2A αυτῷ
, yd 57. καί τινες ἀναστάντες 3 A - ἐψευδομαρτύρουν Kat αὐτοῦ, λέγοντες, 58. “΄Ὅτι ἡμεῖς ἠκούσαμεν - J ~ αὐτοῦ λέγοντος, “Ort ἐγὼ καταλύσω τὸν ναὸν τοῦτον τὸν χειροποίητον,
καὶ διὰ τριῶν ἡμερῶν ἄλλον ἀχειροποίητον οἰκοδομήσω.”
59. Κα)
1 S8DLA omit αντω, found in BE al. pler. (W.H. πιατρ.).
merely personalinterest. Schanz suggests a desire to exhibit in a concrete instance the danger of the situation, and the ferocity of the enemies of Jesus. On the whole one feels inclined to acquiesce in the judgment of Hahn, quoted by Holtz., H.C., that in this curious incident we have ‘‘the monogram of the painter (Mk.) ina dark corner of the picture ”. Brandt, however (Dze Ev. Gesch., p. 28), dissents from this view.
Vv. 53-65. Before Caiaphas (Mt. xxvi. 57-68, Lk. xxii. 54, 66-71).—Ver. 53. συνέρχονται α. πάντες, etc.: again all the three orders ot the Sanhedrists are named, who have been summoned to meet about the time the party sent to apprehend Jesus might be expected to arrive.—Ver. 54. 06 Πέτρος: the story of Peter’s denial begins here, and, after being suspended by the account of the trial, isresumed at νετ.66.--ἀπὸ µακρόθεν, from afar (ἀπὸ redundant here as else- where), fearful, yet drawn on by love and curiosity.—ws ἔσω εἰς: a redundant but expressive combination, suggesting the idea of one stealthily feeling his way into the court of the palace, venturing further and further in, and gaining courage with each step (vide Weiss, Mk.-Evan., p. 470).—Oeppatvopevos : nights cold even at Easter in Palestine ; a fire in the court welcome in the early hours of morning, when something un- usual was going on. ‘ However hot it may be in the daytime, the nights in spring are almost always cold ”—Furrer, Wanderungen, p. 241.---πρὸς τὸ φῶς, at the fire; here called light, because it was there to give light as well as heat. Elsner and Raphel cite instances of the use of φῶς for fire from Xenophon. Hesychius gives wip as one of its meanings.
Vv. 55-65. The trial and condemna- tion.—Ver. 55. µαρτυρίαν: Mt. Πας. ψευδοµαρτυρίαν, justly so characterised, because the Sanhedrists wanted evidence for a foregone conclusion: evidence that would justify a sentence of death.—Ver. 56. ἴσαι, equal, to the same effect, as. the testimonies of true witnesses would, of course, be. Grotius takes the word as meaning, not equal to one another, but equal to the demands of weighty evidence and justifying condemnation. Elsner agrees, arguing from the use of the word again, in reference to the evidence about the temple lJogion of Jesus. These witnesses, he holds, are not represented. as making conflicting statements, but simply as making statements not suffici- ently weighty —not equal to the occasion. There is some force in this.—Ver. 57. τινες, some, for which Mt. has the more definite δύο, the smallest number neces- sary to establish a matter.—Ver. 58. ὅτι, etc.: Mk.’s version of the testimony- borne by the witnesses differs in im- portant respects from that of Mt.; v7s.,. by the insertion of the words τὸν χειροποίητον and ἄλλον ἀχειροποίητον. Mt.’s form doubtless comes nearest to- what the witnesses actually said. Mk.’s puts into their mouths, to a certain ex- tent, the sense in which he and his fellow-Christians understood Christ’s saying, viz., as a prophecy that the material temple would be superseded by a spiritual temple = the community of believers in Jesus. If they had really spoken, as here reported, the talsehood would have lain rather in the animus of their statement than in its meaning: the animus of men who regarded it as impious to speak of the temple of God being destroyed, as contemptuous to: