And they asked him,.... That is, his disciples, when they were come to the Mount of Olives, and as he sat upon that, Mat_24:3
saying, master, but when shall these things be? when the temple shall be destroyed; and one stone shall not be left upon another;
and what sign will there be when these things shall come to pass? which shows that this refers to the destruction of the temple, and so the signs following; See Gill on Mat_24:3.
Let him which is on the housetop,.... Who should be there either for his devotion or recreation; for the houses of the Jews were built with flat roofs and battlements about them, which they made use of both for diversion and pleasure, and for private meditation and prayer, for social conversation, and sometimes for public preaching; see Mat_10:27
not come down to take anything out of his house: that is, let him not come down in the inner way, but by the stairs, or ladder, on the outside of the house, which was usual. They had two ways of going out of, and into their houses; the one they call (d), דרך פתחים, "the way of the doors"; the other, דרך גגין, "the way of the roof": upon which the gloss is,
"to go up on the outside, דרך פולם, "by way" or "means" of a ladder, fixed at the entrance of the door of the upper room, and from thence he goes down into the house by a ladder;''
and in the same way they could come out; see Mar_2:4 and let him not go into his house to take any of his goods, or money, or food along with him necessary for his sustenance in his flight; lest, whilst he is busy in taking care of these, he loses his life, or, at least, the opportunity of making his escape; so sudden is this desolation represented to be.
(d) T. Bab. Bava Metzia, fol. 117. 1.
I know Gill can be a pain, but this is well explained.
As well as here
neither on the sabbath day: the word "day" is not in the Greek text; and some (i) have been of opinion, that the "sabbatical year", or the seventh year, is meant, when no fruits would be found in the fields, and a great scarcity of provisions among people; who would not have a sufficiency, and much less any to spare to strangers fleeing from their native places; but rather the sabbath day, or "day of the sabbath", as the Persic version reads it, is designed; and Beza says, four of his copies read it in the genitive case: and so four of Stephens's. And the reason why our Lord put them on praying, that their flight might not be on the sabbath day, was, because he knew not only that the Jews, who believed not in him, would not suffer them to travel on a sabbath day more than two thousand cubits; which, according to their traditions (k), was a sabbath day's journey; and which would not be sufficient for their flight to put them out of danger; but also, that those that did believe in him, particularly the Jerusalem Jews, would be all of them fond of the law of Moses, and scrupulous of violating any part of it, and especially that of the sabbath; see Act_21:20. And though the Jews did allow, that the sabbath might be violated where life was in danger, and that it was lawful to defend themselves against an enemy on the sabbath day; yet this did not universally obtain; and it was made a question of, after the time of Christ, whether it was lawful to flee from danger on the sabbath day; of which take the following account (l).
"Our Rabbins teach, that he that is pursued by Gentiles, or by thieves, may profane the sabbath for the sake of saving his life: and so we find of David, when Saul sought to slay him, he fled from him, and escaped. Our Rabbins say, that it happened that evil writings (or edicts) came from the government to the great men of Tzippore; and they went, and said to R. Eleazar ben Prata, evil edicts are come to us from the government, what dost thou say? נברח, "shall we flee?" and he was afraid to say to them "flee"; but he said to them with a nod, why do you ask me? go and ask Jacob, and Moses, and David; as it is written, of Jacob, Hos_12:12 "and Jacob fled"; and so of Moses, Exo_2:15 "and Moses fled"; and so of David, 1Sa_19:18 "and David fled, and escaped": and he (God) says, Isa_26:20 "come my people, enter into thy chambers".''
From whence, it is plain, it was a question with the doctors in Tzippore, which was a town in Galilee, where there was an university, whether it was lawful to flee on the sabbath day or not; and though the Rabbi they applied to was of opinion it was lawful, yet he was fearful of speaking out his sense plainly, and therefore delivered it by signs and hints. Now our Lord's meaning, in putting them on this petition, was, not to prevent the violation of the seventh day sabbath, or on account of the sacredness of it, which he knew would be abolished, and was abolished before this time; but he says this with respect to the opinion of the Jews, and "Judaizing" Christians, who, taking that day to be sacred, and fleeing on it unlawful, would find a difficulty with themselves, and others, to make their escape; otherwise it was as lawful to flee and travel on that day, as in the winter season; though both, for different reasons, incommodious.
(h) Taachuma, fol. 57. 2. (i) Vid. Reland. Antiq. Heb. par. 4. c. 10. sect. 1. & Hammond in loc. (k) Maimon. Hilch. Sabbat, c. 27. sect. 1. (l) Bemidbar Rabba, sect. 23. fol. 231. 4.
Gill.
J.
bo wam'?
