See the notes at Matthew 10:39.

Whosoever shall seek to save his life - These or similar words were spoken on another occasion. See on Matthew 10:39 (note); Matthew 16:25, Matthew 16:26 (note).

Whosoever shall seek to save his life,.... By fleeing to some strong hold, or by continuing in the metropolis, and strongest city in the nation, Jerusalem:

shall lose it: there he will be in the greatest danger:

and whosoever shall lose his life; or expose it to danger, by fleeing to the mountains, or going to Pella, a small town beyond Jordan, of no strength, and where there might be thought no security;

shall preserve it; he shall be safe; See Gill on Matthew 16:25.

Shall preserve (ζωογονήσει)

Only here and Acts 7:19. Originally to engender; thence to produce alive or endue with life, and so to preserve alive. Wyc., shall quicken it.

Whosoever shall seek to save his life shall lose it; and whosoever shall lose his life shall {e} preserve it.

(e) That is, will save it, as Matthew expounds it: for the life that is spoken of here is everlasting salvation.

17:33 Whosoever shall seek to save his life. See PNT Mt 10:39.

17:33 The sense of this and the following verse s is, Yet as great as the danger will be, do not seek to save your life by violating your conscience: if you do, you will surely lose it: whereas if you should lose it for my sake, you shall be paid with life everlasting. But the most probable way of preserving it now, is to be always ready to give it up: a peculiar Providence shall then watch over you, and put a difference between you and other men.

33. Whosoever, &c.-(See on [1687]Lu 9:23-27).

17:20-37 The kingdom of God was among the Jews, or rather within some of them. It was a spiritual kingdom, set up in the heart by the power of Divine grace. Observe how it had been with sinners formerly, and in what state the judgments of God, which they had been warned of, found them. Here is shown what a dreadful surprise this destruction will be to the secure and sensual. Thus shall it be in the day when the Son of man is revealed. When Christ came to destroy the Jewish nation by the Roman armies, that nation was found in such a state of false security as is here spoken of. In like manner, when Jesus Christ shall come to judge the world, sinners will be found altogether regardless; for in like manner the sinners of every age go on securely in their evil ways, and remember not their latter end. But wherever the wicked are, who are marked for eternal ruin, they shall be found by the judgments of God.