The connection of the sentence, " that the Scripture might be fulfilled," is not very clear to my mind. Is it to be taken with the words that follow in the verse, or with those that immedi- ately precede it ? — The common view taken, undoubtedly, is to connect the sentence with " I thirst." The sense will then be " Jesus saith, I thirst, so that by this the Scripture was ful- filled." But is it necessary to make this connection ? Might not the sentence be connected with the one which precedes ? The sense will then be, " Jesus knowing tliat all things were now accomplished, so that the Scripture was fulfilled concern- ing Himself, said, I thirst." In three other places in St. John where the sentence occurs, " that the Scripture might be ful- filled," the connection is with what goes before, and not with what follows. (John xvii. 12 ; xix. 24 — 86.) Semler and Tholuck incline to take this view. But I admit that the matter is doubtful, and it certainly is not one of vital importance. One thing only we must remember. Our Lord did not say, " I thirst," for no other purpose than to fulfil the Scriptures. He spoke with far deeper and stronger reasons, and yet by His speaking and afterwards drinking vinegar, a passage in the prophetical Psalms was fulfilled.
29. — \_NoiD there was set... vessel. ..vifiegar.] This would be more lit- erally rendered " there was lying " a vessel. In all probability this was a vessel full of tLe sour wine in common use among the Roman soldiers.
[A7id they filled a sponge, etc.] The persons here spokeu of seem to be the Roman soldiers who carried out the detailo of the crucifixion. The vinegar was theirs, and it is not likely that any one would have dared to interfere with the criminal hang- ing on the cross, except the soldiers. The act recorded here must be carefully distinguished from that recorded in Matt, xxvii. 34, and is the same as that recorded in Matt, xxvii. 48. The first drink of vinegar and gall, commonly given to crimi- nals to deaden their pains, our Lord refused. The second, here mentioned, was given, I believe, notwithstanding what some writers say, in kindness and compassion, and our Lord did not refuse to accept it. A sponge filled with vinegar and put on the end of a stick, was far the easiest and most convenient way of giving drink to one whose head was at least seven or eight feet from the ground, and whose hands, being nailed to the cross, were of course unable to take any cup, and put it to his mouth. From a sponge full of liquid, pressed against the lips, a crucified person might suck some moisture, and receive some benefit.
What this " hyssop " here mentioned was, is a point by no means clearly ascertained. Casaubon speaks of the question as a proverbial difficulty. Some think that it was a branch of the plant hyssop fastened to the end of a reed. This seems very improbable, because of the "sponge." Dr. Forbes Royle main- tains that it was the caper plant, which bears a stick about 14*