q Isa. liii. 7.

made with hands, and within three days I will build another made without hands. 59 But neither so did their witness agree together. 60 And the high priest stood up in the midst, and asked Jesus, saying, Answerest thou nothing? what is it which these witness against thee? 61 But he held his peace, and answered nothing. Again the high priest asked him, and said unto him, Art thou the Christ, the Son of the Blessed? 62 And Jesus said, I r Matt. xxiv.30. am: and ye shall see the Son of man sitting on the right hand of power, and coming in the clouds of heaven. 63 Then the high priest rent his clothes, and saith, What need we any further witnesses ? 6+ Ye have heard the blasphemy: what think ye? And they all condemned him to be guilty of death. 65 And some began to spit on him, and to cover his face, and to buffet him, and to say unto him, Prophesy: and the servants did strike him with the palms of their hands.

66 And as Peter was beneath in the palace, there cometh one of the maids of the high priest: 67 and when she saw Peter warming himself, she looked upon him, and said, And thou also wast with Jesus of Nazareth. 68 But he denied, saying, a I know not, neither understand I what thou sayest. And he went out into the porch; and the cock crew. 69 And ba maid saw him [c again], and began to say to them that stood by, This is one of them. 70 And he denied it again. And a little after, they that stood by

58.] We and I are emphatic. The allusion is probably to Daniel ii. 34. 59.] Perhaps the inconsistency of these testimonies may be traced in the different reports here and in Matthew.

SO,

in asserting this'-i. e. they varied in the terms in which it was expressed. 60.] On the most probable punctuation and construction, see note on Matthew, ver. 62.

61.] the Blessed: in Hebrew, the ordinary Name for God. "This is the only place in the N. T. where the well-known Name constantly used by the Rabbis is thus absolutely given." Meyer. 62.] The "henceforth" of Matthew, and "from this time" of Luke are here omitted. 63.] his clothes, literally, his tunics-not his priestly robe, which was worn only in the temple, and when officiating: see on Matthew, ver. 65. The plural perhaps

66-72.] OUR LORD IS THRICE DENIED BY PETER. Matt. xxvi. 69-75. Luke xxii. 56-62. John xviii. 17, 18, 25-27. See the comparative table, and notes, on Matthew. 66.] beneath, because the house was built round the court, and the rooms looked down into it. See note on Matt. xxvi. 69. 68.] Peter's reply is an union of two separate answers, which form the 1st and 2nd in Matthew. 69.] the maid-in Matthew "another maid," in Luke "another," but masculine. Meyer does not appear to be justified in

said again to Peter, Surely thou art one of them for s Acts ii. 7. thou art a Galilæan[, and thy speech agreeth thereto]. 71 But he began to curse and to swear, saying, I know not this man of whom ye speak. 72 And the second time the cock crew. And Peter called to mind the word that Jesus said unto him, Before the cock crow twice, thou shalt deny me thrice. And when he thought thereon, he wept.

a

Acts iii. 13:

XV. 1 And straightway in the morning the chief a P... priests held a consultation with the elders and scribes, iv. 20. and the whole council, and bound Jesus, and carried him away, and delivered him to Pilate. 2 And Pilate asked him, Art thou the King of the Jews? And he answering said unto him, Thou sayest it. 3 And the chief priests accused him of many things: but he answered nothing. 4 And Pilate asked him again, saying, Answerest thou nothing? behold how many things they witness against thee. 5 b But Jesus 8 yet answered nothing; so that Pilate b Isa. 7. marvelled. 6 Now hat that feast he released unto them one prisoner, whomsoever they desired. 7 And there was one named Barabbas, which lay bound with them that had made insurrection with him, i who had committed murder in the insurrection. 8 And the multitude crying aloud

d

render, art also.

e omit.

John xix. 9.

f render, as did the whole council.

g render, made him no further answer: viz. after that in ver. 2.

h render, at the feast-time.

i who is plural: better render for perspicuity, striking out the comma, and had committed.

k many ancient authorities read, coming up, i. e. thronging up round him.

asserting that this is necessarily the same maid as before: it might be only the maid in waiting in the porch: see note on Matthew.

70.] a little after is expressed in Luke by "about the space of one hour after." for... also] for, in addition to all that has been hitherto said.... 72.] when he thought thereon-no entirely satisfactory meaning has yet been given for the original word thus rendered. Referring to my Greek Testament for the discussion, I may sum it up by stating that the sense in the text, though not elsewhere found, seems to suit both the word and the context better than any other that has been suggested.

CHAP. XV. 1-5.] JESUS IS LED AWAY TO PILATE, AND EXAMINED BY HIM. Matt. xxvii. 1, 2, 11-14. Luke xxiii. 1-5. John xviii. 28-38. Our account is very

began to desire [him to do] as he had ever done unto them. But Pilate answered them, saying, Will ye that I release unto you the King of the Jews? 10 For he knew that the chief priests had delivered him for envy. 11 But

m

e Acts iii. 14. the chief priests moved the people, that he should rather release Barabbas unto them. 12 And Pilate answered and said again unto them, What will ye then that I shall do unto him whom ye call the King of the Jews? 13 And they cried out again, Crucify him. 14 Then Pilate said unto them, Why, what evil hath he done? And they cried out [ the more] exceedingly, Crucify him. 15 And so Pilate, willing to content the people, released Barabbas unto them, and delivered Jesus, when he had scourged him, to be crucified. 16 And the soldiers led him away into the hall, called Prætorium; and they call together the whole band. 17 And they clothed him with purple, and platted a crown of thorns, and put it about his head, 18 and began to salute him, Hail, King of the Jews! 19 And they smote him on the head with a reed, and did spit upon him, and bowing their knees worshipped him. 20 And when they had mocked him, they took off the purple from him, and put his own clothes on him, and led him out to crucify him. 21 And they compel one Simon a Cyrenian, who passed by, coming out of the country, the father of Alexander and Rufus, to bear his cross.

1

not expressed in the original.
n render, which is.

our narrative, and shows that it is not
compiled from Matthew and Luke.
8.] This is also peculiar to Mark-in Mat-
thew it is Pilate who first offers them the
choice-in Luke they cry out, but it is
Away with this man &c." ver. 18.

coming up probably implies the rising of the crowd in excitement-or perhaps their coming up towards the palace, as "when they were gathered together" in Matthew.

9.] Here our account differs from Matthew, and agrees with John, ver. 39. 10.] He knew is the imperfect tense: He was aware, He perceived, His apprehension of it was concurrent with the action going on. 12.] whom ye call the King of the Jews is "Jesus, which is called Christ" in Matthew. Neither of these expressions can well have been copied from the other. 13.] again only refers to "cried out;" see ver. 8, where this is implied in "began to desire:"--they had

not cried out this before.

22 And

16-19.] JESUS MOCKED BY THE SOLDIERS. Matt. xxvii. 27-30 (omitted in Luke). John xix. 1-3. See notes on Matthew. 16.] hall, the court or guardroom, but open, see note on Matt. xxvi. 69.

17.] purple, in Greek, is vaguely used, to signify different shades of red, and is especially convertible with "scarlet,” as St. Matthew.

20-23.] HE IS LED TO CRUCIFIXION. Matt. xxvii. 31-34. Luke xxiii. 26-33. John xix. 16, 17. See notes on these. 21. Alexander and Rufus] It is quite uncertain whether Alexander be identical with either of the persons of that name mentioned Acts xix. 33, 1 Tim. i. 20, 2 Tim. iv. 14, or whether those, or any two of them, represent one and the same person. There is a Rufus saluted Rom. xvi. 13. The words coming out of the country determine nothing as to its being a working

they bring him unto the place Golgotha, which is, being interpreted, The place of a skull. 23 And they P gave him to drink wine mingled with myrrh: but he received it not.

e

24 And when they had crucified him, they parted d Ps. xxii. 18. his garments, casting lots upon them, what every man should take. 25 And it was the third hour, and they crucified him. 26 And the superscription of his accusation was written over, The King of the Jews. 27 And with him they crucify two 4 thieves; the one on his right hand, and the other on his left. [ 28 And the scripture was fulfilled, which saith, And he was numbered with the trans- e Isa. liii. 12. gressors.] 29 And they that passed by railed on him, f Ps. xxii. 7. wagging their heads, and saying, Ah, thou that de- cxiv. 58. stroyest the temple, and buildest it in three days, 30 save thyself, and come down from the cross. 31 Likewise also the chief priests mocking said among themselves with the scribes, He saved others; himself he cannot save[§. 32 Let Christ the King of Israel] descend now from the cross, that we may see and believe. And they that were crucified

A render, robbers.

John ii. 19.

romit.

P render, offered. $ render, himself he cannot save, the Christ, the king of Israel. Let him descend now. . .

day or otherwise, any more than "they that passed by" Matthew, ver. 39: nothing is said as to the distance from whence he

came.

22.] the place Golgotha-or perhaps the place of Golgotha, as the word Golgotha would then answer to a skull in the interpretation; St. Luke has "the place which is called a skull."

23.]

wine mingled with myrrh is ". vinegar mingled with gall" in Matthew, which see. Literally, they were giving, i. e. they offered.

24-28.] HE IS CRUCIFIED. Matt. xxvii. 35-38. Luke xxiii. 33, 34, 38. John xix. 18-24. 25. the third hour] This date is in agreement with the subsequent account, ver. 33, and its parallel in Matthew and Luke, but, as now standing unexplained, inconsistent with John, xix. 14, where it is said to have been about the sixth hour at the time of the exhibition of our Lord by Pilate. I own I see no satisfactory way of reconciling these accounts, unless there has been (see note on John) some very early erratum in our copies, or unless it can be shewn from other grounds than the difficulty before us, that John's reckoning of time differs from that employed in the other Evan

gelists. The difficulty is of a kind in no way affecting the authenticity of the narrative, nor the truthfulness of each Evangelist; but requires some solution to the furnishing of which we are not competent. It is preposterous to imagine that two such accounts as these of the proceedings of so eventful a day should differ by three whole hours in their apportionment of its occurrences. So that it may fairly be presumed, that some different method of calculation has given rise to the present discrepancy. Meanwhile the chronology of our text, as being carried on through the day, and as allowing time both for the trial, and the events of the crucifixion,-is that which will I believe be generally concurred in. All the other solutions (so called) of the difficulty are not worth relating.

29-32.] HE IS MOCKED ON THE CROSS. Matt. xxvii. 39-44. Luke xxiii. 35-37, 39-43. (John xix. 25-27.) Our narrative, derived from a common source with that of Matthew, omits the scrip tural allusion, "He trusted in God," &c. Matthew, ver. 43. 32. And they that were crucified with him] See notes on Luke.

with him reviled him. 33 And when the sixth hour was come, there was darkness over the whole land until the ninth hour. 34 And at the ninth hour Jesus cried with a h Ps. xxii. 1. loud voice, saying, h Elöi, Elöi, lama sabachthani? which is, being interpreted, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? 35 And some of them that stood by, when they heard it, said, Behold, he calleth Elias. 36 And one

ran and filled a spunge full of vinegar, and put it on a iPs. lxix. 21. reed, and gave him to drink, saying, Let alone; let us see whether Elias will come to take him down. 37 And Jesus cried with a loud voice, and gave up the ghost. 38 And the veil of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom. 39 And when the centurion, which stood over against him, saw that he so [cried out, and] a gave up the ghost, he said, Truly this man was the Son of k Ps. xxxviii. God. 40 There were also women looking on afar off: among whom was Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James the less and of Joses, and Salome; 41 who also, 1 Luke viii. 2, when he was in Galilee, followed him, and ministered unto him; and many other women which came up with him unto Jerusalem.

11.

3.

1

42 And now when the even was come, because it was the

t render, earth.

u render, breathed his last: the words are not as in Matthew.

▾ omitted by several ancient authorities, probably rightly.

33-37.] SUPERNATURAL DARKNESS. LAST WORDS, AND DEATH OF JESUS. Matt. xxvii. 45-50. Luke xxiii. 44-46. John xix. 28-30. Our account is nearly verbally the same with Matthew.

34.] Elői, the Syro-chaldaic form, answering to "Eli" in Matthew. Meyer argues that the words in Matthew must have been those actually spoken by our Lord, owing to the taunt, that He called for Elias. The last word is pronounced Sabáchthani, not Sabachtháni. 36.] On the difference in Matthew, see notes there.

38-41.] SIGNS FOLLOWING HIS DEATH. Matt. xxvii. 51-56. Luke xxiii. 45, 47– 49. Omitted by John. See notes on Matthew. 39.] which stood over against him-a minute mark of accuracy, so common in Mark. so-so majestically, as Theophylact. There was something in the manner of this last cry so unusual and superhuman, that the Centurion (see on Matthew) was convinced that He must have been that Person, whom He was

accused as having declared Himself to be.

40, 41.] the less-literally, the little-either in age, or in stature, so distinguished, hardly, at the time of this Gospel being written, from James the son of Zebedee, but more probably from James the brother of the Lord, the bishop of Jerusalem see Introduction to Epistle of James. This Mary is the wife of Alphæus or Clopas; see John xix. 25. Salome

is called in Matthew, "the mother of the sons of Zebedee : our Evangelist mentions that they had accompanied Him to Jerusalem;-and we may observe a curious variation of the wording, in "followed Him when He was in Galilee," and "followed Jesus from Galilee"-the former rendering necessary the additional clause, "which came up with Him," &c.

42-47.] JOSEPH OF ARIMATHEA BEGS, AND BURIES, THE BODY OF JESUS. Matt. xxvii. 57-61. Luke xxiii. 50-56. John xix. 38-42. For all notes on the substance of the common narrative, see