Matthew 23:38

Behold, your house is left to you desolate.

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Other translations

WEBBE

Behold, your house is left to you desolate.

BSB

Look, your house is left to you desolate.

ASV

Behold, your house is left unto you desolate.

Original Greek

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The early church

In like manner to all such as would not be gathered under His wings Christ speaks this threat; Behold, your house is left unto you desolate; i. e. your soul and your body. But if any one of you will not be gathered under the wings of Christ, from the very time when he shall have refused to be so gathered, (by a mental rather than a bodily act,) he shall no more see the beauty of the word, till repenting of his evil purpose he shall say, Blessed is He that cometh in the name of the Lord. And the word of the Lord then comes with a blessing upon a man's heart, when one is turned to God.
Origen of Alexandria · d. 253Catena Aurea (Aquinas, 1274)
"But ye would not," He saith. "Behold your house is left desolate," stripped of the succor which cometh from me. Surely it was the same, who also was before protecting them, and holding them together, and preserving them; surely it was He who was ever chastening them. And He appoints a punishment, which they had ever dreaded exceedingly; for it declared the entire overthrow of their polity.
John Chrysostom · d. 407Homilies on Matthew
As the body, when the spirit departs, first becomes cold, and then decays and decomposes; so also your temple, when God's Spirit shall have withdrawn, shall be first filled with strife and anarchy, and after shall come to ruin.
Pseudo-Chrysostom · d. 500Catena Aurea (Aquinas, 1274)

Commentary

Matthew Henry · Verses 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. The present dispersion and unbelief of the Jews, and their future conversion to Christ, were here foretold. Jerusalem and her children had a large share of guilt, and their punishment has been signal. But ere long, deserved vengeance will fall on every church which is Christian in name only. In the mean time the Saviour stands ready to receive all who come to him. There is nothing between sinners and eternal happiness, but their proud and unbelieving unwillingness.

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Topics

Cross-references: Treasury of Scripture Knowledge. Hebrew and Greek data from STEPBible.org (Tyndale House, Cambridge), CC BY 4.0. Library: sources.