XV. (1-14) AND THE WHOLE COUNCIL. — The words in the Greek are in apposition with “the chief priests.” We do not know of any other elements in the Council or Sanhedrin than the priests, scribes, and elders, and it is possible that the writer may have added the words in the sense of “even the whole... [ Continue Reading ]
BUT HE ANSWERED NOTHING. — Many MSS. omit these words, but the fact is implied in Pilate’s question, and in “Jesus yet answered nothing,” in Mark 15:5.... [ Continue Reading ]
HE RELEASED... WHOMSOEVER THEY DESIRED. — Both verbs are in the tense which implies custom.... [ Continue Reading ]
BOUND WITH THEM THAT HAD MADE INSURRECTION. — The fact that Barabbas was a rebel as well as robber is stated by St. Luke also (Luke 23:19), but St. Mark alone records the fact that his fellow-insurgents were imprisoned with him.... [ Continue Reading ]
AS HE HAD EVER DONE UNTO THEM. — More accurately, _as he ever used to do unto them. _... [ Continue Reading ]
WILL YE THAT I RELEASE UNTO YOU...? — The form of the question in the Greek implies (as the like form in John 18:39) a half hope of an affirmative answer.... [ Continue Reading ]
WHOM YE CALL THE KING OF THE JEWS. — We note in St. Mark’s report something of the same determination to fasten upon the Jews the reproach that it was indeed their king whom he had condemned, as we see afterwards in the “title” which he placed upon the cross, and in his refusal to alter it (John 19:... [ Continue Reading ]
(15-21) AND SO PILATE, WILLING TO CONTENT THE PEOPLE. — The word which St. Mark uses for “content” appears to be the Greek equivalent for the Latin _satisfacere,_ and so takes its place in the evidence for St. Mark’s connection with Rome and the Roman Church. SCOURGED HIM. — The word, like that in... [ Continue Reading ]
INTO THE HALL, CALLED PRÆTORIUM. — The same word is used by St. Matthew (Matthew 27:27), but is there translated the “common hall.” See Note there as to the meaning of the word. Here, again, we have a Latin word.... [ Continue Reading ]
THEY CLOTHED HIM WITH PURPLE. — The colour is called “purple” by St. Mark and St. John, “crimson” by St. Matthew. The two words probably indicated the same colour.... [ Continue Reading ]
THEY SMOTE... DID SPIT... WORSHIPPED. — All three verbs are in the tense which implies frequent repetition.... [ Continue Reading ]
THE FATHER OF ALEXANDER AND RUFUS. — The fact recorded here, and not elsewhere, is one of the most striking instances of the independent character of St. Mark’s Gospel. It is clear that it had a special interest for himself and the readers for whom he wrote; what that interest was we can only conjec... [ Continue Reading ]
(21-38) See Notes on Matthew 27:32.... [ Continue Reading ]
WINE MINGLED WITH MYRRH. — Note this description as in part explaining St. Matthew’s “wine mingled with gall.”... [ Continue Reading ]
IT WAS THE THIRD HOUR. — The precise statement of the hour is peculiar to St. Mark, but it agrees with the narrative common to him with St. Matthew and St. Luke of the darkness that came over the land at the “sixth hour.”... [ Continue Reading ]
THE KING OF THE JEWS. — St. Mark gives the shortest form of the inscription.... [ Continue Reading ]
TWO THIEVES. — Better, as in Matthew 27:38, _two robbers. _... [ Continue Reading ]
AND THE SCRIPTURE WAS FULFILLED. — The verse, if genuine, would be noticeable as one of the few instances in which St. Mark dwells on the fulfilment of prophecy; but it is omitted by nearly all the better MSS., and probably originated in a marginal note, calling attention to the fulfilment of the pr... [ Continue Reading ]
AH. — The interjection, which in its Greek form expresses a kind of inarticulate scorn, is peculiar to St. Mark, and may be noted as another instance of his habit of reproducing the very sounds that had been uttered.... [ Continue Reading ]
SAVE THYSELF. — The order of the clauses should be inverted, _come down from the cross, and save Thyself. _... [ Continue Reading ]
LET CHRIST. — Better, _the Christ._ The article is emphatic, and the word had not yet come to be used only as a name.... [ Continue Reading ]
ELOI, ELOI. — Here, again, the form which St. Mark gives is a closer reproduction of the very sounds of the Aramaic form of the word than that in St. Matthew, who gives the Hebrew as it stands in Psalms 22:1.... [ Continue Reading ]
WHEN THE CENTURION. — St. Mark, after his manner, uses the actual Latin word, St. Matthew the Greek equivalent.... [ Continue Reading ]
(39-47) See Notes on Matthew 27:54.... [ Continue Reading ]
AMONG WHOM WAS MARY MAGDALENE. — The list is the same as that in Matthew 27:56, with the exceptions (1) of the epithet “less,” or better, _little,_ as applied to James, and (2) the name of Salome instead of “the mother of Zebedee’s children.”... [ Continue Reading ]
THE PREPARATION, THAT IS, THE DAY BEFORE THE SABBATH. — The explanation, like that in Mark 7:2, is characteristic of St. Mark, as writing for Gentile readers. It fixes, with hardly the shadow of a doubt, the meaning of the word “preparation,” as given in the Note on Matthew 27:62.... [ Continue Reading ]
JOSEPH OF ARIMATHSEA. — The account given of him is fuller than in St. Matthew. The phrase, “which also waited for the kingdom of God,” has its parallel in Luke 23:51. WENT IN BOLDLY. — Better, _waxed bold, and went in._ There is an implied contrast between his boldness now and his previous timidit... [ Continue Reading ]
AND PILATE MARVELLED. — The wonder of Pilate, and his calling the centurion (the article points to his being the same that had been mentioned in Mark 15:39), are peculiar to St. Mark.... [ Continue Reading ]
HE BOUGHT FINE LINEN. — Better, _a fine linen sheet._ The word is the same as in Matthew 27:59. The fact that it was bought just before the Sabbath began is peculiar to St. Mark.... [ Continue Reading ]
MARY THE MOTHER OF JOSES. — In Matthew 27:61 she is described simply as “the other Mary.”... [ Continue Reading ]