Luke 21

Luke 21 is the twenty-first chapter of the Gospel of Luke in the New Testament of the Christian Bible. It records the observations and predictions of Jesus Christ delivered in the temple in Jerusalem. The book containing this chapter is anonymous, but early Christian tradition uniformly affirmed that Luke the Evangelist composed this Gospel as well as the Acts of the Apostles. The original text was written in Koine Greek. This chapter is divided into 38 verses. Some early manuscripts containing the text of this chapter are: Papyrus 75 (AD 175-225) Codex Vaticanus (325-350) Codex Sinaiticus (330-360) Codex Bezae (~400) Codex Washingtonianus (~400) Codex Alexandrinus (400-440) Codex Ephraemi Rescriptus (~450; extant verses 21-38) Lesson of the widow's mite Verses 1-4 record Jesus's observation that a poor widow, offering two mites, had genuinely contributed more to the temple than the gifts offered by rich people. records the same event. Some spoke of the temple ... (verse 5: τινων λεγοντων περι του ιερου, tinōn legontōn peri tou hierou). The New International Version translates these words as "Some of his disciples ...", but some other versions suggest "some people" i.e. not specifically disciples of Jesus. Protestant theologian Heinrich Meyer argues that "it is plain from the discourse itself" that Jesus was speaking to his disciples. The "beautiful stones" and the "gifts dedicated to God" both contribute to the splendor of the temple. Luke sets this dialogue inside the temple itself, whereas in Matthew and Mark it is set outside the temple. Matthew and Mark state that Jesus spoke privately to his disciples on Mount Olivet about the end times and the destruction of Jerusalem: see Olivet Discourse. Luke does not present this teaching as delivered privately: In the daytime, He was teaching in the temple, but at night He went out and stayed on the mountain called Olivet. Then early in the morning all the people came to Him in the temple to hear Him.