Neither let him which is in the field return back to take his clothes.
and let him that is in the field not return back to take his cloak.
and he in the field--let him not turn back to take his garments.
and let not him that is in the field turn back to take his garment.
Matthew — The Gospel of the promised King. Five discourses punctuate the narrative; roughly sixty-five Old Testament citations bind the story to the prophets.
Rare words are the text's own signal of a deliberate thread — the fewer the occurrences, the more the places it appears belong together.
The verses this one reaches1
Then the king asked her, “What is the matter?” And she answered, “This woman said to me, ‘Give up your son, that we may eat him, and tomorrow we will eat my son.’
Voices4
(Verse 16 onwards) Then those who are in Judea, let them flee to the mountains; and those who are on the roof, let them not come down to take anything from their house; and those who are in the field, let them not turn back to take their cloak.
Jerome· Commentary on Matthew, 420patristic
Whoever is in Judea, that is, "in the letter of the old law," should flee to the mountains of the new things of the Spirit. And whoever is found to have gone up onto the roof, which is the Word, and stands high above his home should not descend to retrieve anything from within his house. For he who remains on the roof and denies himself will never need to come down.Whoever is in the field must not turn back.
Origen of Alexandria· COMMENTARY ON MATTHEW 42, 253patristic
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).
John Gill· Exposition of the New Testament (1746-1748)reformed
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.
Adam Clarke· Commentary on the Bible, 1832evangelical
