The Jerusalem church's flight to Pella: later tradition
About this date: 66 is the war's opening year and a contextual navigation marker, not an established date for a migration. Eusebius gives no precise year, route, or duration for the movement he describes.
Eusebius says that Jerusalem's believers were instructed by a revelation to move to Pella before the war. This is an influential tradition about the community's survival, preserved in a much later source.
Historical context
Eusebius writes in the early fourth century while arranging earlier material into a history of the church. The migration report is therefore separated from the alleged event by more than two centuries.
Key points
- Pella lies across the Jordan from Jerusalem.
- Eusebius places the instruction before the war and associates it with approved members of the community.
- He does not name his source for this particular report.
People
- The Jerusalem Christian community
Sources and further reading
- Church History: the Pella report
The source for this tradition; read its date of composition separately from the event's proposed date.