Marco 13:1

Master, behold, what manner of stones and what manner of buildings

(διδασκαλε, ιδε ποταπο λιθο κα ποταπα οικοδομα). Mateo 24:1 and Lucas 21:5 tell of the fact of the comment, but Mark alone gives the precise words. Perhaps Peter himself (Swete) was the one who sought thus by a pleasant platitude to divert the Teacher's attention from the serious topics of recent hours in the temple.

It was not a new observation, but the merest commonplace might serve at this crisis. Josephus (Ant. xv. II, 3) speaks of the great size of these stones and the beauty of the buildings. Some of these stones at the southeastern and southwestern angles survive today and measure from twenty to forty feet long and weigh a hundred tons. Jesus had, of course, often observed them.