The "Little Apocalypse" of the synoptic gospels include a prophetic reference to something that would provoke the people in Judea "to flee to the mountains". This reference varies considerably between the three versions:
Mark 13:14: "But when you see the abomination of desolation (to bdelugma tés erémóseós) set up where it ought not to be (let the reader understand), then let those who are in Judea flee to the hills (pheugetósan eis ta oré)".
Matthew 24:15-16: "So when you see the abomination of desolation spoken of by Daniel, standing in the holy place (let the reader understand), then let those who are in Judea flee to the hills".
Luke 21:20-21: "But when you see Jerusalem surrounded by encamped armies (kukloumenén hupo stratopedón Ierousalém), then know that its desolation (erémósis) has come near (éngiken). Then let those who are in Judea flee to the hills, those inside the city must leave it, and those in country disticts must not take refuge in it".
Although the Griesbach hypothesis claimed that Mark was redacting both Matthew and Luke, it is clear that Markan Priority (assumed by most synoptic critics) is the best explanation of the variations in the passage. The original wording is that preserved in Mark which is vaguer and less definite than the others. The Markan author makes a reference to the installation (hestékota, lit. "having stood") of the "abomination of desolation", the sacrilege referred to in Daniel 9:27, 11:31, 12:11. The text is quite corrupt in Daniel 9:27, but the versions of Theodotion and the Old Greek (LXX) make reference to the location of the "abomination of desolation" (bdelugma tón erémoseon) as "upon the Temple" (epi to hieron). The MT also makes reference to its location ('l knp "on the wing"; possibly a corruption of 'l knw "in its stead"), and the Greek hieron "temple" is either a scribal error ( IERON for PTERON ) or an interpretation based on the actual location of Antiochus Epiphanes' altar to Baal-Shamem inside the Jerusalem Temple. Rather than be explicit, Mark only hints that the abomination is placed "where it ought not to be" and even acknowledges this vagueness with the formula "let the reader understand" (compare Revelation 13:18, 17:9). The passage in Daniel 9:27 does not make reference to the abomination's installation, but the subsequent reference in Daniel 11:31, 12:11 does describe it being "set up" though involving a different verb than in Mark (i.e. dósousi "they shall give, place" in 11:31, hetoimasthé "might be prepared" in 12:11).
From this very vague reference in Mark, the other two synoptic paralleled texts clarify the image and/or strengthen the allusion to Daniel. The alterations of Matthew are more modest compared to those of Luke. The author of Matthew adds a gloss that the mysterious abomination was the one "spoken of by the prophet Daniel" but retains Mark's "let the reader understand" formula. More importantly, instead of leaving the actual location unspecified, Matthew has clarified that the abomination would stand "in the holy place (en topó hagió)", which is obviously pertains to the hieron "temple" of Daniel 9:27 as well as the hagion "sanctuary" of v. 26. The use of the same word may be an interesting clue to the interpretation of Daniel in the text, for v. 26 pertains to Antiochus' wars against Jerusalem with its "destruction of the city and sanctuary" whereas v. 27 pertains to the installation of the heathen altar in the Temple. The author of Matthew seems to be mixing these two things together, tho not explicitly. The alterations in Luke however are very radical and leave no doubt that a destruction such as that assumed in Daniel 9:26 (historically interpreted to be the Roman military campaign against Jerusalem) is assumed here. Instead of referring to the "abomination of desolation" or alluding explicitly to Daniel, the author refers explicitly to "Jerusalem surrounded by encamped armies". The mention of Jerusalem's "desolation" (erémósis) however echoes the "abomination of desolation" in Mark. The reference to the people fleeing to the mountains (a common element to all three versions) is also elaborated in an expansion. This pattern is essentially what would be expected with Markan Priority.
However, it might not be the case that the allusion in this text is exclusively to Daniel. Indeed, several elements in the passage can be linked to 1 Maccabees, which describes through historical narrative the same events that Daniel discusses in a prophetic style. The author of 1 Maccabees certainly knew Daniel, for reference is made to the narrative portions of the book: "Hananiah, Azariah and Mishael, for their fidelity, where saved from the flame. Daniel for his singleness of heart was rescued from the lion's jaw" (1 Maccabees 2:59-60). The reference to the "abomination of desolation" in 1 Maccabees 1:54 thus constitutes the earliest known interpretation of Daniel 9:27, identifying it with the heathen altar of Antiochus Epiphanes (cf. 2 Maccabees 6:1):
"On the fifteenth day of Chislev in the year one hundred and forty-five (i.e. December 8, 167 BC) the king erected (ókodomésen, or "built") the abomination of desolation (bdelugma erémóseós) above the altar; and altars were built in the surrounding (kuklo) towns of Judah" (1 Maccabees 1:54).
In one of these altars, in the town of Modein, the Jewish revolt against Antiochus' heathen reforms was sparked in an act of violence. A priest from Jerusalem named Mattathias became "fired with zeal" and "threw himself on the man and slaughtered him on the altar. At the same time he killed the king's commissioner who was there to enforce the sacrifice, and tore down the altar" (1 Maccabees 2:24-25). What happened next forms an interesting parallel with Jesus' advice in Mark 13:14:
"Then Mattathias went through the town, shouting at the top of his voice, 'Let everyone who has a fervor for the Law and takes his stand on the covenant come out and follow me'. Then, with his sons, he fled into the hills (ephugen ... eis ta oré), leaving their possessions (enkatelipon hosa eikhon) behind in the town" (1 Maccabees 2:27-28).
Other than verb inflection, this is the same phrase that occurs in Mark 13:14 and parallels and the reference to leaving behind one's possessions also occurs in the text: "Those in Judea must flee to the hills (pheugetósan eis ta oré); if a man is on the housetop, he must not come down to go into the house to collect any his things (ti arai); if a man is in the fields, he must not turn back to fetch his cloak" (Mark 13:14-15).
Moreover, 1 Maccabees is replete with examples of people fleeing Jerusalem and from similar places. In the war that Antiochus and his mysarch unleashed on Jerusalem that led to the installation of the abomination of desolation, the sanctuary itself was defiled with bloodshed and this was followed by a reference to the people of Jerusalem fleeing:
"They shed innocent blood all round (kukló) the sanctuary (hagiasmatos) and defiled the sanctuary itself. The citizens of Jerusalem fled (ephugon) because of them, she became a dwelling place of strangers" (1 Maccabees 1:37-38).
Note also that the sanctuary is "surrounded" (kukló) by murder and bloodshed which precipitates the flight of the citizens of Jerusalem from the city. This is the same word that occurred in 1 Maccabees 1:54, which referred to the installation of the abomination of desolation in Jerusalem and similar abominations in towns "surrounding" (kukló) Jerusalem. Yet another reference to the flight of the Jerusalemites into hiding occurs in the preceding verse: "Many of the people, that is, every apostate from the Law, rallied to them, and so committed evil in the country, driving the Israelites into secret places wherever they could flee for succor (phugadeutérió)" (1:53). Another reference to flight into the hills (with its attendant abandonment of possessions) appears in 1 Maccabees 9:40:
"The Jews rushed down on them from their ambush and killed them, inflicting heavy casualties; the survivors fled to the mountain (ephugon eis to oros), leaving their entire baggage train to be captured".
As for the Lukan reference to Jerusalem being "surrounded" (kukloumenén) by encamped armies, there is a fairly close parallel in 1 Maccabees: "The pagans that surround (kukló) us are assembled together against us to destroy us...With him are massed all the pagans surrounding (kukló) us, making a very numerous army" (5:10, 38). The phrase "pagans surrounding us" occurs elsewhere in 1:11, 3:25, 5:57. Thus, the noncanonical book of 1 Maccabees contains several verbal contacts with Mark 13:14 and the Lukan parallel.