Expositor's Bible Commentary Commentary Mark 13:14-18

"But when ye see the abomination of desolation standing where he ought not (let him that readeth understand), then let them that are in Judaea flee unto the mountains: and let him that is on the housetop not go down, nor enter in, to take anything out his house: and let him that is in the field not return back to take his cloak. But woe unto them that are with child and to them that give suck in those days! And pray ye that it be not in the winter." — Mark 13:14-18 (ASV)

(14a) This is one of the most difficult verses in Mark’s gospel if not in the entire NT. The key phrase is “abomination that causes desolation,” an expression derived from Daniel (cf. Daniel 9:27; 11:31; 12:11). The first word of the phrase, “abomination” (GK 1007), suggests something repugnant to God, while “desolation” (GK 2247) suggests that because of the abomination the temple is left deserted. The holy and pious worshipers vacate it.

The primary fulfillment of Daniel’s prophecy of the “abomination that causes desolation” is usually found in the profanation of the altar of burnt offering in the temple of Jerusalem by a representative of Antiochus IV, Epiphanes, in 167 B. C. (cf. 1 Macc 1:54–59; 6:7). The fact that Jesus used the same expression here makes it clear that its fulfillment was not restricted to the events of the time of the Maccabees. What it does refer to has been hotly debated. Some refer it to events surrounding the fall of Jerusalem, such as the military standards of the Romans brought into the temple (cf. Lk 21:20). Others see this prophecy as being fulfilled in the end times by the Antichrist (cf. Matthew 24:29–30; 2 Thessalonians 2:3–10). The best solution, however, is to understand the abomination that causes desolation as having a multiple fulfillment in (1) the Maccabean period, (2) the events of A. D. 66–70, and (3) the end times. The exhortation to “let the reader understand” is probably Mark’s editorial comment.

(14b–18) It is difficult to consign the admonitions of these verses to the end times, for no one will be able to flee from the judgment of God in that day. The warnings, however, make good sense in the context of the approach of the Roman army before the fall of Jerusalem in A. D. 70. Two admonitions stress the urgency of the situation: (1) anyone on the roof of the house is not to go inside to get any belongings, and (2) anyone in the field is not to return to the house even to get an outer garment. The outer garment was used at night to keep one warm; in the daytime it was taken off to allow more freedom of movement in working. Though the cloak would be especially useful in case of the necessity of fleeing to the mountains, where the night air is cold, the situation would be too urgent to allow one even to fetch it.

A hurried flight to the mountains would be very hard for pregnant women and nursing mothers. And if the flight took place in winter it would be all the more difficult, since both the cold and rain-swollen wadis would present formidable hazards. These warnings and woes seem especially appropriate to what actually occurred at the time of the destruction of Jerusalem. The Christians in the city fled to the mountains—to Pella in Perea.