The Pulpit Commentary — Matthew — Volume 2 — Section 588

that elicited it; it aroee fr'Jm eome incalcul- and terrifying effect; and there is uo spirit able llffiiction of soul. Ho wae bearing the of mockery left in tho [I.Wed bystanders. eins of the whole world; the Lord had laid Besides this, it is not likely that Jews, who on him the iniquity of ue llll; there was no with all their errors and vices pllid an out- one to comfort him in hie l,cavineee; and ward respect to holy things, would have the light of God's countenance wae for the presnmed to make e. play on the se.cred name time withdrawn from him. He wae "left" of God. Therefore it is no more reasonable that he might bear man'e eins in their full to hold that, misunderstanding Christ's and orUBhing weight, and by bearing eave. words, they spoke seriously, with some vague, Yet there is no despair in this lamentable super~titio~~ idea. that Elijah might appear outcry. He who could thue call upon at this crISlll, and rescue the Sufferer (see God hae God with him, even in his utter ver. 49). loneliness. "Amid the faintnese, or the Ver. 48.-Rau; and took a sponge. Ac- confusion of mind, felt at the approach of cording to St. John, Jesus had just so.id, death, he experiences .his abandonment by "I thirst." The sponge and the wine were God; and yet his soul reste firmly on, provided for the purpose of ministering and his will is fully subject to, God, wbile some relief to the crucified. Common he is thus te.eting death for every man humanity we.s not quite extinct even in the through God's grace. . . . He held firmly executioners and spectators. Vinegar. The to God and retained the Divinity of his acid wine used by the 110ldiers, and called life, at the time when in his unity with posca (see on ver. 34), Put it on a reed. mankind, and in his human feeling, the St. John calls it a stalk of hyssop; and if feeling of abandonment by God amazed this is the ea.per plant, it, though of a climb- him" (Lange). The verb "forsaken" is ing nature, can prodnoe e. stick some three not in the perfect tense, as translated in or four feet long (see on ver. 29). Gave him the Authorized Version, but in the aorist; to drink (br&-ra(ev, imperf., was offering him and it implie, that during the three hours to drink); perhaps with the iclea of helping of darkness Christ had been in silenoe en- him to endure till Elijah came. Thus was during this utter desolation, which had fulfilled the psalmist's word, "In my thirst now come to its climax. The Man Christ they gave me vinegar to drink" (Ps. lxix. 21). Jesus asked why he was thne deserted; his Ver. 49.-The rest [but the rest] said, Let human heart would fain comprehend this be (6.cper). This is a common expression; phase of the propitiatory swferiJige which meaning, "Stand off!" "Be qnietl" "Soft!" he was undergoing. No answer came from The bystanders addressed the person who the darkened heaven ; but the cry wae he.d presented the drink. In St. Mark the heard ; the unspeakable ea.orifice, e. eacrifioe verb is in the plural, li.cj>eTE, that is, the necessary according to the Almighty's giver of the drink calls upon the others to purpose. wae accepted, and with his own keep quiet and Wllit. Let us see whether blood he obtained eternal redemption for Elias will oome (lpx,.,.,.,, cometh, is coming), me.n;· They speak in a kind of superstitions Ver. 47.-Some of them that stood there. mockery, half deriding and hlllf believing These could not have been the Roman in the possible appearance of the great soldiers, for they would not have understood prophet. Between this verse e.nd the fol- the Baviour'e language, and could have lowing, the Sinaitio, Vatican, e.nd some known nothing about Elias. Edersheim other manuscripts, together with some few aupposes that the guards were provincial versions, insert a passage borrowed from aoldiers, and not necessarily of Latin ex- John xi.x. 34, "And another taking a spear trt1ction. At any rate, the speakers are Jews pierced his side, and there came out we.te1 standing near enough to the cross to oatoh and blood." This evitlent interpolation has more or less the words uttered by Jesus. been introduced by a scribe, who deemed it This man (ohos, he, pointing at him) oalleth expedient to rectify e.n omission on St. for Elias. Whether they wilfully misinter- Me.tthew's part, and clumsily inserted it in preted the half-heard cry, "Eli, Eli I" or a wrong place, It is to be rejected, not only whether they really misunderstood it, is on critical, but on historical anJ. theological an undecided question. In the first case, grounds, seeing that it makes the piercing we must suppose that they spoke in cruel of the side to precede Christ's death, e.nd mockery-the last of the brutal insults conveys the impression th11t it wos thi~ spear• vented on the meek Sufferer. He cannot wound that out abort his life. save himself; he appeals to the old prophet Ver. 50.-When he he.d oried a.gain. He to come to rescue him; was thore ever suoh he.d oried aloud once before (ver. 46). But preeUlllption? There lll'e two considerations he does not repeat the former words ; the which militate against this supposition. The horror of greot darkness w11s past. Pro- time of ribaldry and abuse is now past; bably the ory here resolved itself into the U1e supernatural darkness hus had l\ calming words recorded by St. Luke, "Father, into .llATTBEW-·Il• 2 Q  601 TIIE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO ST. MATTHEW, [on. xxvn. 1-66,