Matthew Chapter 24 verse 16 Holy Bible
then let them that are in Judaea flee unto the mountains:
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Then let those who are in Judaea go in flight to the mountains:
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then let those who are in Judaea flee to the mountains;
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Then let them which be in Judaea flee into the mountains:
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read chapter 24 in WBT
then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains.
read chapter 24 in WEB
then those in Judea -- let them flee to the mounts;
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Pulpit Commentary
Pulpit CommentaryVerse 16. - Then; i.e. when they shall see "the abomination of desolation," etc. Them which be in Judaea. Not only in Jerusalem, but in its vicinity, as most exposed to danger from the invading army. Flee into (ἐπὶ, over) the mountains. The Christians seem to have taken this advice when the city was attacked by Costius Gallus, about A.D. , some three or more years before the siege under Vespasian. Gallus had appeared before the walls, and apparently had every hope of taking the city, when, for some reason not certainly known (either owing to a supposed defeat, or ignorance of his own success, or the advice of his generals), he suddenly withdrew his forces (Josephus, 'Bell. Jud.,' 2:19, 6, 7). The Christians, bearing Christ's warning in mind, and having, as we may conjecture, seen the predicted sign, took the opportunity of flight from the doomed city, and made their escape to Pella, a town of Decapotis, southeast of Bethshean, and the ruins of which are known now by the name of Fahil. Euschius probably refers to this migration ('Hist. Eccl.,' 3:5), narrating that, owing to a certain revelation given to holy men among them, the whole body of the Church, before the war, removed across the Jordan to Pella, and dwelt there in safety during those troublous times. We probably, however, do not know the exact time of the flight, as we are ignorant of what was the warning of imminent danger which rendered this hurried proceeding necessary.
Ellicott's Commentary
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers(16) Then let them which be in Judsea.--The words were acted on when the time came. Eusebius (Hist. Eccl. iii. 5) records that the Christians of Judaea, acting "on a certain oracle," fled, in A.D. 68, to Pella, a town on the northern boundary of Peraea. So Josephus (Wars, iv. 9, ? 1; v. 10, ? 1) more generally relates that many of the more conspicuous citizens fled from the city, as men abandon a sinking ship. The "mountains" may be named generally as a place of refuge, or may point, as interpreted by the event, to the Gilead range of hills on the east of Jordan.
