Vv. 39-44. Taunts of spectators (Mk. XV. 20-32; Lk. xxiii. 35-37, 39). The last drop in Christ’s bitter cup. To us it may seem incredible that even His worst enemies could be guilty of any- thing so brutal as to hurl taunts at one suffering the agonies of crucifixion. But men then ielt very differently from us, thanks to the civilising influence of the
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x vide Ch. 39. Οἱ δὲ παραπορευόµενοι ἐβλασφήμουν αὐτόν, * κινοῦντες τὰς. xxiii. 4. κεφαλὰς αὐτῶν, 40. καὶ λέγοντες, ““O καταλύων τὸν ναὸν καὶ ἐν ‘4 > ὃ ~ ~ ό > ea = ~ a 1 τρισὶν ἡμέραις οἰκοδομῶν, σῶσον σεαυτόν: εἰ υἱὸς ef τοῦ Θεοῦ, κατάβηθι ἀπὸ τοῦ σταυροῦ.”. 41. Ὁμοίως δὲ nat? οἱ ἀρχιερεῖς ἐμπαί- Loves μετὰ τῶν γραμματέων καὶ πρεσβυτέρων ἔλεγον, 42. '"Άλλους. ἔσωσεν, ἑαυτὸν οὗ δύναται σῶσαι. εἰξδ βασιλεὺς Ισραήλ ἐστι, καταβάτω νῦν ἀπὸ τοῦ σταυροῦ, καὶ πιστεύσοµεν αὐτῷ." 43. πέποιθεν ἐπὶ τὸν Θεόν δ: ῥυσάσθω νῦν αὐτόν, εἰ θέλει αὐτόν. etme γάρ, Ὅτι y Kom. Vi. Yay cr 35 . 92 5 λε A ite , 6. Gal. ii, Θεοῦ ele vids.” 44. Τὸ 8 αὐτὸ καὶ οἱ λησταὶ οἱ ᾿"συσταυρωθέντες 29 (in fig.
ας ae , A sense), QUTO! ὠνείδιζον αὐτῷ."
1 ει νιος θεου ει in B (W.H. in margin).
2 opovws simply in NAL (Tisch.). οµοιως και in BK (W.H. in brackets).
3 S8BDL omit ει (Tisch., W.H.). 5 ert τω θεω in B (W.H. in margin). 7 ov αντω in BDL.
Christian faith, which has made the whole details of the Passion history so revolting to the Christian heart. These sneers at the great Sufferer are not in- vented fulfilments of prophecy (Ps. xxii. 7, 8; so Brandt), but belong to the certainties of the tragic story as told by the synoptists.— Ver. 39. ot παραπορευό- pevou, the passers by: the place of cruci- fixion therefore near a road; going to or from the temple services (Speaker’s Com.) ; or on work-day business, the 13th not the 14th of the month? (Fritzsche, De Wette).—kuwodvtes τ. κ. α., Shaking or nodding the head in the direction of the cross, as if to say: that is what it has come to.—Ver. 40. 6 καταλύων (cf. ἡ ἀποκτείνουσα, xxiii. 37), this and the other taunts seem to be echoes of words said to or about Jesus at the trial, of which a report has already gone abroad among the populace. Whether the say- ing about destroying the temple was otherwise known can only be a matter of conjecture,—el vids εἶ τ. θ.: Jesus had confessed Himself to be the Son of God at the trial (xxvi. 64).--κατάβηθι: the God of this world and all men of the world have but one thought as to Son- ship; of course it means exceptional privilege. What can a Son of God have to do with a cross?—Ver. 41. ὁμοίως, εἰςο.: one might have expected the digni- taries, priests, scribes, elders, to have left that low-minded work to the mob. But they condescend to their level, yet with a difference. They speak about the Sufferer, not to Him, and in a tone of affeeted seriousness and fairness.—Ver.
4 επ αυτον in NBL. ® BL 33 omit αυτον. 8 αυτον in all uncials,
42. Gddovs ἔσωσεν, etc., He saved others, Himself He cannot save. Both facts ; the former they can now afford to admit, and they do so all the more readily that it serves as a foil to the other fact patent to everybody. — βασιλεὺς “1. Messianic King —the claim involved in the confession before the Sanhedrim, refuted by the cross, for who could believe that Messiah would. be crucified ?—xataBatw viv, etc.: yet let Him come down now from the cross, and we will believe on Him at once. These pious scoffers profess their readi- ness to accept descent from the cross as the conclusive sign from heaven they had always been asking for.—Ver. 43. This looks like a mere echo of Ps. xxii. 9 (not a literal quotation from the Sept., how- ever, rather recalling 15. xxxvi. 5) rather than a word likely to be spoken by the Sanhedrists. What did they know about the personal piety of Jesus? Probably they were aware that He used to call God “Father,” and that may be the basis of the statement, along with the confession of Sonship before the San- hedrim: θεοῦ εἰμι vids.—viv, now is the time for testing the value of His trust; a plausible wicked sneer.—et θέλει αὐτόν, if He love Him, an emphatic if, the love disproved by the {αοῖ.-- θέλει is used in the sense of love in the Sept. (Ps. xviii. 20; ΧΙΙ. 12). Palairet gives examples of a similar use in Greek authors.—Ver. 44: the co-crucified brigands join with the mob and the priests in ribaldry.—ro αὐτὸ: Fritzsche supplies ἐποίουν after this phrase and renders: the same thing