Let him which is on the housetop not come down to take any thing out of his house:
Parallel translations
- WEB Let him who is on the housetop not go down to take out the things that are in his house.
- BSB Let no one on the housetop come down to retrieve anything from his house.
- NKJV Let him who is on the housetop not go down to take anything out of his house.
- NASB Whoever is on the housetop must not go down to get things out of his house.
- NLT A person out on the deck of a roof must not go down into the house to pack.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
The one on the housetop must not go down to grab possessions. It stresses the extreme urgency of flight.
Overview
Flight must be so immediate that there is no time even to retrieve belongings from the house. The picture conveys the suddenness and severity of the coming danger. It teaches that when judgment comes, earthly possessions must not delay obedience to Christ's warning.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 11
- Luke 17:31–33In that day, he which shall be upon the housetop, and his stuff in the house, let him not come down to take it away: and he that is in the field, let him likewise not return back.
- Mark 13:15–16And let him that is on the housetop not go down into the house, neither enter therein, to take any thing out of his house:
- Matt 10:27What I tell you in darkness, that speak ye in light: and what ye hear in the ear, that preach ye upon the housetops.
- Acts 10:9On the morrow, as they went on their journey, and drew nigh unto the city, Peter went up upon the housetop to pray about the sixth hour:
- Luke 12:3Therefore whatsoever ye have spoken in darkness shall be heard in the light; and that which ye have spoken in the ear in closets shall be proclaimed upon the housetops.
- Luke 5:19And when they could not find by what way they might bring him in because of the multitude, they went upon the housetop, and let him down through the tiling with his couch into the midst before Jesus.
- Deut 22:8When thou buildest a new house, then thou shalt make a battlement for thy roof, that thou bring not blood upon thine house, if any man fall from thence.
- 1 Sam 9:25And when they were come down from the high place into the city, Samuel communed with Saul upon the top of the house.
- Matt 6:25Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on. Is not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment?
- Prov 6:4–5Give not sleep to thine eyes, nor slumber to thine eyelids.
- Job 2:4And Satan answered the LORD, and said, Skin for skin, yea, all that a man hath will he give for his life.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Christ at the center
Matthew presents Jesus as the promised King — son of David, son of Abraham — the new Moses and true Israel in whom every prophecy reaches 'that it might be fulfilled.'
How Matthew 24:17 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Greek word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.