Matthew 24:16

“For this cause the Lord knowing the greatness of the adversary grants indulgence to the godly, saying, Then let them which be in Judæa flee to the mountains.” — editor's note: Matt. xxiv. 16.

“And He shall send His angels with a great trumpet, and they shall gather together His elect from the four winds, from the heights of heaven, even into the farthest bounds thereof.”” — editor's note: Matt. xxiv. 4–31.

“…and let him which is on the house-top not come down to take anything out of his house; neither let him which is in the field return back to take his clothes,” is reported also by Mark almost in so many words.” — editor's note: Matt. xxiv. 16–18.

“Matt. XXIV. 16-18.” — the author cites it

“And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved.”” — editor's note: Matt. xxiv. 15–22; Mark xiii. 14–20; Luke xxi. 20–23.

As above He had obscurely intimated the end of Jerusalem; He now proceeds to a more plain announcement of it, citing a prophecy which should make them believe it.

That, “Let him that readeth understand,” is said to call us to the mystic understanding of the place. What we read in Daniel is this; “And in the midst of the week the sacrifice and the oblation shall be taken away,…

Luke, in order to shew that the abomination of desolation foretold by Daniel had reference to the time of the siege of Jerusalem, repeats these words of our Lord, “When ye shall see Jerusalem encompassed by armies,…

Whence I think that by the abomination of desolation, He means the army by which the city of the holy Jerusalem was desolated.

Or it may be understood of the statue of Caesar, which Pilate set up in the temple; or of the equestrian statue of Adrian, which stood to the present time in the very Holy of Holies. For, according to the Old…

Or because he who desolated the city and the temple placed his statue there. He says, “When ye shall see,” because these things were to happen while some of them were yet alive. Wherein admire Christ’s power, and the…

And this we know was so done when the fall of Jerusalem drew near; for on the approach of the Roman army, all the Christians in the province, warned, as ecclesiastical history tells us, [marg. note: Euseb., H. E.,…

Then to shew how inevitable the evils that should come upon the Jews, and how infinite their calamity, He adds, “And let him which is on the housetop, not come down to take any thing out of his house,” for it was…

Or because that will not be a time of shewing pity, neither upon them who are with child, nor upon them who are suckling, nor upon their infants. And as speaking to Jews who thought they might travel no more upon the…

Because in the one the severity of the cold prevents your flight to the deserts, and your lurking in mountains and wilds; in the other, you must either transgress the Law, if you will fly, or encounter instant death…

In Luke it is thus read, “There shall be great distress upon the earth, and wrath upon this people, and they shall fall by the edge of the sword, and shall be led away captive into all nations.” [Luke 21:23] And so…

I ask the Jews, whence came upon them so grievous wrath from heaven more woeful than all that had come upon them before? Plainly it was because of the desperate crime [τολμήμα] and the denial of the Cross. But He…

Indeed some persons seem to me not unfitly to understand by “these days” the evils themselves, as in other places of divine Scripture evil days are spoken of; not that the days themselves are evil, but the things…

But that the Jews should not say that these evils came because of the preaching and the disciples of Christ, He shews them that had it not been for His disciples, they would have totally perished, “but for the…

For we ought not to doubt that when Jerusalem was overthrown, there were among that people elect of God who had believed out of the circumcision, or would have believed, elect before the foundation of the world, for…

Not remembering that which is written. “The day continues according to thy ordinances.” [Ps 119:91] We must understand it of their being shortened not in measure, but in number, lest the faith of believers should be…

For let us not suppose that the computation of Daniel’s weeks was interfered with by this shortening of those days, or that they were not already at that time complete, but had to be completed afterwards in the end…

Observe this economy of the Holy Spirit in this, that John wrote nothing of all this, that he might not seem to be writing a history after the event; for he survived sometime the taking of Jerusalem. But these who…

Or otherwise; It is a sign of His future coming that the Lord gives, when He says, “When ye shall see the abomination.” For the Prophet spoke this of the times of Antichrist; and he calls abomination that which…

For in tribulations we must beware of coming down from the spiritual heights, and yielding ourselves to the carnal life; or of failing and looking behind us, after having made some progress forwards.

That which is said, “Woe unto them that are with child, and to them that give suck,” is not to be taken literally as an admonition to women pregnant, but as a description of souls burdened with the weight of sin,…

Or, “They that are with child,” are they who covet what belongs to others; “they that give suck,” are they who have already forcibly taken that which they coveted; to them shall be “woe” in the day of judgment. “Pray…

that no one be found in that day in either joy or sorrow for temporal things.

Or; That we be not taken in the frost of sins., or in discontinuance of good works, because of the soreness of the affliction; notwithstanding that for the sake of God’s elect, those days shall be shortened, that the…

Mystically; In the holy place of the Scriptures, both Old and New Testament, Antichrist, that is, false word, has often stood; let those who see this flee from the Judaea of the letter to the high mountains of truth.…

Matthew 24:16 and Mark 13:14 share the same wording (11 words).

Matthew 24:16 and Luke 21:21 share the same wording (21 words).

Cited together in Augustine of Hippo on Matthew 24:15–22 (Catena Aurea).

Cited together in Augustine of Hippo on Matthew 24:15–22 (2) (Catena Aurea).

Cited together in Origen on Matthew 24:15–22 (2) (Catena Aurea).

Cited together in Jerome on Matthew 24:15–22 (4) (Catena Aurea).

Cited together in Jerome on Matthew 24:15–22 (Catena Aurea).