WHEN THE MORNING WAS COME,.... Or, as soon as it was day, as Luke says, Luke 22:66. The sanhedrim had been up all night, which, after eating the passover, they had spent in apprehending, trying, and examining Jesus, and the witnesses against him; and had come to an unanimous vote, that he was guilty... [ Continue Reading ]
AND WHEN THEY HAD BOUND HIM,.... The captain, and officers, bound him when they first took him, and brought him to Annas, and Annas sent him bound to Caiaphas, John 18:12. Perhaps he might be unloosed whilst he was examining before the high priest, under a show of freedom to speak for himself; or th... [ Continue Reading ]
THEN JUDAS, WHICH HAD BETRAYED HIM,.... Before, he is described as he that shall, or should, or doth betray him; but now having perpetrated the horrid sin, as he that had done it. WHEN HE SAW THAT HE WAS CONDEMNED; that is, that Jesus was condemned, as the Syriac and Persic versions read, either by... [ Continue Reading ]
SAYING, I HAVE SINNED,.... Here was a confession, and yet no true repentance; for he confessed, but not to the right persons; not to God, nor Christ, but to the chief priests and elders; nor over the head of the antitypical scape goat, not seeking to Christ for pardon and cleansing, nor did he confe... [ Continue Reading ]
AND HE CAST DOWN THE PIECES OF SILVER IN THE TEMPLE,.... Upon the ground, in that part of the temple where they were sitting; in their council chamber, לשכת הגזית, "the paved chamber", where the sanhedrim used to meet m: for it seems they would not take the money of him; and he was determined not to... [ Continue Reading ]
AND THE CHIEF PRIESTS TOOK THE SILVER PIECES,.... Off of the ground, after Judas was gone, no other daring to meddle with them; for in any other it would have been deemed sacrilege; and they being the proper persons to take care and dispose of money brought into the temple: and if not, their covetou... [ Continue Reading ]
AND THEY TOOK COUNSEL,.... With one another, considered of the matter, and deliberated about it a while; and at last came to a resolution, AND BOUGHT WITH THEM THE POTTER'S FIELD, TO BURY STRANGERS IN: a field of no great value, or it could not have been bought so near Jerusalem for so small a sum... [ Continue Reading ]
WHEREFORE THAT FIELD WAS CALLED,.... Not by the priests and elders, but by the common people, who knew by what money it was purchased, THE FIELD OF BLOOD; or "Aceldama", which so signifies, as in Acts 1:19, not called the field of the priests, the purchasers; nor the field of the strangers, for who... [ Continue Reading ]
THEN WAS FULFILLED THAT WHICH WAS SPOKEN BY JEREMY THE PROPHET,.... Through the purchasing of the potter's field with the thirty pieces of silver, the price that Christ was valued at, a prophecy in the writings of the Old Testament had its accomplishment: but about this there is some difficulty. The... [ Continue Reading ]
AND GAVE THEM FOR THE POTTER'S FIELD,.... In the prophet it is, "and I cast them to the potter in the house of the Lord", Zechariah 11:13; whereas here it is, "they gave them"; but the word Matthew uses may be rendered, "I gave", as it is by the Syriac; and as the last words require it should, "as... [ Continue Reading ]
AND JESUS STOOD BEFORE THE GOVERNOR,.... Pilate who sat; for so was the custom for the judge to sit, and those that were judged, to stand, especially whilst witness was bore against them f. "Says R. Bo, in the name of Rab Hona, the witnesses ought to stand whilst they bear witness. Says R. Jeremiah... [ Continue Reading ]
AND WHEN HE WAS ACCUSED OF THE CHIEF PRIESTS AND ELDERS,.... As that he was a perverter of the people, a stirrer of sedition, discord, and rebellion among them; that he taught them not to give tribute to Caesar, and set up himself for a king; all which he had done not in one place only, but througho... [ Continue Reading ]
THEN SAITH PILATE UNTO HIM,.... Observing he made no reply to the accusations of the chief priests and elders, and in order to draw something out of him, HEAREST THOU NOT HOW MANY THINGS THEY WITNESS AGAINST THEE? art thou deaf? or dost thou not take in what is alleged against thee? dost thou not c... [ Continue Reading ]
AND HE ANSWERED HIM TO NEVER A WORD,.... He made no reply to anyone thing which Pilate suggested to him, though it seems to have been in a kind and friendly way, and with a view to his good: INSOMUCH THAT THE GOVERNOR MARVELLED GREATLY; that a man, who at other times had such fluency of speech, and... [ Continue Reading ]
NOW AT [THAT] FEAST,.... The Syriac, Arabic, and Ethiopic versions read, "at every feast": which looks as if the authors of these versions thought the sense was, that the following custom was used at each feast in the year, at the feasts of pentecost, and tabernacles, and passover; whereas it was on... [ Continue Reading ]
AND THEY HAD THEN A NOTABLE PRISONER,.... The Vulgate Latin reads, "he had"; that is, Pilate, who had committed him to prison, and under whose power he was: for the Jews had lost all authority of this kind, at least in capital cases. This prisoner is called a "notable" one; that is, a famous, or rat... [ Continue Reading ]
THEREFORE WHEN THEY WERE GATHERED TOGETHER,.... Meaning not the chief priests and elders; for these were together before, but the common people; and so the Persic version renders the words, when the people increased into a multitude: for it was to them the release of a prisoner was to be made, and s... [ Continue Reading ]
FOR HE KNEW THAT FOR ENVY THEY HAD DELIVERED HIM. He saw in their countenances, and by their charges against him, and by the whole of their conduct, that it was not out of any regard to Caesar, or to the peace and tranquillity of the civil government, or to strict justice; but from envy, at his popu... [ Continue Reading ]
WHEN HE WAS SET DOWN ON THE JUDGMENT SEAT,.... That is, when Pilate the governor, as the Syriac and Persic versions read, was set down upon the bench, and while he was sitting there, and trying of Jesus: HIS WIFE SENT UNTO HIM: her name, according to the Ethiopians, was Abrokla n; who might be a Je... [ Continue Reading ]
BUT THE CHIEF PRIESTS AND ELDERS PERSUADED THE MULTITUDE,.... Among whom the choice lay who should be released. This they did not by haranguing them, or making a public oration to them; but by sending their servants, or proper persons among them, telling them that Jesus had been examined before the... [ Continue Reading ]
THE GOVERNOR ANSWERED AND SAID UNTO THEM,.... A second time, after some time had been allowed and taken up to consider of the matter, and which the chief priests and elders improved among the people against Jesus. WHETHER OF THE TWAIN WILL YE THAT I RELEASE UNTO YOU? for as these two were proposed,... [ Continue Reading ]
PILATE SAITH UNTO THEM,.... As one astonished at their choice: he could not have thought they would have asked the life of so vile a wretch, that had been guilty of such capital crimes, crimes to be abhorred by all men: WHAT SHALL I DO THEN WITH JESUS, WHICH IS CALLED CHRIST? Surely you would not h... [ Continue Reading ]
AND THE GOVERNOR SAID, WHY, WHAT EVIL HATH HE DONE?.... What reason can be given, why he should be crucified? what sin has he committed, that deserves such a death? From whence it is clear, that of all the things they had accused him, they had not, in Pilate's account, given proof of one single acti... [ Continue Reading ]
WHEN PILATE SAW HE COULD PREVAIL NOTHING,.... That it was to no purpose to talk to them, and in favour of Jesus; he saw they were determined upon his crucifixion, and that nothing else would satisfy them: BUT THAT RATHER A TUMULT WAS MADE; there was an uproar among the people, and he might fear the... [ Continue Reading ]
THEN ANSWERED ALL THE PEOPLE,.... They were as unanimous in their imprecations upon themselves, as in desiring the crucifixion of Christ: AND SAID, HIS BLOOD BE ON US, AND ON OUR CHILDREN; not for the cleansing of them from sin, which virtue that blood has, but if there were any stain, blot, or pol... [ Continue Reading ]
THEN RELEASED HE BARABBAS UNTO THEM,.... The seditious person, robber, and murderer, for which crimes he was in prison. This man was an emblem of the persons for whom Christ suffered, both in his character and in his release: in his character; for they are such as have rebelled against God, robbed h... [ Continue Reading ]
THEN THE SOLDIERS OF THE GOVERNOR,.... Those that were about him, his attendants and guards, TOOK JESUS INTO THE COMMON HALL; the "praetorium", or judgment hall, as it is sometimes called; the governor's palace, into which the Jews would not enter, lest they should defile themselves: Pilate therefo... [ Continue Reading ]
AND THEY STRIPPED HIM,.... Of his clothes; at least of his upper garment: for one man to spit upon another, as these soldiers afterwards did on Christ, or to strip him of his garment, according to the Jewish canons, were punishable with a fine of four hundred pence z, which amounted to twelve pounds... [ Continue Reading ]
AND WHEN THEY HAD PLATTED A CROWN OF THORNS,.... What sort of thorn this crown was made of, whether of the bramble, or of the white thorn, is not very material b: the word used in the Syriac version, is rendered by interpreters, "white thorns", and which were common in Judea: these, be they what the... [ Continue Reading ]
AND THEY SPIT UPON HIM,.... The Syriac and Persic versions add, "upon his face", which he did not hide from spitting; see Isaiah 1:6, and so what with sweat, by being hurried from place to place, and with blood trickling down from his temples, scratched with thorns, and with the spittle of these fil... [ Continue Reading ]
AND AFTER THAT THEY HAD MOCKED HIM,.... Gone through the whole farce, and glutted themselves with derision of him, and with sport and diversion with him, THEY TOOK THE ROBE OFF FROM HIM; it belonging to one of their company, AND PUT HIS OWN RAIMENT ON HIM; partly that he might be known to be the s... [ Continue Reading ]
AND AS THEY CAME OUT,.... Of the city; for no execution was made, neither in the court of judicature, nor in the city, but at some distance; as it was at stoning, so at crucifixion h: "when judgment was finished, they brought him out to be stoned; the place of stoning was without the sanhedrim, as... [ Continue Reading ]
AND WHEN THEY WERE COME TO A PLACE CALLED GOLGOTHA,.... The true pronunciation is "Golgoltha", and so it is read in Munster's Hebrew Gospel. It is a Syriac word, in which language letters are often left out: in the Syriac version of this place, the first "l" is left out, and the latter retained, and... [ Continue Reading ]
THEY GAVE HIM VINEGAR TO DRINK,.... It was a custom with the Jews o when "a man went out to be executed, to give him to drink a grain of frankincense in a cup of wine, that his understanding might be disturbed, as it is said, Proverbs 31:6. "Give strong drink to him that is ready to perish, and win... [ Continue Reading ]
AND THEY CRUCIFIED HIM,.... That is, the soldiers: they laid the cross upon the ground, and stretched Christ upon it; they extended his two arms as far as they could, to the transverse part of it, and nailed his hands unto it: his two feet they fixed by each other on a basis, in the body of the cros... [ Continue Reading ]
AND SITTING DOWN, THEY WATCHED HIM THERE. That is, the soldiers, after they had crucified Jesus, and parted his garments, sat down on the ground at the foot of the cross, and there watched him, lest his disciples should take him down; though there was no need to fear that, since they were few, and w... [ Continue Reading ]
AND SET UP OVER HIS HEAD HIS ACCUSATION WRITTEN,.... The Evangelist John calls it a "title", John 19:19, and Luke, a "superscription", Luke 23:38, and Mark, the "superscription of his accusation", Mark 15:26: it was what contained the sum and substance of what he was accused, and for which he was co... [ Continue Reading ]
THEN WERE THERE TWO THIEVES CRUCIFIED WITH HIM,.... Which seems contrary to one of their canons, which runs thus; ביום אחד אין דנין שנים, "they do not judge two in one day" y, unless they were both in the same crime, and died the same death: but here were three persons, Jesus, and these two malefac... [ Continue Reading ]
AND THEY THAT PASSED BY,.... In the road to or from Jerusalem; for, it seems, the crosses were placed by the wayside; or they who passed by the cross, the populace that came from Jerusalem, on purpose to see the sight, REVILED HIM, or "blasphemed him": they spoke all manner of evil of him, they cou... [ Continue Reading ]
AND SAYING, THOU THAT DESTROYEST THE TEMPLE,.... The Vulgate Latin, and Munster's Hebrew Gospel, read, "the temple of God"; and add "ah!" here, as in Mark 15:29, and so Beza says it is read in a certain copy. They refer to the charge of the false witnesses against him, who misrepresenting his words... [ Continue Reading ]
LIKEWISE ALSO THE CHIEF PRIESTS,.... Who as they attended at his apprehension, and in their own council condemned him to death unanimously, and were very busy at his arraignment, examination, and trial before Pilate, and persuaded the people to be urgent for his crucifixion; they follow him to the c... [ Continue Reading ]
HE SAVED OTHERS, HIMSELF HE CANNOT SAVE,.... This was not so much a concession of theirs, that he had done many saving works, as healing the sick, cleansing lepers, causing the blind to see, and the lame to walk, and raising the dead; but rather a suggestion, that these were only pretensions and ill... [ Continue Reading ]
HE TRUSTED IN GOD,.... That is, he pretended to claim an interest in him, to be high in his favour and esteem, and to have great faith and confidence in him: LET HIM DELIVER HIM NOW; directly, from the cross, and the death of it: IF HE WILL HAVE HIM; or if he is well pleased with him as his own So... [ Continue Reading ]
THE THIEVES ALSO,.... One or other of them, not both; an Hebrew way of speaking, as Drusius b observed: so it is said of Jonah, Jonah 1:5, that he was "gone down into the sides of the ship"; not into both sides, but into one or other of them: so here the thieves, one or other of them, not naming whi... [ Continue Reading ]
NOW FROM THE SIXTH HOUR,.... Which was twelve o'clock at noon, THERE WAS DARKNESS OVER ALL THE LAND UNTO THE NINTH HOUR; till three o'clock in the afternoon, the time the Jews call "between the two evenings"; and which they say c is "from the sixth hour, and onwards". Luke says, the sun was darkene... [ Continue Reading ]
AND ABOUT THE NINTH HOUR,.... Or three o'clock in the afternoon, which was about the time of the slaying and offering of the daily sacrifice, which was an eminent type of Christ. The Jews say i, that "every day the daily sacrifice was slain at eight and a half, and was offered up at nine and a half... [ Continue Reading ]
SOME OF THEM THAT STOOD THERE,.... Near the cross, looking on, and mocking at him, WHEN THEY HEARD THAT; the words, "Eli, Eli", spoken by Christ, SAID, THIS MAN CALLETH FOR ELIAS. These could not be the Roman soldiers that said so, who had no notion of Elias; rather the Hellenistic Jews, who not s... [ Continue Reading ]
AND STRAIGHTWAY ONE OF THEM RAN AND TOOK A SPONGE,.... Which was not far from the cross, where a vessel full of vinegar was set, John 19:29, AND FILLED IT WITH VINEGAR; dipping it into it, it sucked it up. Some of these sponges had leathern handles to them. r AND PUT IT ON A REED; a stalk of hysso... [ Continue Reading ]
THE REST SAID, LET BE,.... The others, to whom he belonged, that fetched the sponge, said to him, let him alone, keep at a distance from him, give him nothing to drink: LET US SEE WHETHER ELIAS WILL COME TO SAVE HIM; whom the Jews looked upon to be the forerunner of the Messiah, and therefore sugge... [ Continue Reading ]
JESUS, WHEN HE HAD CRIED AGAIN,.... "A second time", as the Persic version; for he had cried once before, and expressed the words he did, as in Matthew 27:46, what he now delivered were, "Father, into thy hands I commend my Spirit", Luke 23:46, and "it is finished", John 19:30, which he said WITH A... [ Continue Reading ]
AND BEHOLD, THE VAIL OF THE TEMPLE WAS RENT IN TWAIN,.... Just at the time that Christ spake with so loud a voice, and expired, and which was at the time of the offering up of the evening incense; and so must be seen by the priest that was then offering, and those that assisted him, for the incense... [ Continue Reading ]
AND THE GRAVES WERE OPENED,.... Which were near the city of Jerusalem: this was a proof of Christ's power over death and the grave, by dying; when he through death, destroyed him that had the power of it, and abolished death itself; and became the plague of death and the destruction of the grave, ta... [ Continue Reading ]
AND CAME OUT OF THE GRAVES AFTER HIS RESURRECTION,.... The resurrection of Christ; for he rose as the first fruits, as the first begotten of the dead, and the firstborn from the dead; for he was the first that was raised to an immortal life; for though others were raised before him, by himself, and... [ Continue Reading ]
NOW, WHEN THE CENTURION,.... That was over the band of soldiers, that mocked Christ in Pilate's hall, and who was particularly over the guard of soldiers, set about the cross of Christ: AND THEY THAT WERE WITH HIM, WATCHING JESUS: the soldiers that were with him, who were set to watch the cross of... [ Continue Reading ]
AND MANY WOMEN WERE THERE,.... At the cross of Christ, at some little distance from it; but where was Peter, who had declared he would never be offended, though all men were; and would die with Christ, rather than deny him? and where were the rest of the disciples, who said the same things? None wer... [ Continue Reading ]
AMONG WHICH WAS MARY MAGDALENE,.... Out of whom Christ had cast out seven devils; and who having received much from him, loved much, which she showed by her zealous and constant attachment to him. She was called Magdalene, either because she was an inhabitant of Magdala, Matthew 15:39, so we read e... [ Continue Reading ]
WHEN THE EVEN WAS COME,.... The second evening, when it was just at sunset; at which time the Jewish sabbath began, and when the bodies of those that were crucified, must be taken down; and if not dead, their bones must be broken, and they dispatched, in order to be interred in the common burying pl... [ Continue Reading ]
HE WENT TO PILATE,.... To his house where he lived, and went in, as Mark says, Mark 15:43, boldly; not being ashamed of Christ crucified, or afraid to own him, and show his respect to him as dead, though he knew he should incur the displeasure, reproach, and persecution of the Jews: AND BEGGED THE... [ Continue Reading ]
AND WHEN JOSEPH HAD TAKEN THE BODY,.... Down from the cross, with the assistance of others, or from the hands of those who had orders to deliver it to him: HE WRAPPED IT IN A CLEAN LINEN CLOTH: that is, he wound up the body in it round and round, as was the custom of the Jews; see Acts 5:6 John 11... [ Continue Reading ]
AND LAID IT IN HIS OWN NEW TOMB,.... Christ was laid not in his own, but in another's tomb; for as in his lifetime he had not where to lay his head; so when he was dead, he had no sepulchre of his own to put his body in: and moreover, this shows that as he was born for others, and suffered and died... [ Continue Reading ]
AND THERE WAS MARY MAGDALENE AND THE OTHER MARY,.... The wife of Cleophas, and the mother of James and of Joses: SITTING OVER AGAINST THE SEPULCHRE; observing where the body of Christ was put, and how it was laid; for they intended to prepare spices and ointments to anoint it with; and were mournin... [ Continue Reading ]
NOW THE NEXT DAY THAT FOLLOWED THE DAY OF PREPARATION,.... Which was the sabbath day; for the day of preparation was the day before the sabbath, Mark 15:42, in which they prepared every thing necessary for the sabbath, and therefore was so called: and as this introduces the account of the chief prie... [ Continue Reading ]
SAYING, SIR, WE REMEMBER THAT THAT DECEIVER SAID,.... Meaning Jesus; for no better name could they give him alive or dead, and they chose to continue it; and the rather to use it before Pilate, who had a good opinion of his innocence; and to let him see, that they still retained the same sentiments... [ Continue Reading ]
COMMAND THEREFORE THAT THE SEPULCHRE BE MADE SURE,.... By this also they own, that he was buried; and they knew in what, and whose sepulchre he was laid, and where it was; and request of Pilate, that as he had given leave to Joseph to take the body and inter it, that he would also give orders that t... [ Continue Reading ]
PILATE SAID UNTO THEM, YE HAVE A WATCH,.... Meaning either the watch of the temple, said to be placed in the tower of Antonia, for the service of it: hence mention is made of the captain of the temple, Acts 4:1, but it is not likely they would remove the temple guards, to watch a sepulchre night and... [ Continue Reading ]
SO THEY WENT,.... From Pilate's palace, to the garden of Joseph, and to the sepulchre there; which whether more than a sabbath day's journey, or two thousand cubits, may be inquired; and if so, then they broke one of their own traditions, which allowed a person to go no further on a sabbath day; Act... [ Continue Reading ]