War with Rome and the dispersal of Jerusalem's Jesus-followers (incl. the Pella tradition)
66 – 135
Place: pella
32.450, 35.617 · On the map
The destruction of 70 is attested. The flight to Pella is a disputed tradition, reported only by later Christian writers (Eusebius HE 3.5.3; Epiphanius Panarion 29.7, 30.2). Full place record: batch 1 'pella'.
Rome destroyed the Temple in 70 and refounded Jerusalem as a pagan city after 135. Jewish Jesus-followers scattered east of the Jordan and into Syria. Eusebius and Epiphanius say the Jerusalem church fled to Pella before the siege.
People named here
- Symeon son of Clopas
Where scholars disagree
For
- Craig R. Koester — CBQ 1989: the tradition probably preserves 1st-century events
Against
- Gerd Lüdemann (1980): a 2nd-century legend created to legitimize the Pella community (as summarized and rebutted by Koester 1989)
Links
Place
Out
Tradition says the Jerusalem church fled to Pella; this is disputed.
located_at
traditional
Influence
Out
Jewish-Christian gospels (Hebrews, Nazoraeans, Ebionites)
Dispersed Jewish-Christian groups carried their own gospels into Syria (Beroea).
transmitted_via
attested
Sequence
In
James the Just and the Jerusalem church
James' execution (62) came shortly before the war and dispersal of 66–70.
preceded
attested
Sources
- Eusebius, Church History Book 3 (NPNF trans., PD)
New Advent. Accessed 2026-11-11.
- Craig R. Koester, 'The Origin and Significance of the Flight to Pella Tradition', Catholic Biblical Quarterly 51 (1989), 90–106
Luther Seminary Digital Commons. Accessed 2026-11-11.
- Wikipedia: Flight to Pella
Wikipedia contributors (CC BY-SA 4.0). Accessed 2026-11-11.