Bibelkommentare

Matthew 27:22 Τί οὖν ποιήσω Ἰησοῦν;] What, then (if Barabbas is to be released), am I to do with Jesus, how shall I dispose of him? On this use of the double accusative with ποιεῖν, in the sense of doing good or evil to any one, comp. Kühner, II. 1, p. 277; Wunder, ad Soph. Phil. 684—.σταυρωθήτω] οὐ λέγουσι· φονευθήτω, ἀλλὰ σταυρωθήτω, ἵνα καὶ τὸ εἶδος τοῦ θανάτου κακοῦρχον (as a rebel) ἀπελέγχῃ αὐτόν, Euthymius Zigabenus. Doubtless it was also at the instigation of the hierarchs that they demanded this particular form of punishment.

Matthew 27:23 Τί γάρ] does not presuppose a “non faciam,” or some such phrase (Grotius, Maldonatus, Fritzsche), but γάρ denotes an inference from the existing state of matters, and throws the whole emphasis upon τί: quid ergo. See on John 9:30 and 1 Corinthians 11:22.

Chrysostom appropriately points out how ἀνάνδρως καὶ σφόδρα μαλακῶς Pilate behaved.

Matthew 27:24 The circumstance of Pilate’s washing his hands, which Strauss and Keim regard as legendary, is also peculiar to Matthew.

ὅτι οὐδὲν ὠφελεῖ] that it was all of no avail, John 12:19. “Desperatum est hoc praejudicium practicum,” Bengel.

ἀλλὰ μᾶλλον θόρυβος γίνεται] that the tumult is only aggravated thereby.

ἀπενίψατο τὰς χεῖρας] he washed his hands, to show that he was no party to the execution thus insisted upon. This ceremony was a piece of Jewish symbolism (Deuteronomy 21:6 f.; Joseph. Antt. iv. 8. 16; Sota viii. 6); and as Pilate understood its significance, he would hope by having recourse to it to make himself the more intelligible to Jews. It is possible that what led the governor to conform to this Jewish custom was the analogy between it and similar practices observed by Gentiles after a murder has been committed (Herod, i. 35; Virg. Aen. ii. 719 f.; Soph, Aj. 654, and Schneidewin thereon; Wetstein on our passage), more particularly as it was also customary for Gentile judges before pronouncing sentence to protest, and that “πρὸς τὸν ἥλιον” (Constitt. Ap. ii. 52. 1; Evang. Nicod. ix.), that they were innocent of the blood of the person about to be condemned; see Thilo, ad Cod. Apocr. I. p. 573 f.; Heberle in the Stud. u. Krit. 1856, p. 859 ff.

ἀπὸ τοῦ αἵματος] a Greek author would have used the genitive merely (Maetzner, ad Lycurg. 79). The construction with ἀπό is a Hebraism (נקי מדם, 2 Samuel 3:27), founded on the idea of removing to a distance. Comp. Hist. Susann. 46, and καθαρὸς ἀπό, Acts 20:26.

ὑμεῖς ὄψ.] See on Matthew 27:4.

Matthew 27:25 Ἐφʼ ἡμᾶς, κ.τ.λ.] Defiant and vindictive cry, in the hurry of which (τοιαύτη γὰρ ἡ ὁρμὴ κ. ἡ πονηρὰ ἐπιθυμία, Chrysostom) the verb is left to be understood (Matthew 23:35). Comp. 2 Samuel 1:16, and see on Acts 18:6. From what we know of such wild outbursts of popular fanaticism, there is no ground for supposing (Strauss; comp. also Keim, Scholten, Volkmar) that the language only represents the matter as seen from the standpoint of Christians, by whom the destruction of the Jews had come to be regarded as a judgment for putting Jesus to death. And as for their wicked imprecations on their own heads, they were only in accordance with the decrees of the divine nemesis, and therefore are to be regarded in the light of unconscious prophecy.

Matthew 27:26 Φραγελλώσας] a late word adopted from the Latin, and used for μαστιγοῦν. Comp. John 2:15; see “Wetstein. It was the practice among the Romans to scourge the culprit (with cords or thongs of leather) before crucifying him (Liv. xxxiii. 36; Curt. vii. 11. 28; Valer. Max. i. 7, Joseph. Bell. v. 11. 1, al.; Heyne, Opusc. III. p. 184 f.; Keim, III. p. 390 f.). According to the more detailed narrative of John 19:1 ff., Pilate, after this scourging was over, and while the soldiers were mocking Him, made a final attempt to have Jesus set at liberty. According to Luke 23:16, the governor contemplated ultimate scourging immediately after the examination before Herod,—a circumstance which neither prevents us from supposing that he subsequently carried out his intention (in opposition to Strauss), nor justifies the interpretation of our passage given by Paulus: whom He had previously scourged (with a view to His being liberated).

παρέδωκεν] namely, to the Roman soldiers, Matthew 27:27. These latter were entrusted with the task of seeing the execution carried out.

Matthew 27:27 Εἰς τὸ πραιτώριον] It would appear, then, that the scourging had taken place outside, in front of the praetorium, beside the tribunal. This coincides with Mark 15:16, ἔσω τῆς αὐλῆς, which merely defines the locality more precisely. The πραιτώριον was the official residence, the palace of the governor, it being commonly supposed (so also Ewald, Gesch. Chr. p. 53, and Keim, III. p. 359 ff.) that Herod’s palace, situated in the higher part of the city, was used for this purpose. But, inasmuch as this latter building would have to be reserved for the accommodation of Herod himself whenever he had occasion to go to Jerusalem, and with what is said at Luke 23:7 before us, it is more likely that the palace in question was a different and special one connected with fort Antonia, in which the σπεῖρα (comp. Acts 21:31-33) was quartered. Comp. also Weiss on Mark 15:16.

οἱ στρατιῶται τοῦ ἡγεμ.] who were on duty as the procurator’s orderlies.

ἐπʼ αὐτόν] about Him; comp. Mark 5:21, not adversus eum (Fritzsche, de Wette); for they were merely to make sport of Him.

τὴν σπεῖραν] the cohort, which was quartered at Jerusalem in the garrison of the praetorium (in Caesarea there were five cohorts stationed). Comp. on John 18:3. The expression: the whole cohort, is to be understood in its popular, and not in a strictly literal sense; the στρατιῶται, to whose charge Jesus had been committed, and who only formed part of the cohort, invited all their comrades to join them who happened to be in barracks at the time.

Matthew 27:28 Ἐνδύσαντες (see the critical remarks) is to be explained by the fact that previous to the scourging all His clothes had been pulled off (Acts 16:22; Dionys. Hal. ix. 596). They accordingly put on His under garments again, and instead of the upper robes (τὰ ἱμάτια, Matthew 27:31) they arrayed Him in a red sagum, the ordinary military cloak (Plut. Sert. 14; Philop. 9, 11), for the purpose, however, of ridiculing His pretensions to the dignity of king; for kings and emperors likewise wore the χλαμύς, the only difference being that in their case the garment was longer and of a finer texture. Plut. Demetr. 41 f.; Mor. p. 186 C, al. On this military cloak, which was first used by the Macedonians, see Hermann, Privatalterth. § xxi. 20; Friedlieb, p. 118. According to the other evangelists, the cloak made use of on this occasion was of a purple colour; but Matthew would intend scarlet (Hebrews 9:19; Revelation 17:3; Numbers 4:8; Plut. Fab. xv.) to be taken as at least conveying the idea of purple.

Matthew 27:29 f. Ἐξ ἀκανθῶν] belongs to πλέξαντες. What is meant is something made by twisting together young flexible thorns so as to represent the royal diadem. The object was not to produce suffering, but to excite ridicule; so that while we cannot altogether dissociate the idea of something painful from this crown of thorns, we must not conceive of it as covered with prickles which were intentionally thrust into the flesh. Michaelis adopts the rendering Bärenklau (ἄκανθος); but this is incompatible with the ἀκάνθινον of Mark 15:17, which adjective is never used with reference to the plant just mentioned. Besides, this latter was a plant that was highly prized (for which reason it was often used for ornamental purposes in pieces of sculpture and on the capitals of Corinthian pillars), and therefore would be but ill suited for a caricature. It is impossible to determine what species of thorn it was (possibly the so-called spina Christi?; see Tobler, Denkbl. pp. 113, 179).

καὶ κάλαμον] ἔθηκαν] being understood, the connection with ἐπέθηκαν is zeugmatic.

Observe the imperfects ἐνέπαιζον and ἔτυπτον as indicating the continuous character of the proceeding.