_After two days was the feast of the passover_ For an explanation of these verses, see the notes on Matthew 26:1. _Of ointment of spike-nard, very precious_ “Either the word πιστικη,” says Dr. Whitby, “answers to the Syriac, _pisthaca_, and then it may be rendered, _nardus spicata, ointment made of... [ Continue Reading ]
_Judas went unto the chief priests_, &c. Immediately after this reproof, having anger now added to his covetousness. See these verses explained in the notes on Matthew 26:14. _There shall meet you a man bearing a pitcher of water_ It was highly seasonable for our Lord to give them this additional pr... [ Continue Reading ]
_In the evening he cometh with the twelve_ See notes on Matthew 26:20. _This is my blood of the new testament_ Or, _covenant;_ that is, this I appoint to be a perpetual sign and memorial of my blood, as shed for establishing the new covenant, that all who shall believe in me, may receive all its gra... [ Continue Reading ]
_And they went out into the mount of Olives_ At the conclusion of the supper; Jesus and his disciples sung a proper psalm, or song of praise, together, as was customary at the close of the passover, and then he set out for the mount of Olives, choosing to retire thither, that he might prevent a riot... [ Continue Reading ]
_They came to Gethsemane_ For an explanation of these verses see the notes on Matthew 26:36. _And began to be sore amazed_ Greek, εκθαμβεισθαι, _to be in a consternation._ The word implies the most shocking mixture of terror and amazement: the next word, αδημονειν, which we render, _to be very heavy... [ Continue Reading ]
_And he went away and spake the same words_ It is plain, by comparing Mark 14:35, with Matthew 26:42, that the words were not entirely the same; and it is certain that λογος, here rendered _word_, often signifies _matter._ So that no more appears to be intended than that he prayed to the same purpos... [ Continue Reading ]
_Immediately, while he yet spake_ And gave his disciples the alarm just mentioned; _Judas came, and with him a great multitude_ Persons of different stations and offices in life, sent with authority _from the chief priests, with swords and staves_ Or _clubs_, as it seems ξυλων ought here to be rende... [ Continue Reading ]
_They laid their hands on him, and took him_ After they had first _gone backward, and fallen to the ground_, upon Jesus's saying, _I am he_, as is recorded John 18:5. This paragraph is explained in the notes on Matthew 26:51.... [ Continue Reading ]
_There followed him a certain young man_ The ancients, or at least many of them, supposed, that the young man here mentioned by Mark was one of the apostles; though Grotius wonders how they could entertain such an idea, and apprehends it was some youth who lodged in a country-house, near the garden,... [ Continue Reading ]
_And they led Jesus away to the high-priest_ To Annas first, who had been high-priest, and afterward to his son-in-law, Caiaphas, who then sustained the office. _And with him were assembled all the chief priests, the elders, and the scribes_ Or the chief persons of the sanhedrim, with their proper o... [ Continue Reading ]
_And all the council sought for witness against Jesus to put him to death_ Which they were determined to do. They had seized him as a malefactor; and now they had him, they had no indictment to prefer against him, no crime to lay to his charge: but _they sought for witnesses against him._ They artfu... [ Continue Reading ]
_The high-priest stood up in the midst_, &c. See notes on Matthew 26:62, where this paragraph is largely explained. _Art thou the Christ, the Son of the Blessed_ Here one of the peculiar attributes of the Deity is used to express the divine nature. Supreme happiness is properly considered as belongi... [ Continue Reading ]
_Then the high-priest rent his clothes_ Rending of clothes was an expression sometimes of deep grief, sometimes of holy zeal. The precepts, Leviticus 10:8; Leviticus 21:10; forbidding the high-priest to rend his clothes, relate only to the pontifical garments and to private mourning: that is, mourni... [ Continue Reading ]
_And as Peter was beneath in the palace_ This whole paragraph respecting Peter's three-fold denial of Christ is explained at large in the notes on Matthew 26:69. _When he thought thereon he wept_ In the original it is, και επιβαλων εκλαιε, which words are interpreted very differently by different co... [ Continue Reading ]