John 2:20

Forty and six years, &c. This was the third Temple. Solomon's Temple was destroyed by Nebuchadnezzar. Zerubbabel's was rebuilt by Herod the Great. The Greek implies that the building began 46 years ago, but not that it is now completed. "The building of the Temple, we are told by Josephus (Ant.xv. ii. 1), was begun in the 18th year of Herod the Great, 734 735 a. u. c. Reckoning 46 years from this point, we are brought to 781 or 782 a. u. c. = 28 or 29 a.d. Comparing this with the data given in Luke 3:1, the question arises, whether we are to reckon the 15th year of Tiberius from his joint reign with Augustus, which began a.d. 12; or from his sole reign after the death of Augustus, a.d. 14. This would give us a.d. 27 or 29 for the first public appearance of the Baptist, and at the earliest a.d. 28 or 30 for the Passover mentioned in this chapter." S. p. 65. So that there seems to be exact agreement between this date and that of S. Luke, if we count S. Luke's 15 years from the jointreign of Tiberius. It is incredible that this coincidence can have been planned; it involves an intricate calculation, and even with the aid of Josephus absolute certainty cannot be obtained. "By what conceivable process could a Greek in the second century have come to hit upon this roundabout expedient for giving a fictitious date to his invention?" S. p. 67.

rear it up Better, raise it up; the same verb as in John 2:19. For other instances of gross misunderstanding of Christ's words comp. John 3:4; John 3:9; John 4:11; John 4:15; John 4:33; John 6:34; John 6:52; John 7:35; John 8:22; John 8:33; John 8:52; John 11:12; John 14:5.