Luk 17:32 Remember Lot's wife.
Luke 17:32
Remember Lot's wife. Whose name by the Jews, is said to be Adith, as some (s); or Irith, as others (t): and who, they also say, was a native of Sodom; and that the reason of her looking, was either to see what would be the end of her father's house and family (u); or as others (w), because her heart yearned after her daughters, and she looked back to see if they followed her; upon which she became a pillar of salt, Gen 19:26 They say (x), that her bones were burnt with the brimstone, and along with which was salt, into which she was turned, according to Deu 29:23. They often speak of מלח סרומית, "salt of Sodom" (y); where the gloss says, it is thick and hard, as a stone; and to which they sometimes (z) ascribe this virtue, that it blinds the eyes: and there is a sort of salt, which they call (a) Galilaean salt, of like hardness; and Pliny (b) speaks of salt in the Indies, which they cut out, as stones out of quarries; and that, at Carthis, a town in Arabia, is salt with which they build houses and walls: of a very durable nature it is certain, was this pillar of "salt", Lot's wife became; for Josephus reports (c), that he saw this pillar of salt in his time; and Irenaeus asserts (d), that it was in being when he lived; and modern writers, as Burchardus and Adrichomius, speak of it as still existing; and the Jerusalem "paraphrast" on Gen 19:26 says it shall endure till the time the resurrection comes, in which the dead shall live: the reason of her becoming a pillar of salt, the Jews say, is, that she sinned by salt, and so was punished by salt; and which is differently related, and in a very fanciful way: one writer (f) reports, that when the angels came, Lot said to her, give me a little salt for these travellers; she replied to him, truly this is a bad custom, which thou bringest to be used in this place; and elsewhere (g) it is said, that upon their coming, she went to all her neighbours, and said to them, give me some salt, for we have travellers; but her intention was, that the men of the city might know them: but leaving those things, our Lord's design in these words, is to instruct his followers by this instance, not to look back in their flight, or to turn back to their houses, to save their goods, when the desolation of Jerusalem was coming on, lest they should suffer in it; and to warn all professors of religion, in all ages, against looking back to things that are behind, or turning their backs on him, in a time of distress and persecution; since such are not fit for the kingdom of God; and in these God has no delight and pleasure.
(s) Pirke Eliezer, c. 25. (t) Baal Hatturim in Gen. xix. 26. (u) Targum Jon. & Hieros. in ib. (w) Pirke Eliezer ib. (x) Aben Ezra in Gen. xix. 26. (y) T. Bab. Bava Bathra, fol. 20. 2. & Menachot, fol. 21. 1. (z) Bartenora in Misna Erubin, c. 1. sect. 10. (a) T. Bab Kiddushin, fol. 62. 1. (b) Nat. Hist. l. 31. c. 7. (c) Antiqu. l. 1. c. 12. (d) Adv. Haeres. l. 4. c. 51. (f) Jarchi in Gen. xix. 26. (g) Bereshit Rabba, sect. 51. fol. 46. 1.
Luke 17:37
And they answered and said unto him, where, Lord?.... That is, either the Pharisees put this question to Christ, who demanded of him when the kingdom of God would come, Luk 17:20 or rather the disciples, to whom Christ more especially directed his discourse, Luk 17:22 who hearing of the distinction that would be made of persons in these dismal times, ask where it should be; not where the persons would be left, but whither the others would be taken, and by whom: and he said unto them,
wheresoever the body is; the carcass of the Jewish nation, as at Jerusalem chiefly, and in whatsoever place:
thither will the eagles be gathered together; the Roman army, whose ensign was the eagle; these will come, seize upon them, and take them and devour them, as they did: the Persic version renders it, "vultures"; See Gill on Mat 24:28. These words can by no means be understood of sinners fleeing to Christ for eternal life and salvation; nor of the gathering of saints to him, at the last day; for how fitly soever such persons may be compared to "eagles", the word "body", or "carcass", as in Mat 24:28 and which is so read in some copies here, is not so suitable to Christ; and especially at his glorious appearing; and besides, the words are an answer to a question, where such persons would be, who would be taken and destroyed, when others would be left, or preserved; and manifestly refer to the body, or carcass of the Jewish people at Jerusalem, and other fortified places; where they should think themselves safe, but should not be so, the Roman armies gathering about them, and seizing them as their prey: it is yet a more strange interpretation, which is proposed by a very learned man (i); that by the "eagle" is meant, Christ; and by "the body", or "carcass", the church in the times of antichrist; and by "gathering" to it, the coming of Christ: for though Christ may be said to bear and carry his people, as the eagle bears and carries its young upon its wings, which he observes from Exo 19:4 yet not a single eagle, but "eagles", in the plural number, are here mentioned; which shows, that not a single person, as Christ, but many are here intended, even legions of Roman soldiers: nor can the church of Christ be compared to a dead and filthy carcass, in the worst of times, even in the times of antichrist; for however forlorn, distressed, and afflicted her condition is, she is kept alive, and in some measure pure from antichristian pollutions; and is represented by a woman, to whom two wings of a great eagle are given (wherefore she should rather be designed by the eagles) to fly with into the wilderness, where she is preserved and nourished for a time, and times, and half a time, Rev 12:14. Nor is Christ's coming ever expressed by the gathering of him to his people; but on the other hand, they are always said to be gathered unto him; see 2Th 2:1.
(i) Teelmaunus.
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