Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Matthew 24:18
Neither let him which is in the field return back to take his clothes.
18. return back to take his clothes ] The Greek word signifies the outer garment, which the field labourer would throw off while at work, wearing the tunic only. Cp. “Nudus ara, sere nudus.” Georg. i. 299.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Return back to take his clothes – His clothes which, in working, He had laid aside, or which, in fleeing, he should throw off as an encumbrance. Clothes here means the outer garment, commonly laid aside when men worked or ran. See the notes at Mat 5:40.
These directions were followed. It is said that the Christians, warned by these predictions, fled from Jerusalem to Pella, and other places beyond the Jordan; so that there is not evidence that a single Christian perished in Jerusalem – Eusebius, Hist. Eccl., lib. 3 chapter 6.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Verse 18. Neither let him which is in the field return back] Because when once the army of the Romans sits down before the city, there shall be no more any possibility of escape, as they shall never remove till Jerusalem be destroyed.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
Neither let him which is in the field,…. Ploughing, or sowing, or employed in any other parts of husbandry, or rural business,
return back to take clothes; for it was usual to work in the fields without their clothes, as at ploughing and sowing. Hence those words of Virgil e.
“Nudus ara, sere nudus, hyems ignava colono.”
Upon which Servius observes, that in good weather, when the sun warms the earth, men might plough and sow without their clothes: and it is reported by the historian f of Lucius Quinctius Cincinnatus, that the messengers who were sent to him, from Minutius the consul, whom he had delivered from a siege, found him ploughing naked beyond the Tiber: not that he was entirely naked, but was stripped of his upper garments: and it is usual for people that work in the fields to strip themselves to their shirts, and lay their clothes at the corner of the field, or at the land’s end; and which we must suppose to be the case here: for our Lord’s meaning is not, that the man working in the field, should not return home to fetch his clothes, which were not left there; they were brought with him into the field, but put off; and laid aside in some part of it while at work; but that as soon as he had the news of Jerusalem being besieged, he should immediately make the best of his way, and flee to the mountains, as Lot was bid to do at the burning of Sodom; and he might not return to the corner of the field, or land’s end, where his clothes lay, as Lot was not to look behind; though if his clothes lay in the way of his flight, he might take them up, but might not go back for them, so sudden and swift should be the desolation. The Vulgate Latin reads, in the singular number, “his coat”; and so do the Syriac, Persic, and Ethiopic versions, and Munster’s Hebrew Gospel; and so it was read in four copies of Beza’s, in three of Stephens’s, and in others; and may design the upper coat or garment, which was put off whilst at work.
e Georgic. l. 1. f Aurel Victor. de illustr. viris, c. 20.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
In the field ( ). The peasant worked in his time and left his mantle at home then as now.
Fuente: Robertson’s Word Pictures in the New Testament
(18) To take his clothes.Better, in the singular, his cloak. The man would be working in the field with the short tunic of the labouring peasant, leaving the flowing outer garment at home in the city. Here also the flight was to be rapid and immediate.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
18. In the field clothes The labourer may be at work in the field, and so sudden may be the rush of the foes upon him that he must escape in his light labouring dress.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Mat 24:18. Neither let him which is in the field return 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 afterwards all egress out of the city was prevented. These are as strong expressions as one can imagine, to urge the speediest retreat. It is indeed observable that this whole discourse abounds with very lively figures of oratory, and is heightened with the noblest beauties of description. See Bishop Newton, and Elsner’s Observations, vol. 1.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
18 Neither let him which is in the field return back to take his clothes.
Ver. 18. Return back to take his clothes ] The body is better than raiment; and although there is great use of clothes, in flight especially, to save us from the injury of wind and weather (for we carry the lamps of our lives in paper lanterns, as it were), yet life for a prey (though we have nothing else) in a common calamity is a singular mercy. “A living dog is better than a dead lion,” saith Solomon. The Gibeonites, to save their lives, submitted to the meanest offices, of being hewers of wood, &c. “Skin for skin,” &c., Job 2:4 . We should be content to sacrifice all to the service of our lives.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Mat 24:18. , in the field) Husbandmen go lightly clad into the field.
Fuente: Gnomon of the New Testament
Reciprocal: 2Ki 6:28 – Give thy son Pro 6:4 – General
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
4:18
The man in a field should not regard his personal belongings at home of more importance than his safety, and hence it would be better to flee immediately for safety.
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
24:18 Neither let him which is in the field return back to take his {g} clothes.
(g) This is a sign of how great the fear will be.