prophet. Dan. ix. 26, 27, xi. 31, xii. 11.. Whoso readeth, let him understand. These were undoubtedly the words of the Evangelist, as if he had said, Reader, attend. As Matthew wrote between the time when the prediction was made and its fulfilment, he warns the Christians to be on the alert, and observe the signal of flight to the mountains.

16. Instead of taking refuge in the city of Jerusalem, with the vain hope of its being able to hold out against the Romans, they were to seek safety in flight. The mountains with their caves and defiles would furnish a secure retreat. Besides, as the mountainous regions were at peace with the Romans, those who resorted thither would be safe. The disciples obeyed their Master, when the time came, and escaped to Pella, and other places beyond the Jordan.-The next four verses dwell upon the necessity of a speedy departure, when the signs of danger showed themselves.

17. On the house-top, &c. Houses in the east are constructed with flat roofs, upon which persons may walk and enjoy retirement. Stairs were built on the outside. Hence, an individual might descend without entering the house, or he might pass from house to house on the roofs. It is a figurative expression, implying that the utmost expedition was to be used. They were to flee at once, without delay. Any thing out of his house. Griesbach, with

other critics, reads, the things in his house.

18. Return back to take his clothes. By which are meant the outer garments, which were laid aside during labor. Another sentence somewhat of a proverbial and hyperbolical kind, denoting the necessity of the greatest despatch.

19. Woe unto them, &c. i. e. alas for them, woe is them.

20. In the winter. On account of the cold storms of rain and hail, and bad travelling. This season has considerable severity in Judea, as we learn from the uniform testimony of historians and travellers. It is mentioned in the Jewish books, as the token of a gracious Providence, that, when the first temple was destroyed, the event occurred in summer, not in winter. Neither on the Sabbath-day. Because on that day they were allowed to travel only a short distance. A Sabbath-day's journey was not far from one mile. This was granted the people to enable them to attend worship in their synagogues. The gates of towns and cities were also closed on the Sabbath-day. Neh. xiii. 19, 22. Most of the Jewish Christians would, of course, retain the scruples of their previous faith, in regard to travelling on that day.

Luke xxi.

21. Great tribulation. 24. That the expression here used is not altogether hyperbolical is plain from the thrilling account of Josephus. He remarks, that, if the miseries of all mankind from the

Then if

creation were compared with those which the Jews suffered, they would appear inferior. The siege of Jerusalem furnishes the bloodiest page in all history. One million and one hundred thousand perished in the city. The streets ran with blood. Multitudes were crucified outside the walls. Before the capitulation, the famine rose to such a pitch that the most loathsome substances were used for food, and a mother killed and devoured part of her own child. Deut. xxviii. 57. Nearly one hundred thousand were taken captive, of whom some were slain in cold blood; some were sent to the mines of Egypt; some were reserved to fight with wild beasts in the theatres; and others were sold as slaves. All that was most dreadful in ignominy or suffering, was concentrated in this awful overthrow. How vividly true the words of Jesus!

22. Except those days should be shortened. Josephus mentions various circumstances, which abridged the period of these unspeakable sufferings.

The dissensions of the Jews among themselves very much hastened the crisis. Titus, the Roman general, was so struck with admiration at the vast strength of the walls as he surveyed them after the capture, that he exclaimed: "We have certainly had God for our assistant in this war, and it was no other than God who ejected the Jews out of these fortifications; for

what could the hand of man or any machines do towards overthrowing any of these towers?"-No flesh be saved, i. e. none who were engaged in this affair. - For the elect's sake, fc. Out of regard to the Jewish Christians, who had espoused the vital cause of the Gospel, that period would be shortened. Christians were called the elect, because they were now the chosen or the choice people of God.

23. Lo, here is Christ, or there. In times of such commotion, persons claiming to be the Messiah, would abound, for the Jews were intently looking for deliverance. See note on verse 5. Jesus warns his disciples not to trust these pretenders, since they were assured that the Christ had already come.

24. Shall show great signs and wonders. Acts viii. 9, xiii. 8, xix. 14. Shall profess to perform miracles; not that they would be actually competent to do it; for we have no evidence that the power of working miracles was ever granted to impostors or wicked men. Josephus relates that several made the attempt. If it were possible, &c. More correctly, if possible, expressing not an impossibility, but extreme difficulty. Even Christians themselves would run the risk of being led astray by them. 2 Tim. iii. 13. This verse affords no countenance to the doctrine of the final perseverance of the saints.

25. He reminds his disciples that

he had given them seasonable warning, and that they should, therefore, be upon their guard.

26. He, i. e. the Messiah. In the desert. The remarkable coincidence of the fact with the prediction is shown by Josephus, who states, that many impostors and deceivers persuaded the people to follow them into the desert, promising to show them signs and wonders done by the providence of God. In the secret chambers, i. e. retired places. As much as to say, that, while some would adopt one method, others would adopt another, to secure adherents. The Jewish historian relates that a vast multitude was decoyed into the temple, under the pretext, that the signs of deliverance would be there manifested, and that about six thousand of them perished in slaughter.

27. As the lightning, &c. He goes on to say, that they would not find the Messiah by resorting to the desert, the secret chambers, or any particular place, but that his coming would be sudden, startling, and splendid, like the lightning, filling the whole heavens, and flaming across from horizon to horizon. Thus conspicuous and terrific was the destruction of Jerusalem, in all its fancied strength, and the vain security of its inhabitants.

28. By the carcass is here represented the Jews, out of whom the true life had departed, and who had

become, as it were, a carcass without the soul. By the eagles are to be understood the Romans, who, like eagles or vultures, would hasten to their prey, and whose ensigns were the figures of eagles. Wickedness soon attracts its retribution. Similar phraseology is found in other parts of Scripture. Deut. xxviii. 49; Job xxxix. 30; Lam. iv. 19; Hos. viii. 1. This prediction met with the most exact fulfilment. The Roman eagles hovered over the ruins of the once beautiful city, and preyed upon its wretched inhabitants.

29. Shall the sun be darkened, &c. These vivid figurative expressions are descriptive of the destruction of the city and nation of the Jews. As the sun, moon, and stars are the sources of light to the globe, and as their eclipse or destruction would be the most appalling of calamities, the imagery here used expresses, with intense power, the tremendous ruin impending over the devoted nation. The prophets often resorted to these brilliant figures, to portray the convulsions and overthrow of states and kingdoms. Isa. xiii. 10, 13; Ezek. xxxii. 7, 8; Dan. viii. 10; Amos viii. 9; Joel ii. 30, 31. We never shall understand the full and rich significance of the Sacred Scriptures, unless we remember, that they are written in a highly oriental, poetical style, which abounds far more in bold

metaphors, personifications, and proverbs, than the writings of the colder western nations.

30. The sign of the Son of Man in heaven. The Jews had often demanded of Jesus signs and wonders. They would now witness them on a magnificent scale. His sign would appear in the heavens, his star be in the ascendant. The tribes of the earth, i. e. of the land. The tribes of Israel. They shall see the Son of Man coming. It will then be as clearly manifest, that he is the Messiah, as if he were actually present in person. In the clouds of heaven with power, &c. Denoting the terribleness and majesty of his approach. Jesus had been persecuted, rejected, and crucified by the Jews, but the day of vengeance was at hand. His Gospel was soon to triumph gloriously in the world, while his enemies would be destroyed, their temple burnt, their city razed to its foundation, and their wretched nation dispersed to the four winds of heaven. Such were the signs and coming of the Son of Man.

31. His angels, i. e. his messengers, the Apostles, and early teachers of Christianity. With a great sound of a trumpet. The Gospel with its thrilling messages, would resound, like a trumpet, through the world. They shall gather together his elect, i. e. he shall, through the instrumentality of his disciples, gather together and form a Chris

tian church and association of believers, an object which was accomplished after the destruction of Jerusalem; for the faithful in heart in every place were united by the Apostles and first preachers into a holy society, that might fitly be called elect or choice. From the four winds, &c. i. e. from every quarter, from every nation. Acts ii. 9-11. Jesus Christ, as the second Adam, the spiritual Adam of a new human race, collected the elements of his church out of all kindreds and tongues and nations. The dispensation limited to one people was superseded by a universal religion.

32. Learn a parable of the figtree. Or, take an illustration from the fig-tree. Parable sometimes means illustration, comparison. Summer is nigh. Rather, Spring. In Hebrew there are no terms to express Spring and Autumn. As certainly as Spring and Summer follow the leafing of the fig-tree, so surely shall the fall of Jerusalem succeed the signs before mentioned. As much as to say, the retributions of Providence will be as unerring, as the course of Nature. - Mount Olivet, on which Jesus was now sitting, abounded in figs as well as olive-trees. Though the mind of Jesus was filled with the pictures of astonishing events to come, we still find him gracefully drawing from Nature, at his side, the embellishments of his speech.