Matthew 24:19

New Testament

17 The one on the roof must not come down to take anything out of his house, 18 and the one in the field must not turn back to get his cloak. 19 Woe to those who are pregnant and to those who are nursing their babies in those days! 20 Pray that your flight may not be in winter or on a Sabbath. 21 For then there will be great suffering unlike anything that has happened from the beginning of the world until now, or ever will happen.

2 Baruch 10:13

Syriac Apocalypse of Baruch
Pseudepigrapha

11 And do thou, O sun, withhold the light of thy rays. And do thou, O moon, extinguish the multitude of thy light; For why should light rise again Where the light of Zion is darkened? 12 And you, ye bridegrooms, enter not in, And let not the brides adorn themselves with garlands 13 And, ye women, pray not that ye may bear. For the barren shall above all rejoice, And those who have no sons shall be glad, And those who have sons shall have anguish. 14 For why should they bear in pain, Only to bury in grief? 15 Or why, again, should mankind have sons? Or why should the seed of their kind again be named, Where this mother is desolate, And her sons are led into captivity?

 Notes and References

"... Assuming that Paul knew JT on the widow and the resurrection in its Lukan version implying that the widow would no longer need to marry and have children, and that he had in mind not only the deceased husband’s interests but also the widow’s herself, he could have echoed this JT in his macarism on the widow who remained unmarried. Rather than seeking blessing in the conventional sense, through marriage and having children, she could expect to be blessed, indeed, “more blessed,” by remaining unmarried and not bearing more children. For she would receive the eschatological blessing on the unfortunate from God through Jesus Christ. (Contrast 2 Baruch 10:13–16: procreation is inadvisable under the dire circumstances of war and political upheaval in the wake of the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 CE, for it leads only to pain and desolation) ..."

Gundry, Judith M. "Jesus-Tradition and Paul’s Opinion About the Widow Remaining as a Widow (1 Cor 7:40)" in Myers, Susan E. (ed.) Portraits of Jesus: Studies in Christology (pp. 175-200) Mohr Siebeck, 2012

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