Matthew 27:19

ἐπὶ τοῦ βήματος. The βῆμα, or tribunal, was generally a raised platform in the Basilica or court where the judges sat; here a portable tribunal, from which the sentence was pronounced; it was placed on a tesselated pavement called Gabbatha (John 19:13).

ἡ γυνὴ αὐτοῦ. Claudia Procula or Procla: traditions state that she was a proselyte of the gate, which is by no means unlikely, as many of the Jewish proselytes were women. By an imperial regulation provincial governors had been prohibited from taking their wives with them. But the rule gradually fell into disuse, and an attempt made in the Senate (A.D. 21) to revive it completely failed. ‘Severus Cæcina censuit ne quem magistratum cui provincia obvenisset uxor comitaretur … paucorum hæc assensu audita plures obturbabant, neque relatum de negotio neque Cæcinam dignum tantæ rei censorem.’ Tac. Ann. III. 33, 34. The dream of Pilate’s wife is recorded by St Matthew only.

πολλὰ ἔπαθον. Not ‘suffered many things’ in the sense of suffering pain, but ‘experienced many sensations,’ i.e. ‘felt much.’