KJV: And they asked him, saying, Master, but when shall these things be? and what sign will there be when these things shall come to pass?
YLT: And they questioned him, saying, 'Teacher, when, then, shall these things be? and what is the sign when these things may be about to happen?'
Darby: And they asked him saying, Teacher, when then shall these things be; and what is the sign when these things are going to take place?
ASV: And they asked him, saying, Teacher, when therefore shall these things be? and what'shall be the sign when these things are about to come to pass?
Jesus hearers-specifically Peter, James ,, John , and Andrew ( Mark 13:3)-then asked Him when the destruction would take place and what sign would precede it. They did not ask for a sign because they disbelieved Jesus but because they wanted a warning of the disaster. The destruction of the temple would constitute the end of Judaism as they knew it. When the Babylonians destroyed the first temple in586 B.C, the result was dispersion and disaster for the Jews. Now Jesus announced that another similar catastrophe was coming. They associated this with the Lord"s return and the end of the present age, the present age being the age before the messianic kingdom (cf. Matthew 24:2-3). [source][source][source]
Significantly Luke did not record the other questions they asked Him about the sign of His coming and of the end of the age ( Matthew 24:3). Matthew and Mark concentrated on Jesus" answer to the question about Jesus" return, but Luke dealt mainly with His answer to the question about the temple"s destruction. The destruction of the temple and Jesus" return would not coincide chronologically. [source][source][source]
The disciples" questionsJesus" answers"When will these things be?" ( Matthew 24:3; Mark 13:4; Luke 21:7)The time of the destruction of the temple Luke 21:8-28"What will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age?" ( Matthew 24:3) "What will be the sign when all these things are going to be fulfilled?" ( Mark 13:4) "What will be the sign when these things are about to take place?" ( Luke 21:7)The sign that would signal Jesus" coming and the end of the age Matthew 24:4-31; Mark 13:5-27[source]
Context Summary
Luke 21:5-19 - Days That Try Men's Souls
When we ask speculative questions, the Master bids us take heed to ourselves. His predictions in this passage were literally fulfilled in the events which culminated in the siege and fall of Jerusalem, forty years afterward. "The whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together," and through these throes and agonies mankind steps up to a new level of experience. The devil will not surrender his kingdom, any more than the bodies of men, without a grievous rending first: but there is a mightier than he.
The Church is called to follow her Lord. No easier path than His may she choose. Where there is no outward suffering there may be the inner cross and the death to all that the soul had once prized. Jesus has always stood beside His own wherever they have been called to witness for the truth; and the testimony given by His witnesses has reached the great ones of the earth and reverberated through courts and palaces. In suffering our souls become searched as by fire. We learn to know ourselves and to come into possession of an experience and a self-knowledge with which only suffering could have endowed us. [source]
Chapter Summary: Luke 21
1Jesus commends the poor widow 5He foretells the destruction of the temple, and of the city Jerusalem; 25the signs also which shall be before the last day 34He exhorts them to be watchful
What do the individual words in Luke 21:7 mean?
They askedthenHimsayingTeacherwhenthenthese thingswill beandwhat [will be]thesignwhenare aboutto take place
Parse: Verb, Aorist Indicative Active, 3rd Person Plural
Root: ἐπερωτάω
Sense: to accost one with an enquiry, put a question to, enquiry of, ask, interrogate.
Parse: Noun, Vocative Masculine Singular
Root: διδάσκαλος
Sense: a teacher. 2 in the NT one who teaches concerning the things of God, and the duties of man.