Matthew 24:19

Matthew 24:19. Woe unto them that are with child, &c.— For neither will such persons be in a condition to fly, nor will they be able to endure the distress and hardships of a siege. This woe was sufficiently fulfilled in the cruel slaughters which were made both of the women and children, and particularly in that grievous famine which so miserably afflicted Jerusalem during the siege. For mothers, as Josephus reports, snatched the food from the very mouths of their infants; and the houses were full of women and children who perished by famine. See the note on Deu 28:53-56 and Bishop Newton.