But in the Greek text of Jesus’ words found at Matthew 24:34, we find the word ge·ne·aʹ. It is widely recognized that Jesus was referring, not to any “race” of people, but to the people living at a certain period of time.

As discussed on pages 10 to 15, Jesus condemned the generation of Jews of his time, his contemporaries who rejected him. (Luke 9:41; 11:32; 17:25) He often used qualifiers such as “wicked and adulterous,” “faithless and twisted,” and “adulterous and sinful” in describing that generation. (Matthew 12:39; 17:17; Mark 8:38) When Jesus used “generation” for the last time, he was on the Mount of Olives with four apostles. (Mark 13:3) Those men, who were not yet anointed with spirit nor part of a Christian congregation, certainly did not constitute either a “generation” or a race of people. They were, though, very familiar with Jesus’ use of the term “generation” in referring to his contemporaries. So they logically would understand what he had in mind when he mentioned “this generation” for the last time.a The apostle Peter, who was present, thereafter urged Jews: “Get saved from this crooked generation.”​—Acts 2:40.

Yes, in the initial fulfillment, “this generation” evidently meant the same as it did at other times​—the contemporaneous generation of unbelieving Jews. That “generation” would not pass away without experiencing what Jesus foretold. As Williamson commented, this proved true in the decades leading up to Jerusalem’s destruction, as an eyewitness historian, Josephus, described.

In the second or larger fulfillment, “this generation” would logically also be the contemporaneous people. As the article beginning on page 16 establishes, we need not conclude that Jesus was referring to a set number of years making up a “generation.”

On the contrary, two key things can be said about any time implied by “generation.” (1) A generation of people cannot be viewed as a period having a fixed number of years, as is the case with time designations meaning a set number of years (decade or century). (2) The people of a generation live for a relatively brief period, not one of great length.

Consequently, when the apostles heard Jesus refer to “this generation,” what would they think? While we, with the benefit of hindsight, know that Jerusalem’s destruction in the “great tribulation” came 37 years later, the apostles hearing Jesus could not know that. Rather, his mention of “generation” would have conveyed to them, not the idea of a period of great length, but the people living over a relatively limited period of time. The same is true in our case.