Let no one on the housetop come down to retrieve anything from his house.
Let him which is on the housetop,.... Who should be there either for his devotion or recreation; for the houses of the Jews were built with flat roofs and battlements about them, which they made use of both for diversion and pleasure, and for private meditation and prayer, for social conversation, and sometimes for public preaching; see Mat 10:27 not come down to take anything...
Verse 17. Him which is on the housetop. The roofs of the houses in eastern countries were made flat, so that they were favourable places for walking and retirement. . The meaning here is, that he who should be on the house-top when this calamity came upon the city, should flee without delay; he should not even take time to secure any article of apparel from his house.