Jews said to Judas, so Pilate says to the Jews. A formula of rejection ; see Acts xviii. 15.
25. Ha; o Xao$, x.r.x., all the people, etc.) An argument against the Jews why they are at present in exile, although that exile is somewhat less severe than formerly. — i<p was, x.r.7.., upon us, etc.) cf. Deut. xxviii. 18 ; Ps. Ixix. 24, cix. 17. They mean, " We will be accountable for it.'"
26. QpaysXXuffas, having scourged) after passing sentence.3
27. "OXrjv rqv avtTpav, the whole band) sc. even those soldiers who ought not then to have been present, and had not been so previously.3 — evsTpav, band, Lat. spiram) Elsewhere the Greeks are wont to put a simple / for the Latin i be fore a consonant, as in n/Xaros, not TletXdrog, etc. ; they wrote, however, ffTrsfya, because it is thus nearest to veTpa, an attempt ; ffmlpu, to sow, etc. ; to the sound of which they were accustomed.
28. XXa/xuda xoxx/vjjv, a crimson robe) They make sport of His kingdom, as the Jews had done of His prophetical dignity ; ch. xxvi. 68. It is called noppvpav, purple, in Mark xv. 17, and t,u,a.riov voppvpouv, a purple garment, in John xix. 2. Sometimes these words are used promiscuously ; sometimes they differ, as in Rev. xvii. 4. The one colour also used formerly to be super induced upon the other.
29. 'o /SaovXey; rZv 'lovdaiuv, the King of the Jews) They treated Jesus as a madman who fancied Himself a King.
1 They bind themselves with the bonds of guilt, but yet do not thereby set Pilate free from it. You may possibly, in a single moment, commit an act which you must pay the penalty of throughout your whole life, nay, even throughout eternity. Nor are there wanting persons who have much less hesitation in incurring guilt than Pilate had. — V. g.
2 The delivering up of Jesus to the will of the Jews was immediately con nected with the setting of Barabbas free, and both were followed by the scourging, accompanied with the mocking of our Lord. In the presence of Caiaphas, it was not till after the capital sentence, that the mocking fol lowed ; and, on the same principle, the soldiers could not at pleasure vent their wanton ribaldry on Jesus, before that Pilate delivered Him up to the will and pleasure of the Jews. — Harm., p. 553.
3 Hereby the delivery of the Saviour into the hands of the sinful heathen was consummated. — B. H. E., p. 220.
Bengel here alludes to our Lord's words in Matt. xx. 19, and xxvi. 45. -(I. B.)