{Had been shortened} (ekolob(9374)h(8873)an). From kolobos,
lopped, mutilated, as the hands, the feet. It is a second-class
condition, determined as unfulfilled. It is a prophetic figure,
the future regarded as past. {For the elect's sake} (dia tous
eklektous). See  Mt 22:14  for another use of this phrase by
Jesus and also  24:31 . The siege was shortened by various
historical events like the stopping of the strengthening of the
walls by Herod Agrippa by orders from the Emperor, the sudden
arrival of Titus, the neglect of the Jews to prepare for a long
siege. "Titus himself confessed that God was against the Jews,
since otherwise neither his armies nor his engines would have
availed against their defences" (Vincent).