Matthew 24:17

Mat 24:17-19. Let him who is on the house-top not come down — It is well known that the houses of the Jews, as well as those of the ancient Greeks and Romans, were flat on the top, for them to walk upon, and had usually stairs on the outside, by which they might ascend and descend without coming into the house. In the walled cities, these flat-roofed houses usually formed continued terraces from one end of the city to the other, which terraces terminated at the gates. The meaning therefore here is, Let not him who is walking on the house-top come down to take any thing out of his house; but let him instantly pursue his course along the tops of houses, and escape out of the city gate as fast as he possibly can. Neither let him which is in the field, &c. — Our Saviour makes use of these expressions to intimate, that their flight must be as sudden and hasty as Lot’s was out of Sodom. And the Christians escaping just as they did was the more providential, because afterward all egress from the city was prevented. And wo unto them that are with child, &c. — For such will not be in a condition to flee, neither will they be well able to endure the distress and hardships of the siege. This wo was sufficiently fulfilled in the cruel slaughters which were made both of the women and children, and particularly in that grievous famine which so miserably afflicted Jerusalem during the siege. See notes on Deu 28:53-57.

Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Mat 24:17. Μὴ καταβαινέτω, let him not come down) sc. let him come down, not by the inner, but by the outer stairs.[1045]—ἆραί τι, to take anything) e.g. victuals; corresponding with garments in the next verse.

[1045] The roofs of Jewish houses could be reached either by the inner staircase, which communicated with the interior, or by the outer steps, which led directly to the ground without.—(I. B.)

Bengel's Gnomon of the New Testament — English translation (T&T Clark, Edinburgh, 1860) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Mat 24:17-18 . ividly express the urgency of the flight. ὁ ἐπὶ τ . δ ., etc., the man on the house top must fly without stopping to get articles of value in the house down the outside stair and off. τὰ ἐκ τ . οἰκ ., elliptical = the things in his house, from his house. ὁ ἐν τῷ ἀγρῷ , let the man in the field, on hearing the fatal report, fly in his tunic, not returning home for his upper robe. “No man works in his mantle, the peasant leaves it at home, now as in Christ’s time” (Furrer, Wanderungen , p. 117).

The Expositor's Greek Testament, edited by W. Robertson Nicoll (1897–1910) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Verse 17. Let him which is on the house top] The houses of the Jews, as well as those of the ancient Greeks and Romans, were flat-roofed, and had stairs on the outside, by which persons might ascend and descend without coming into the house. In the eastern walled cities, these flat-roofed houses usually formed continued terraces from one end of the city to the other; which terraces terminated at the gates. He, therefore, who is walking on the house top, let him not come down to take any thing out of his house; but let him instantly pursue his course along the tops of the houses, and escape out at the city gate as fast as he can.

Any thing] Instead of τι, any thing, we should read τα, the things; which reading is supported by all the best MSS., versions, and fathers.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

(17) Let him which is on the housetop.—The houses in the streets of Jerusalem were built in a continuous line, and with flat roofs, so that a man might pass from house to house without descending into the street until he came to some point near the wall or gate of the city, and so make his escape. At a moment of danger (in this case that arising from the factions within the city, rather than the invaders without), any delay might prove fatal. Men were to escape as though their life were “given them for a prey” (Jer_45:5), without thinking of their goods or chattels.

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

17. not come down to take any thing out of his house] i. e. either (1) pass from the roof to the entrance, and thence to the street, without entering any apartments, or (2) escape along the flat roofs from house to house.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

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), , "the way of the doors"; the other, , "the way of the roof": upon which the gloss is,

"to go up on the outside, , "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.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

17 Let him which is on the housetop not come down to take any thing out of his house:

Ver. 17. Not come down to take any thing] See here the miseries of war, which now, alas, we feel, and can seal to: being glad to flee for our lives with the loss of all, lest with Shimei, seeking to save our goods we lose life and all; glad if we may escape with the skin of our teeth. And how like are our present convulsions to end in a deadly consumption? War is called evil by a specialty, Isa 45:7. Sin, Satan, and war have all one name: evil is the best of them. The best of sin is deformity, of Satan enmity, of war misery. God yet offereth us mercy, as Alexander did those he warred against, while the lamp burned. Oh, let us break off our sins by repentance, and be abrupt in it, lest we should seem to come short, Heb 4:1.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Him which is on the house-top - The roofs of the houses in Eastern countries were made flat, so that they were favorable places for walking and retirement. See the notes at Mat 9:1-8. The meaning here is, that He who should be on the house-top when this calamity came upon the city “should flee without delay;” He should not even take time to secure any article of apparel from his house. So sudden would be the calamity, that by attempting to do this He would endanger his life.

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Not come down, into the house. They had no occasion, as Mauduit and others seem to suppose, to throw themselves from the roof, for the Jews had usually stairs on the outside of their houses. (Bible de Vence)

George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).

17. On the housetop not come down — Our Lord is here still describing the troubles in the country, after the downfall of the city. He is drawing vivid pictures of the pursuit of Jews by the Romans by single instances and examples. For instance, many a man may be on the housetop when a pursuer arrives, and his best way is to rush down the stairs on the outside of the house without stopping to take anything from the inside. The stairs often also descended within, but near the porch so that the fugitive could escape without entering the rooms. Or he might escape by crossing neighbouring roofs.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Housetop. This was fiat, and used as a place of rest, meditation, and familiar concourse. (Mat_10:27) Come down...house. The roof was accessible by two staircases, one external leading from the street or the country, the other mounting from the apartments. The householder was not to descend by this latter to carry off anything from his chambers within, but to escape at once by the outer staircase. (setup. Luk_5:19) The flight was to be precipitate, like that of Lot from Sodom. (cf. Luk_17:32) The warning was necessary, as, when the Zealots and assassins bad the upper hand, they allowed no one to leave the city. The warning, however, applied to dwellers in any part of Judaea.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Let not him that is on the house top come down to take any thing out of his house - It may be remembered that their stairs used to be on the outside of their houses.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.

17. μὴ καταβάτω κ.τ.λ. i.e. either (1) pass from the roof to the entrance, and thence to the street, without entering any apartments, or (2) escape along the flat roofs from house to house.

ἆραι τὰ ἐκ τῆς οἰκίας, for ἆραι ἐκ τῆς οἰκίας τὰ ἐν τῇ οἰκίᾳ. Cp. Plato, Symp. IV. 31, τὰ ἐκ τῆς οἰκίας πέπραται, and Luk 11:13, ὁ πατὴρ ὁ ἐξ οὐρανοῦ δώσει πνεῦμα ἅγιον. See Winer, p. 784.

Cambridge Greek Testament for Schools and Colleges (Cambridge University Press, 1896; 21 vols, various authors incl. Carr, Maclear, Plummer, Farrar, Lumby, Moule, M. R. James, Simcox) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

17.] A person might run on the flat-roofed houses in Jerusalem from one part of the city to another, and to the city gates. Perhaps however this is not meant, but that he should descend by the outer stairs instead of the inner, which would lose time.

19,

Henry Alford, The Greek Testament (1849–1861) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

(M) 17. He who is on the housetop, let him not come down to take things out of his house.] Mk. has μὴ καταβάτω μηδὲ εἰσελθάτω. For Mt.’s omission of one clause, see Introduction, p. xxiv.

International Critical Commentary — older volumes (1896–1929), various authors — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Him which is on the house - top [ο επι του δωματος] . From roof to roof there might be a regular communication, called by the Rabbis "the road of the roofs." Thus a person could make his escape passing from roof to roof, till, at the last house, he would descend the stairs on the outside of the house, but within the exterior court. The urgency of the flight is enhanced by the fact that the stairs lead into this court. "Though you must pass by the very door of your room, do not enter to take anything out. Escape for your life."

Marvin R. Vincent, Word Studies in the New Testament (1887–1900) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.