67. ἐνέπτυσαν, &c.] Among the Jews this was a mark of the greatest contempt and ignominy. See Numb. xii. 14 : Isai. L. 6: Job xxx. 10. The practice has descended to later generations. See Hanway's Travels, Vol. 1. p. 298.

ἐκολάφισαν] Theophylact on Matt. xxvi. κολαφίζειν ἐστὶ τὸ διὰ τῶν χειρῶν πλήττειν, συγκαμπτομένων τῶν δακτύλων. καὶ ἵνα ἀφελέστερον εἴπω, δια τοῦ γρόνθου κονδυλίζειν. Sedulius Op. Pasch. v. 6, per illos colaphos (viz. Christo impactos) habemus capitis sospitatem-his alapis libertatem sumus con. secuti perpetuam; which in B. IV. he has expressed by Namque per hos colaphos caput est sanabile nostrum, His alapis nobis libertas maxima plausit. And Juvencus, Tunc sanctam Christi faciem sputa undique complent, Et palmæ in malis, colaphique in vertice crebri Insultant.

ἐῤῥάπισαν] See p. 141. Suidas ραπίσαι· πατάξαι τὴν γνάθον ἀπλῇ τῇ χειρὶ ὃ καὶ λέγουσι παίειν ἐπὶ τῆς κόῤῥης. Nonnus John xix. 3.—καὶ ἤτεν ἄλλος ἐπ ̓ ἄλλῳ, Χερσὶν ἀμοιβαίησι παρηΐδος ἄκρον ἀράσσων. Chrysost. Homil. in Ascens. τί τὸν δεσπότην κατὰ κόῤῥης ἐῤῥάπιζον, κατὰ κεφαλῆς ἐκονδύλιζον, τὸ δὲ τέλος τὸν κληρονόμον ἔξω τοῦ ἀμπελῶνος ἐφό

νευον ;

68. προφήτευσον] Guess. They had blindfolded him, Mark xiv. 65 : Luke xxii. 64. This word is here used by them, as well as Χριστέ, by way of ridiculing and insulting him, as Messiah and a prophet.

69. ἔξω] In the court-yard: or without that place where Christ was examined by the council, but not without the door of the house of Caiaphas; for he afterwards went out of it, ver. 75.

μία παιδίσκη] Who had the charge of the gate: it not being uncommon among the Hebrews to employ women for that purpose, though among the Greeks and Romans men were the porters. See 2 Sam. iv. 6: Acts xii. 13.

Phrynichus, p. 102, παιδίσκη τοῦτο ἐπὶ τῆς θεραπαίνης οἱ νῦν τιθέασιν· οἱ δ' ἀρχαῖοι ἐπὶ τῆς νεανίδος, οἷς ἀκολουθητέον. Maris, παιδίσκην καὶ τὴν ἐλευθέραν καὶ τὴν δούλην Αττικῶς. τὴν δούλην μόνην Ελληνικῶς. Ammonius, παιδίσκη καὶ θεράπαινα διαφέρει παιδίσκη μὲν γὰρ ἐστι πᾶσα ἡ τὴν παιδικὴν ἔχουσα ἡλικίαν, ὡς καὶ παίδισκος θεράπαινα δὲ ἡ δούλη.

ἦσθα μετὰ, &c.] See xii. 30, i. e. one of his disciples. In John xviii. 25, The question is Art thou not one of his disciples? which according to the Hebrew manner of speaking is equivalent to an affirmative.

Mark xiv. 68, προαύλιον.

70. οὐκ οἶδα τί λέγεις] Soph. Ajax. 270, πῶς τοῦτ' ἔλεξας; οὐ κάτοιδ ̓ ὅπως λέγεις. 71. εἰς τὸν πυλῶνα] eidev avtov aλλn] See Mark xiv. 69: Luke xxii. 58: John xviii. 16, 25; where there seems to be a little variation, which, if it could not be reconciled, would not be of material importance, and not unusual in similar narratives, where none perhaps of the narrators but John was present. Whitby gives this answer to the seeming difference: The damsel said the second time, "This man was with Jesus," but then she said this not to Peter, but Tois éкei, ver. 71; Tоis πаρеσтηкóσw, Mark xiv. 69; and said only ouros, this man was one of them; upon this a man of the company accosts him personally ou, thou art one of them.

But ἐκεῖ

And no Griesbach supposes

τοῖς ἐκεῖ] Scil. οὖσι. Several read αὐτοῖς ἐκεῖ. can scarcely be joined with the subsequent words. doubt the common reading is the true one. the other to have arisen from the transcriber, who having frequently met with λéye avтoîs, and not attending to what follows here, either from some mistake or fancy wrote down the common phrase.

uses.

73. oi EσTWTES] Scil. oi TapeσTwτes, which St. Mark xiv. 70, Thus Hom. Od. X. 114, ὡς δ' αὕτως τω δμως δυέσθην τεύχεα καλὰ, Εσταν δ ̓ ἀμφ' Ὀδυσῆα. Thus also Juvenal, v. 63, Quippe indignatur veteri parere clienti, Quandoque aliquid poscas, et quod se stante recumbas. And Aul. Gel, xv. 12, Nulla apud me fuit popina; neque pueri eximiâ facie stabant.

Malia] The Jews tell us that the Galilæans had a clownish and uncouth way of speaking, a corrupt and confused mode of pronunciation, for which they were ridiculed by the inhabitants of Judæa. The people of the several provinces of one and the same country are commonly known to have a different accent and dialect. See Judg. xii. 6.

74. καταναθεματίζειν] Sub. ἑαυτὸν, Mich. in Bos. Ell. Gr. p. 79. Very many MSS. read кaтadeμaтile, from кaтábeμa, which is said to be of the same import with dráleμa and KaTaváleμa; but its meaning should seem to be depositum. Which ever is the reading, it is the only passage in the New Testament in which it occurs: nor is the latter met with in any antient writer. Ecclesiastical writers have borrowed it from their copies of the New Testament.

ȧλéктwр é¶pwrησe] The second time, Mark xiv. 72. 75. éμvýoon & Ilérpos] St. Luke observes that Jesus, who

in all probability was not yet carried back before the Sanhedrim, looked upon Peter when the cock crowed, which made the Apostle call to mind what his Master had foretold him.

— τοῦ Ἰησοῦ] Griesbach on the authority of very many MSS. absolutely rejects Tou. Proper names in the genitive, Bp. Middleton says (Gr. Art. p. 262) deviate from the common rule.

ἐξελθὼν ἔξω ἔκλαυσε] Alian. V. Η. XII. 1, καὶ ἀπελθοῦσα ew exλace. Plin. Ep. 1. 16, Cum diu cohibitæ lachrymæ ἔξω ἔκλαιε. vincerent, erumperentque, egrediebatur, tum se dolori dabat.

πικρώς] Hesych. κατακόρως, ἀκρατῶς.

CHAP. XXVII.

1. πρwias yevouévns] Scil. wpas. So Philo, Vit. Cont. extr. μεθυσθέντες ἄχρι πρωίας τὴν καλὴν ταύτην μέθην.

As the Sanhedrim usually met in one of the courts of the temple, ver. 5, which was never opened in the night, they were obliged to stay till the morning, that they might more regularly proceed in the resolution they had taken the night before, in the house of Caiaphas, of putting Jesus to death. For that assembly was neither general nor judicial, according to the sense of the law, which did not allow of justice to be administered in private or in the night-time.

2. Snoavtes] i. e. dedeuévov, for we find, John xviii. 12, that Christ had been bound before.

Tаρédwкav] According to the use of the best writers, those are said Tapadouvai, who give up a person to another with the design of having them punished. Thus Joseph. B. J. VII. 3, 2, καὶ παρεδίδου ξένους Ἰουδαίους τινάς, ὡς κεκοινωνηκότας τῶν βεβουλευμένων, and afterwards he adds ταῦτα δ' ἀκούων ὁ δῆμος τὴν ὀργὴν οὐ κατεῖχεν, ἀλλ ̓ ἐπὶ μὲν τοὺς παραδοθέντας πῦρ εὐθὺς ἐκέλευον κομίζειν.

— Ποντίῳ Πιλάτῳ] It is not certainly known of what family or country Pilate was, though it is generally believed that he was of Rome, at least of Italy. He succeeded Gratus in the government of Judæa, in which he continued from the twelfth to the twenty-second of Tiberius: and is represented by Philo (Leg. ad Cai.) as a man of an impetuous and obstinate temper; and a judge who used to sell justice, and for money pronounce any sentence that was desired. The same author makes mention of his rapines, his injuries, murders, the torments he inflicted on the innocent, and the persons he put to death without any

form of process. In short, he describes him as a a man that exercised an excessive cruelty, during the whole time of his government, from which he was deposed by Vitellius the proconsul of Syria, and sent to Rome to give an account of his conduct to the Emperor. But though Tiberius died before Pilate arrived at Rome, yet his successor Caligula banished him to Vienne in Gaul, where he was reduced to such extremity that he killed himself with his own hands. See also Pearson on the Creed, Vol. 1. p. 303: Lardner's Credibility, Vol. 11. p. 273.

01

ἡγεμόνι] Joseph. Ant. xvii. 3, 1, Πιλάτος δὲ ὁ τῆς Ἰουδαίας ἡγεμὼν. Pilate was, properly speaking, no more than procurator of Judea: Joseph. B. J. 11. 9, 2, TEμpleis de eis Ἰουδαίαν ἐπίτροπος ὑπὸ Τιβερίου Πιλάτος. Tac. Ann. xv. 44, Christus Tiberio imperante, per Pontium Pilatum procuratorem supplicio affectus est. He was called governor, because this name was better known, and that besides Pilate discharged all the functions of a governor, viz. in taking cognizance of criminal causes. For the nation of the Jews being always suspected of a rebellious disposition against the Roman authority, and the president of Syria who had the power of the sword being forced to attend upon the other parts of his province, the procurator of Judæa was furnished with the power of life and death, and administered all the functions of the president. We learn from Josephus, Ant. xvIII. 1, 1, that Coponius was the first sent with this power, Kwπários te avto (Scil. Quirinio) συγκαταπέμπεται, τάγματος τῶν ἱππέων, ἡγησόμενος Ιουδαίων τῇ ἐπὶ πᾶσιν ἐξουσία. And B. J. 11. 8, 1, τῆς δὲ Ἀρχελάου χώρας εἰς ἐπαρχίαν περιγραφείσης, ἐπίτροπός τις, ἱππικῆς παρὰ Ρωμαίοις τάξεως, Κωπώνιος πέμπεται, μέχρι τοῦ κτείνειν λαβὼν παρὰ τοῦ Καίσαρος ἐξουσίαν.

From the History of the Acts it appears that the Roman governors of Judea resided chiefly at Cæsarea, and that there was only an inferior officer in Jerusalem, with a single legion to keep the peace of the city. At the great festivals however they came up to prevent or suppress tumults, and to administer justice; for the governors of provinces frequently visited the principal towns on this latter account. Accordingly (John xviii. 39) we find that Pilate was wont to give judgment at the passover: "Ye have a custom that I should," &c.

3. TÓTE] May be taken in some latitude to introduce the mention of an occurrence which happened about that time, ther a little before or after, and need not be interpreted

with so much rigour as to determine it to be an assertion of observing the exactest order in all circumstances.

Ιούδας ὁ παραδιδοὺς] It has been thought not improbable, that Judas when he betrayed Christ, might have imagined, as the disciples did, and as the Jews thought of their Messiah, that he would not have died, but either would have conveyed himself out of the soldiers' hands, as he did from the multitude when they sought to stone him, or cast him down a precipice; or by some other miraculous way would have preserved himself: and of this opinion, says Theophylact, some of the Fathers were. But Bp. Porteus thinks it the more probable, that all he thought of was pure gain; and his only object was how to obtain a sum of money which, whatever might be the consequences, he was determined to have. See Lect. XXII. p. 268.

ἀπέστρεψε] Reddere voluit ; i. e. ἐπέστρεψε, as Judg. xi. 13. It is here used transitively.

4. ἀθῶον] Hesych. ἀθῶος, αναιτιος. 1 Macc. i. 37. Dem. περ. στεφ. οὗ δ ̓ ἐγὼ μὲν ἀθῶος, ἁπάσι-ἐνταῦθα ἀπήντηκας. Themist. Οr. xv. de Reg. Virt. ad Theodos. p. 191, ἀλλὰ τούς γε ὁρεῖς καὶ τοὺς κύνας, τί τοὺς ἀθώους, ὁ οΐστος ἐν τοῖς πρώτοις ἐπεπορεύετο. See ver. 24.

— αἷμα ἀθῶον] Used to signify an innocent person. Deut. xxvii. 25. πατάξαι ψυχὴν αἵματος ἀθώου. Ps. xciii. 21, καὶ αἷμα ἀθῶον καταδικάσονται. So also 1 Sam. xix. 5. Philo de Victim. p. 839, οὔτ ̓· αἵματος ἀθώου προσήψαντο.

-

— τί πρὸς ἡμᾶς] Sub. ἀνῆκον, Mich. in Bos. Ell. Gr. p. 21. Polyb. κατὰ δὲ τὸ παρὸν οὐ νομίζουσιν εἶναι τοῦτο τὸ πρᾶγμα πρὸς αὐτοὺς. And ἑὰν μὴ πρὸς αὐτοὺς ἡγῶνται.

σὺ ὄψει] Fut. for imper. Common form σοὶ μελέτω, s. μελήσει. Josephus has τί μέλλεις, ὦ τύραννε; σὺ ὄψει τί ποιεῖν προαιρῇ.

5. τῷ ναῷ] In that part of the temple where the Sanhedrim

was assembled.

ἀπήγξατο] 2 Sam. xvii. 23, ἀπῆλθεν......καὶ ἀπήγξατο. Arrian. Epictet. I. 2, τὸ δ' ἀπάγξασθαι οὐκ ἐστιν ἀχόρητον. Ὅταν γοῦν μάθῃ τις ὅτι εὔλογον, ἀπελθὼν ἀπήγξατο. Ter. Andr. 1. 5, 21, Id mihi visus est dicere, Abi cito et suspende te. Plaut. Pœnul. 1. 2, 96, Abi domum ac suspende te.

66

St. Peter seems to give a different account in Acts i. 18, Falling headlong he burst asunder in the midst, and all his bowels gushed out." And the usual mode of reconciling the passages is by supposing that when Judas hanged himself, either the object from which he was suspended gave way, or