Mark 13:30
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Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass away, until all these things be accomplished. (ASV)
The prophesy was wrong. Those things did not happen before that generation passed away, and they still have not happened.
Pro
The prophesy was wrong. Those things did not happen before that generation passed away, and they still have not happened
Con
The root word of "generation" is "gene" and is extrapolated to indicate those with the same heritage. It's generally used to identify those living at the same time and extends to 40 years.
But is that what Jesus meant in this instance?
1. Some believe the word "genoa" (translated "generation") can mean "race" and that Jesus was indicating that the Jewish race would not pass away. See Scofield's notes.
2. Others believe the word "generation" is used to indicate the dispensation of the church.
The following is a quote from http://www.aramaicnt.org
The answer comes in the Aramaic. Here we don't see the word for "generation," but the word "??????" (sharvtho), which means "family," or "family branch." A "??????" (sharvtho), is like a ray in geometry. It starts at a point, then continues onwards. Usually "??????" (sharvotho, plural) come from other "??????" (sharvotho, plural), so we can see these branching rays make up a family tree.
The only way for a "?????" (sharvtho) can be extinguished, is if the entire family is wiped out, an entire branch destroyed. And "?????" (sharvtho) can also be used to describe a people as a whole, like someone could be from an Italian "?????" (sharvtho) or the "?????" (sharvtho) of New York.
So you can see that since "?????" (genea) implies a length of time equal to one person's lifespan, a generation, a "?????" (sharvtho) can last from a few days to thousands of years (for example, we are all still within the "?????" (sharvtho) of Adam).
3. The Anderson Church of God, which rejects convention prophetic interpretations of the Bible, prefers to believe Jesus was predicting the destruction of the temple (and Jerusalem) which occurred about 40 years after Jesus sermon.
Neutral
Edit this section to note miscellaneous facts.
The word generation would better be translated as the whole people living at that time. An examination of the Greek is needed.
Mark 13:30 Hermann Cremer, Biblico-Theological Lexicon; Joseph Thayer, A Greek-English Lexicon; and G. Abbott-Smith, Manual Greek Lexicon.
