Marco 13:4

Tell us, when shall these things be?

(Ειπον ημιν ποτε ταυτα εσται;). The Revised Version punctuates it as a direct question, but Westcott and Hort as an indirect inquiry. They asked about thewhen

(ποτε) and thewhat sign

(τ σημειον). Mateo 24:3 includes "the sign of thy coming and the end of the world," showing that these tragic events are brought before Jesus by the disciples. See discussion of the interpretation of this discourse on Mateo 24:3. This chapter in Mark is often called "The Little Apocalypse" with the notion that a Jewish apocalypse has been here adapted by Mark and attributed to Jesus.

Many of the theories attribute grave error to Jesus or to the Gospels on this subject. The view adopted in the discussion in Matthew is the one suggested here, that Jesus blended in one picture his death, the destruction of Jerusalem within that generation, the second coming and end of the world typified by the destruction of the city. The lines between these topics are not sharply drawn in the report and it is not possible for us to separate the topics clearly.

This great discourse is the longest preserved in Mark and may be due to Peter. Mark may have given it in order "to forewarn and forearm" (Bruce) the readers against the coming catastrophe of the destruction of Jerusalem. Both Matthew (Marco 13:24) and Luke (Lucas 21:5-36) follow the general line of Mark 13 though Mateo 24:43-25 presents new material (parables).