Flight to Pella

The fourth-century Church Father Eusebius of Caesarea and Epiphanius of Salamis cite a tradition that before the destruction of Jerusalem in AD 70 the early Christians had been warned to flee to Pella in the region of the Decapolis across the Jordan River. The flight to Pella probably did not include the Ebionites.^[1][2]

The authenticity of this tradition has been a much debated question since 1951 when S. G. F. Brandon in his work The Fall of Jerusalem and the Christian Church argued that the Christians would have been allied to their compatriots, the Zealots; only after the destruction of the Jewish community would Christianity have emerged as a universalist religion.^[3] The Christian–Zealot alliance has hardly been taken seriously, but the historicity of the flight to Pella has been controversial ever since.^[3]

The people of the Church in Jerusalem were commanded by an oracle given by revelation before the war to those in the city who were worthy of it to depart and dwell in one of the cities of Perea which they called Pella. To it those who believed on Christ traveled from Jerusalem, so that when holy men had altogether deserted the royal capital of the Jews and the whole land of Judaea.

— Eusebius, Church History 3, 5, 3

This heresy of the Nazoraeans exists in Beroea in the neighbourhood of Coele Syria and the Decapolis in the region of Pella and in Basanitis in the so-called Kokaba (Chochabe in Hebrew). From there it took its beginning after the exodus from Jerusalem when all the disciples went to live in Pella because Christ had told them to leave Jerusalem and to go away since it would undergo a siege. Because of this advice they lived in Perea after having moved to that place, as I said.

— Epiphanius, Panarion 29,7,7-8

For after all those who believed in Christ had generally come to live in Perea, in a city called Pella of the Decapolis of which it is written in the Gospel that it is situated in the neighbourhood of the region of Batanaea and Basanitis, Ebion's preaching originated here after they had moved to this place and had lived there.

— Epiphanius, Panarion 30, 2, 7

So Aquila, while he was in Jerusalem, also saw the disciples of the disciples of the apostles flourishing in the faith and working great signs, healings, and other miracles. For they were such as had come back from the city of Pella to Jerusalem and were living there and teaching. For when the city was about to be taken and destroyed by the Romans, it was revealed in advance to all the disciples by an angel of God that they should remove from the city, as it was going to be completely destroyed. They sojourned as emigrants in Pella, the city above mentioned in Transjordania. And this city is said to be of the Decapolis.

— Epiphanius, On Weights and Measures 15

The early Apostolic Christians were well aware of Jesus' prophecy in Matthew 24 and Luke 21 regarding the abomination of desolation, the surrounding of Jerusalem by the Roman Army, prior to its destruction. The army mysteriously retreated, which showed the Christians the sign they were looking for to escape to Pella, before the Romans returned to destroy the city:

Matthew 24:15-20 KJV:

[15] When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place, (whoso readeth, let him understand:) [16] then let them which be in Judæa flee into the mountains: [17] let him which is on the house top not come down to take any thing out of his house: [18] neither let him which is in the field return back to take his clothes. [19] And woe unto them that are with child, and to them that give suck in those days! [20] But pray ye that your flight be not in the winter, neither on the sabbath day:

Luke cites the same exposition, making clear that Jesus is prophetically referring to the Roman Army, surrounding, departure and return:

Luke 21:20-24 KJV:

[20] And when ye shall see Jerusalem compassed with armies, then know that the desolation thereof is nigh. [21] Then let them which are in Judæa flee to the mountains; and let them which are in the midst of it depart out; and let not them that are in the countries enter thereinto. [22] For these be the days of vengeance, that all things which are written may be fulfilled. [23] But woe unto them that are with child, and to them that give suck, in those days! for there shall be great distress in the land, and wrath upon this people. [24] And they shall fall by the edge of the sword, and shall be led away captive into all nations: and Jerusalem shall be trodden down of the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled.

In chapter 10 of his book on the Apostolic Christian 7th Day Sabbath: History of the Sabbath, J. N. Andrews cites the historians, including Josephus, that verify the departure of the Christians whilst the Romans are mysteriously departing, noting that the Jewish forces hounding the Roman army were therefore too busy to prevent the Christians escaping to Pella.

• Brandon, Samuel G. F., The Fall of Jerusalem and the Christian Church, (London: SPCK, 1957), p. 167-184.
• Bourgel, Jonathan, "The Jewish Christians’ Move from Jerusalem as a pragmatic choice", in: Dan Jaffé (ed), Studies in Rabbinic Judaism and Early Christianity, (Leyden: Brill, 2010), p. 107-138.
• Pritz, Ray A., "On Brandon’s Rejection of the Pella Tradition", Immanuel 13 (1981), p. 39-43.
• Gray, Barbara C., "The Movements of the Jerusalem Church during the First Jewish War", Journal of Ecclesiastical History 24 (1973), p. 1-7.
• Gunther, John J., "The Fate of the Jerusalem Church. The Flight to Pella", Theologische Zeitschrift 29 (1973), p. 81-94.
• Koester, Craig, "The Origin and Significance of the Flight to Pella Tradition", Catholic Biblical Quarterly 51 (1989), p. 90-106.
• Sowers Sidney, "The Circumstances and Recollection of the Pella Flight", Theologische Zeitschrift 26 (1970), p. 305-320.