682 GOSPEL ACCORDING TO CHAP. XXI.
ofthesiege,but theperiodjustbefore,when firstthearmed
soldiersbegan to dispersethemselvesthroughthe partsof
Galileeand Samaria.
.*"*' AUG. But whereMatthew and Mark havewritten,Neither
UDl SUp.
lethim whichisin thefieldreturnback to takehisclothes,
Luke adds more clearly,And letnot them thatare inthe
countriesenterthereinto,for thesebe thedaysof vengeance,
thatallthethingswhicharewrittenmay befulfilled.BEDE.
And thesearethe days of vengeance,thatis,the daysex-
Anir. actingvengeanceforour Lord'sblood. AUG. Then Lukesup' followsinwordssimilarto thoseof the othertwo; But woe
tothem thatarewithchild,and them thatgivesuckinthose
days; and thus has made plainwhat might othewisehave
been doubtful,namely,thatwhat was saidof the abomina
tionofdesolationbelongednot to theend oftheworld,but
the takingofJerusalem.BEDE. He saysthen,Woe tothem
thatnurse,or givesuck,as some interpretit,whose womb
or arms now heavy withthe burden of children,causeno
slightobstacleto thespeedofflight.THEOPHYL. But some
saythattheLord herebysignifiedthedevouringofchildren,
whichJosephusalsorelates.
ciirys. CHRYS. He nextassignsthecauseofwhat he had justnow
oppug. said,For thereshallbegreatdistressin theland,and wrath
mou.vit.Vp0n (fa pe0pie.For the miseriesthattookholdofthem
were such as,in the words of Josephus,no calamitycan
henceforthcomparetothem. EUSEB. For sointruthitwas,
thatwhen theRomans came and weretakingthecity,many
multitudesoftheJewishpeopleperishedinthemouth ofthe
sword; as itfollows,And theyshallfallby theedgeofthe
sword. But stillmore were cut offby famine. And these
thingshappenedat firstindeedunder Titusand Vespasian,
but afterthem in the timeof HadriantheRoman general,
when the land of theirbirthwas forbiddento theJews.
Hence itfollows,And theyshallbe ledaway captiveintoall
nations.For theJews filledthe whole land,reachingeren
to theendsof the earth,and when theirlandwas inhabited
by strangers,they alonecouldnot enterit; as itfollows,
And Jerusalemshallbe troddendown of theGentiles,unlit
thetimesof the Gentilesbefulfilled.BEDE. Which indeed
Rom.n, tlieApOstlemakes mentionof when he says,Blindnessin
25.