must be) The Scriptures had said that thus it must oe ; see ver. 56.1
55. To/5 o^Xo'Sj the multitudes) Our Lord calmed their vio lence, so that, even though now under the influence of the chief men they did not return to sanity, they might do so more easily at a future period. — -w? kvi Xrj<rr^v, as against a thief) against whom, in a sudden tumult, all staves are used for arms.
— x,a,(? fjpspav, daily) Especially from the Feast of Tabernacles, to that of the Dedication in the same year. — Jv r& hpti, in the Temple) where you might easily have laid hold of Me. — cux exparr,ffsTs Ms, ye laid not hold on Me) An instance of Metonvmia Consequentis ; q. d. " You were not able to take Me before ;" cf. Luke xxii. 53.2
56. Tot/ro 8s oXov yeyovtv, but all this icas done) St Matthew appears to have interwoven this periphrasis with our Lord's words concerning the fulfilment of the Scriptures : cf. Mark xiv. 49. — 0,1 ypa<pa,l, the Scriptures) in the plural number. His Passion wras the confluence of their fulfilments.3
58. 'ATO /j,axp66sv, afar off) With doubtful mind and the sense of danger midway between the spirit, displayed in ver. 51, and the fear evinced in ver. 70. — Ixa^ro, x.r.X., sat, etc.) An un seasonable fellowship.4
59. 'E^rotiv, sought) Upon this arose that host of false wit nesses. No greater act of injustice was ever committed than that against our Lord : in respect of God, however, it was the highest exercise of justice.5
1 Jesus ever carried with Him " the law of God within His heart." — V. g. [Ps. xl. 8].
2 You took me not, i.e., rebuking their insincerity, " Ye were afraid of the people to take me openly." So Olshausen. Beng. seems to make the idea implied this — Ye were not then able to take me, for " your hour and the power of darkness" were not then, but are now. Luke xxii. 53. — ED.
John, for a considerable time before his being beheaded, was kept in prison. But the world was obliged to permit Christ to walk at large, and discourse unrestrictedly, up to these His last moments. — Harm,., p. 532.
3 Luke xxii. 53, mentions another cause of so sudden a change on the part of the Jews, viz. the power of darkness — Harm., p. 532.
4 In the original, " communitas non opportuna." There is an allusion in the word communitas to 1 Cor. xv. 33. — (I. B.)
5 Inasmuch as the holiness of God demanded such an awful sacrifice for