John 19:17-30

The Crucifixion. The statement that Jesus bears His own cross corrects, or at least supplements, the Synoptic story of Simon of Cyrene. It may have been added to show that the Johannine Christ needs no help, or to deprive the Gnostics of support for their theory that it was Simon who really suffered on the Cross. In itself it is in accordance with Roman custom (cf. Plutarch, Every malefactor carries his own cross). The incident of the title is certainly effective as depicting the obstinacy of a weak man who has given way on the main point, but it is difficult to see how it promotes the dogmatic aims of the author. John 19:23 f. suggests a very natural way of dealing with the clothes of the condemned malefactors, even if it suits the exact wording of the quotation from Psalms 22:18 *. It is very natural to identify his mother's sister with the mother of Zebedee's children (Mt.) and Mark's Salome. It makes the following commendation of His mother to her sister's son a fitting arrangement, especially as the Lord's brethren, even if they were Mary's sons, did not believe on Him. It should, however, be remembered that the identification of the Beloved Disciple with the son of Zebedee, though probably intended, is never actually made in this gospel. The statement that John 19:26 f. is inconsistent with Acts 1:14, where Mary is represented as being in Jerusalem with her sons, is, to say the least, exaggerated. What we read there is that the apostles continued steadfastly in prayer with the women, and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with his brethren. The incident can be allegorically interpreted, as intended to exhort the Gentile Church to treat Jewish Christianity with all consideration. But the desire to teach this is not an adequate explanation of the origin of a story without foundation in fact. In the saying, I thirst, the author sees the fulfilment of Psalms 22:15, or an incident which led to the fulfilment of Psalms 69:21. But it is far more reasonable to suppose that the fact led to the discovery of the prophecy rather than that the prophecy caused the invention of the fact. The saying, It is finished, means, It is brought to a successful issue (cf. Luke 12:50). It is a cry of confidence, if not of victory, and accords with the author's presentation of the Passion.

[John 19:29. hyssop: we should probably read javelin, as proposed by Camerarius, and accepted by such scholars as Beza, Cobet, and Field. It is read by Bentley, but whether independently or not does not appear from his note (Bentleii Critica Sacra, p. 21). It is read by Baljon and Blass in their texts, and by Moffatt in his translation. Hyssop is quite unsuitable for the purpose. The emendation (hussô for hussô pô) simply involves the recognition that the letters ô p have been mistakenly written twice. The fullest discussion may be seen in Field's Notes on the Translation of the NT, pp. 106- 108. He regards this as perhaps the very best of the few tenable conjectural emendations of the text of the NT. A. S. P.]