the passages’ true meaning. This parenthetical aside comes from Jesus to draw the attention of his hearers who read Daniel to the importance of Daniel’s words.

But to what event does Jesus make this text from Daniel refer? The obvious occasion, in general terms, is A. D. 70, though certain difficulties must be faced. For example, although “place” can refer to the city of Jerusalem, the normal meaning of “holy place” is the temple complex. But by the time the Romans had actually desecrated the temple in A. D. 70, it was too late for anyone in the city to flee. In comparing the differences between this verse and Mk 13:14 and Lk 21:20, possibly Jesus said something ambiguous, such as Mark reports. Luke, writing for a Gentile audience less concerned with Daniel, emphasizes the aspect of warning. Matthew, believing the allusions to Daniel important for his Jewish audience because Jesus drew attention to them, makes explicit reference to “the abomination of desolation” and to “the holy place,” since the setting up of the abomination in the holy place is the inevitable result of the pagan attack. By the time the Roman military standards surrounded Jerusalem, the city had been defiled by the Zealot excesses that polluted the temple before A. D. 70 (including murder and the installation of a false high priest), when there was still time to flee. In any case, there is reasonably good tradition that Christians abandoned the city, perhaps in A. D. 68, about halfway through the siege of Jerusalem.