28. Were accomplished (reréAeorar). Rev., with stricter rendering of the perfect tense, are finished. Finished corre- sponds better with 7 ¢s jinished, ver. 30. This sentence may be taken with the preceding one, or with that which follows.
29. Vinegar. See on Matt. xxvii. 48.
Hyssop. Matthew and Mark have caddy, a reed. Luke says merely that they offered Him vinegar. The vinegar min- gled with gall (Matt. xxvii. 34), or the wine mingled with myrrh (Mark xv. 23) was offered to Jesus before his crucifixion as a stupefying draught. The hyssop gives a hint of the height of the cross, as the greatest length of the hyssop reed was not more than three or four feet. The vinegar in this case was offered in order to revive Christ. John does not men- tion the stupefying draught.
30. Gave up the ghost (apéSwxe 7d avedua). Rev., his spirit. Matt., agpijxev, dismissed. Mark, é€émrvevoev, breathed Jorth (his life). So Luke, who adds, “ Father, into thy hands I commend (rapatitewar, see on Luke ix. 16) my spirit.”
31-42. Compare Matt. xxvii. 57-61; Mark xv. 42-47; Luke xxiii. 50-60.
31. The Jews—Sabbath. The Jews, who had s0 recently asserted their sole allegiance to Czsar, are now scrupulous about observing the letter of the law.
32. Brake the legs. A detail recorded only by John. This crurifragium, leg-breaking, consisted in striking the legs with a heavy mallet in order to expedite death. It was sometimes inflicted as a punishment upon slaves. Some horrible illustra- tions are furnished by Suetonius, in his lives of Augustus and Tiberius.
34. With a spear (Adyy7). Only here in the New Testament. Properly, the head of a spear. So Herodotus, of the Arabians: “They also had spears (aiyyas) tipped with an antelope’s horn