was raised as a symbol of authority and in order that the judge might see and be seen (see Liicke).—Ver. 14. ἡἦν δὲ παρα- σκευη τοῦ πάσχα, ‘now it was the pre- paration of the Passover”’. παρασκευή was the usual appellation of Friday, the day of preparation for the weekly Sabbath. Here the addition τοῦ πάσχα shows that it is used of the day preceding the Passover. This day was, as it happened, a Friday, but it is the relation to the feast, not to the ordinary Sabbath, that is here indicated. Cf. ver. 42. ὥρα δὲ aoe ἕκτη. ‘It was about the sixth hour,” z.¢., about 12 o’clock. But Mark
a ridge or elevation.
Oe
856
ἸΙουδαίοις, “*"ISe ὁ βασιλεὺς ὑμῶν.”
15. Οἱ δὲ ἐκραύγασαν,
” A “*Apov, ἄρον, σταύρωσον αὐτόν.” Λέγει αὐτοῖς 6 Πιλάτος, “ Tév
u i, 29, etc. A s 4 ” βασιλέα ὑμῶν σταυρώσω; ” η 3 ‘ s ” : t Katoapa. ¥aKings XOPeY βασιλέα εἰ py ρ λα αὐτοῖς, ἵνα σταυρωθῇ. ui. Mk. αρέλαβον δὲ τὸν ᾿Ιησοῦν καὶ ἀπήγαγον 1: Xiv. 13. Π ρ β η πηγαγ Acts xv.
το.
w Dan. xii. 5. Rev. xxii. 2,
λέγεται “EBpaioti Γολγοθᾶ -
᾽Απεκρίθησαν ot ἀρχιερεῖς, “΄Οὐκ 16. Τότε οὖν παρέδωκεν αὐτὸν
17. καὶ Ἰ βαστάζων
τὸν σταυρὸν αὑτοῦ 2 ἐξῆλθεν εἰς τὸν λεγόμενον Κρανίου τόπον, ὃς
J 9 % > , ‘ > 18. οπου αυτον εσταυρωσαν, και μετ
αὐτοῦ ἄλλους δύο ἳἐντεῦθεν καὶ ἐντεῦθεν, µέσον δὲ τὸν Ιησοῦν.
1 Έτ, Ti.W.H.R. omit και απηγαγον following BLX 33.
2 Instead of the genitive NL read εαντω, BX 33 αυτω.
(xv. 25) says: “It was the third hour and they crucified Him”. The various methods of reconciling the statements are given in Andrew’s Life of Our Lord, p. 545 ff. Meyer leaves it unsolved ‘‘and the preference must be given to the disciple who stood under the cross ”. But if the crucifixion took place midway between nine and twelve o’clock, it was quite natural that one observer should refer it to the former, while another referred it to the latter hour. The height of the sun in the sky was the index of the time of day; and while it was easy to know whether it was before or after midday, or whether the sun was more or less than half-way between the zenith and the horizon, finer distinctions of time were not recognisable without consulting the sun-dials, which were not everywhere at hand. Cf. the interesting passages from rabbinical literature in Wetstein, and Professor Ramsay’s article in the Expositor, 1893, vol. vii., p. 216. The latter writer found the same conditions in Turkish villages, and ‘‘cannot feel anything serious” in the discrepancy between John and Mark. ‘‘ The Apostles had no means of avoiding the difficulty as to whether it was the third or the sixth hour when the sun was near mid- heaven, and they cared very little about the point.” καὶ Aéyer.. . ὑμῶν, “and he says to the Jews: Behold your king!’’ words uttered apparently in sar- casm and rage. If he still wished to free Jesus, his bitterness was impolitic.— Ver. 15. They at once shouted, ᾿Αρον, ἄρον, σταύρωσον αὐτόν. To this Pilate could offer only the feeble opposition of more sarcasm, Tov βασιλέα ὑμῶν σταν- pwow; where, of course, the emphasis is on the first words, John with his artistic perception exhibits their final rejection of
Christ in the form in which it appeared as a reckless renunciation of all their national liberties and hopes: Οὐκ ἔχομεν βασιλέα εἰ μὴ Καίσαρα. Even yet Pilate will take no active part, but hands Jesus over to the Sanhedrists with the requisite authorisation ; παρέδωκεν, used in a semi- technical sense, cf. Plut., Dem., xiv. 4, and the passages cited in Holden’s note.
Vv. 17-30. The crucifixion.—-Ver. 17. The Jewish authorities on their part “received” Jesus, καὶ ἀπήγαγον. καὶ βαστάζων . . . Γολγοθᾶ. “' Απά carrying the cross for Himself, He went out to the place called Kraniou (of a skull), which in Hebrew is called Golgotha.” The condemned man carried at least part ot the cross, and sometimes the whole. 6 µέλλων σταυρῷ προσηλοῦσθαι πρότερον αὐτὸν βαστάζει, Artemid., Οπεῖγ., ii. 56. Other passages in Keim, vi. 124. Since | Tertullian (adv. Fud., το) a type of this has been found in Isaac’s carrying the wood for the sacrifice. ἐξῆλθεν, it was usual both in Jewish and Roman com- munities to execute criminals outside the city. In Athens the gate through which they passed to the place of punishment was called χαρώνεια θύρα. Cf. Bynaeus, De Morte Christi, 220; Pearson, On the Creed (Art. iv.); Heb. xiii. 12; Lev. xxiv. 14. The place of execution at Jerusalem was a small knoll just beyond the northern wall, which, from its bare top and two hollow caves in its face, bears a rough resemblance to a skull, and was therefore called xpaviov, Calvaria, Skuil. “Golgotha” is the Aramaic form of Gulgoleth, which is found in 2 Kings ix. 35. It is described in Conder’s Hand- book, p. 355; Henderson’s Palestine, pp. 163, 164.—Ver. 18. ὅπου . . . Ιησοῦν. All information regarding the cross has been collected by Lipsius in his treatise