A long condemnation of the religious leaders of his era or maybe all eras.
Matthew 23:38 Behold, your house is left unto you desolate.
Matthew 23:38 Look, your house is left to you desolate.
See, it has let itself fall on you, this house of yours. Deserted.
Not only a divided house falls but deserted ones as well.
This short verse is a wonderful play on words. The keywords, "house" and "is left" could well have very different meanings. The "left" means "to let fall" the form is either passive voice ("is left") of the middle voice, "let itself fall." The "to" and "unto" is from the dative so it could mean "with," "in," "of," "as," "by," "for," "at," or "on" depending on the context. Personally, I think "let itself fall on you" is pretty entertaining.
Another word is untranslated, the article before "house," which makes the meaning "this house of yours. So the Greek phrase is a joke: "See, it has let itself fall on you, this house of yours."
The Greek word translated as "desolate" doesn't appear in my Greek source, but all current Bibles, even those based on more modern sources, keep it, and some MGNTs sources show it so it may be an error in my source. It also makes a good punchline. The word means "deserted." The noun form meaning "desert."
Look, your house is left to you desolate.
Behold, - "Behold" is from an adverb meaning "Lo! Behold!" and "See there!" In a humorous vein, this about how Christ uses this like we use the phrase "ta-da" in a magic show, or the French, "See!"
your -- The word translated as "your" is a plural, second-person pronoun in the genitive case. This pronoun follows the noun so "of yours."
missing "the" -- (MW) The untranslated word is the Greek definite article, which usually precedes a noun and, without a noun, takes the meaning of "the one." The Greek article is much closer to our demonstrative pronouns ("this," "that," "these," "those"). See this article for more.
house - The word translated "house" means a "dwelling place," "room," "meeting hall," "substance," and "ruling family." It is any dwelling place but not exclusively a separate house. It is not another Greek work, also translated as "house" that has more of the sense of an "estate." It is the word Christ uses (Matthew 10:6 and Matthew 15:24) to describe "the house of Israel."
is -- This helping verb indicates the passive and present tense of the verb.
left - The word translated as "Is left" primarily means "to let fall," "to let go" or "to send away." This same word is usually translated as "leave," "forgive," "suffer," and "let" in the New Testament. It is in the present tense but the form indicates the subject is acting on itself, "leaves itself."
unto -- This word "unto" comes from the dative case of the following word that requires the addition of a preposition in English. The most common is a "to" for the English indirect object.
you - "Unto you" is a form of the second person pronoun that is usually an indirect object, but which has several other uses as well. It can be "to you," "for you," "by you," or "as you" in a comparison.
desolate. - "Desolate" is from an adjective meaning "desolate," "lonely," and "solitary." NOTE: this word does not appear in the version I use of the mGNT.
ἰδοὺ [52 verses](adv, verb 2nd sg aor imperat mid) "Behold is idou, which means "to behold," "to see," and "to perceive." It acts as an adverbial phrase in this form meaning "Lo! Behold!" and "See there!' It is a form of the verb eido, which means "to see."
“ἀφίεται [73 verses](verb 3rd sg pres ind mp)"Is left" is aphiemi, which means "to let fall," "to send away," "give up," "hand over," "to let loose," "to get rid of," "to leave alone," "to pass by," "to permit," and "to send forth from oneself."
ὑμῖν [289 verses](pron 2nd pl dat) "Unto you" is from humin the plural form of su the pronoun of the second person, "you."
ὁ” [821 verses](article sg masc nom) Untranslated. It is either the Greek article, (article sg masc nom) "the," which usually precedes a noun or (pron sg neut nom) the pronoun from hos, which means "this," "that," "he," "she," "which," "what," "who," "whosoever," "where," "for which reason," and many similar meanings. -- The word translated as "that" is a demonstrative pronoun, but it often acts as a pronoun, especially a connective pronoun introducing a dependent clause.
“οἶκος [29 verses](noun sg masc nom) "House" is oikos, which means "house," "dwelling place," "room," "home," "meeting hall," "household goods," "substance," and "ruling family." It is any dwelling place but not exclusively a separate house. OR the participle, used as a noun [uncommon] (part sg perf act neut nom) eoika, a verb that means "to be like," or, as a participle "seeming like," "fitting," "seeming truth," i.e. "probable," "reasonable," "likelihood," "probability," "reasonable," "fair," and "equitable."
ὑμῶν”. [168 verses](pron 2nd pl gen) "Your" is from humon, the plural possessive form of su the pronoun of the second person, "you." -- The word translated as "your" is plural addressing a group of Jesus's listeners.
[ἔρημος] [2 verses](adj sg fem/masc nom) "Desolate" is from eremos, which is an adjective (used as a noun) that means "desolate," "lonely," "solitary," "reft of," "destitute of," "bereft of," "unclaimed," "vacant," [of places] "deserted," [of people] "friendless," and "not gregarious."
The word translated as "house" means "house" but it also a verbal adjective that means "seeming to be true."
"See!" he declared, addressing the crowd and motioning as though he was exposing his opponents.
"It has let itself fall down on you," he said, making a gesture of a house falling with both hands. "This house, that seemed to be true."