ἄνδρα Φονέα χΧαρισθῆναι ὑμῖν, 15. τὸν δὲ ἀρχηγὸν τῆς ζωῆς ἀπεκ- τείνατε" ὃν 6 Θεὸς ἤγειρεν ἐκ νεκρῶν, οὗ ἡμεῖς µάρτυρές ἐσμεν.
2 Cor. x. 1—the expression need not be explained as a Hebraism, it is found several times in Polybius; see Dalman, Die Worte Fesu, p. 23. In the LXX it is frequent in various senses, and sometimes simply in the sense of before, in the presence of, a person, 1 Sam. xvii. 8, 1 Kings i. 23, 1 Chron. xvii. 25, Ecclesiasticus (xlv. 3, Jer. lit. 12, 33, Judith x. 23, xi. 5, etc. Rendall takes the words as usually denoting open en- counter with an opposite party face to face, cf. xxv. 16, Gal. ii. 11, and so here; the Jews met Pilate’s proposal to free the prisoner with a point-blank denial. 13> is referred by Hilgenfeld to the revising hand of ‘‘the author to Theo- philus,” and he sees in its introduction a proof of the anti- Judaism of the reviser, whilst Jiingst prefers to regard the first patt of νετ. I4 as an insertion, -but this Hilgenfeld will not accept, as thus the antithesis in ver. 15 is not marked.— κρίναντος: ‘‘when he had determined,” R.V., not a purpose only, but a decision, Luke xxiii. 16.—éketvov, not αὐτοῦ, em- phasising the antithesis between what Pilate had determined and what they had done: ἡμεῖς ἐκείνου θελήσαντος οὐκ ἠθελήσατε (Chrys.).
Ver. 14. τὸν ἅγιον καὶ δίκαιον: both epithets are used of John the Baptist, Mark vi. 20, ἄνδρα δίκαιον καὶ ἅγιον, but Jesus is emphatically “the Holy and Righteous Οπε”’ Κ.Υ. Not only is the sinlessness of His human character em- phasised, but also associated with the language of prophecy. St. Peter had already spoken of Jesus as God’s Holy One, ii. 27, and if the word used here _ means rather one consecrated to God’s service, it is the thought involved in the mats Θεοῦ (ἅγιος, ¢.g., ἔκλεκτος Θεοῦ, see Grimm, sub v., and cf Isaiah xlii. 1 LXX). The word was used by the demoniacs as they felt the power of the unique holiness of Christ, Mark i. 34, Luke iv. 34, and in St. John’s Gospel vi. 6g, it is the title given to Jesus by St. Peter in his great confession.—rov δικ. : the reference to the language of prophecy is unmistakable. The suffering Servant of Jehovah was also the righteous Ser- vant, Isaiah lili, 11 (cf. xi. 5, and Jer. xxiii. 5), see Acts vii. 52, xxii. 14. Later, in the Book of Enoch, the title is applied to the Messiah as the Righteous One, XXXViii. 2, lili. 6, xlvi. 3 (Charles’ edition, pp. 48, 112,144). In Acts vii. 52, 56, the
title is found on the lips of St. Stephen, and in xxii. 14, Ananias, a Jewish Chris- tian, announces to Paul that God had chosen him to see the Righteous One. When we remember too that this title is used again in the writings of each of the Apostles, who now appealed to it, 1 Peter iii, 18, 1 John ii. 1, cf. νετ. 20 (Rev. iii. 7), it would seem that it was not only a favourite one amongst these early believers, but that it affords in itself a marvellous proof of the impression made by the human life of Jesus upon those who knew Him best, or who at all events, like St. Stephen, had ample opportunities of learning the details of that life of holiness and righteousness, cf. also Matt. xxvii. το, 24, Luke xviii. 47,—av8pa φονέα: nearly all commentators dwell upon the marked contrast between this description of Barabbas and that just given of Jesus. Both St. Mark, xv. 7, and St. Luke, xxiii. 19, notice that Barabbas was not only a robber but a murderer. The addition, ἄνδρα, common in Luke, makes the expression stronger than the simple φονέα; cf. Soph., O. C., 948, ἄνδρα πατροκτόνον, O. R., 842, ἄνδρας λῃστάς. No crime was more abhorrent to the Christian life, as St. Peter himself indicates, 1 Peter iv. 15.---χαρισθῆναι: to be granted to you asa χάρις or favour, as if St. Peter would recall the fact that Pilate had given them a gratification! The verb is used several times in Luke, three times in his Gospel, vii. 21, 42, 43, and four times in Acts, cf. xxv. 11, 16, xxvii. 24, elsewhere only in St. Paul’s Epistles, where it is found fifteen times. In the LXX, cf. Esther viii. 7, Ecclus. xii. 3, and several times in the Books ot the Maccabees, cf. 2 Macc. iii. 31, 33, and other instances in Hatch and Red- path, svb ν. St. Chrys. writes: ‘‘ Peter shows the great aggravation of the act. As he has them under his hand, he strikes hard; while they were hardened he re- frained from such language, but when their minds are most moved then he strikes home, now that they are in a con- dition to feel it’’ (Hom., ix.).