John 19:31

John 19:31. The Jews therefore, because it was Preparation-day. It has already been remarked (on John 19:14) that the word here used has in itself the double meaning of ‘preparation' and of ‘Friday.' Here, without the article, it cannot have the general sense of ‘the preparation.' Any thought of preparation, too, lying in the word must, as appears clearly from the following clause, be connected with the Sabbath and not with the Passover. Had the latter been thought of, it would surely have been expressly mentioned, to obviate the mistake to which the use of a well- understood technical term could not fail to give rise. These words, therefore, so far from supporting the view of those who think that the legal Passover had not yet been celebrated, tend rather in the opposite direction. Nor is there any weight in the argument that, had the term been used as we have supposed, the Evangelist would have explained it for the benefit of his Greek readers. It was the Christian name for Friday, and to Greek Christians it could suggest nothing else.

That the bodies might not remain upon the cross on the Sabbath day (for that Sabbath day was an high day), asked of Pilate that their legs might be broken, and that they might be taken away. It is generally allowed that the Sabbath here referred to is termed ‘high,' because it was one of more than ordinary solemnity, deriving its importance on this occasion from the fact that it coincided with either the first or the second day (both being important) of the Paschal festival. The operation of breaking the legs, though not sufficient to cause death, would naturally hasten it. Under any circumstances it prevented the escape of the prisoners.