Luke 23:40

Luk 23:40. Ὁ ἓτερος, the other of the two) The exceedingly hard cross rendered much help towards his repentance. Conversion seldom takes place on a soft and easy couch.—[ἐπετίμα αὐτῷ, rebuked him) Thou mayest see here combined penitence, faith, confession, prayer, reproof of the ungodly, and all that is worthy of the Christian man. The abuse of this most choice example is fraught with danger; the legitimate use of it is in the highest degree profitable.—V. g.]—οὐδὲ) Dost thou not even fear? Not to say, long for, have a desire after. [Fear is the first commencement in the reformation (rectifying) of the mind.—V. g.]—φοβῇ, fear) Therefore he himself was influenced by fear.—ὃτι, because, seeing that) This would have been quite sufficient cause for fearing.—τῷ αὐτῷ) the same, as He and I are.

Bengel's Gnomon of the New Testament — English translation (T&T Clark, Edinburgh, 1860) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Luk 23:40 . οὐδὲ φοβῇ σὺ τ . θ .: οὐδὲ may be connected with, and the emphasis may fall on, either φοβῇ , σὺ , or θεόν = (1) dost thou not even fear God, not to speak of any higher religious feeling? (2) dost not even thou , in contrast to these mockers of misery, fear, etc.? (3) dost thou not fear God , at least, if thou hast no regard for men? The position of οὐδὲ just before φοβῇ , casts the scale in favour of (1).

The Expositor's Greek Testament, edited by W. Robertson Nicoll (1897–1910) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Dost not thou--"thou" is emphatic: "Let others jeer, but dost thou?"

fear God--Hast thou no fear of meeting Him so soon as thy righteous Judge? Thou art within an hour or two of eternity, and dost thou spend it in reckless disregard of coming judgment?

in the same condemnation--He has been condemned to die, but is it better with thee? Doth even a common lot kindle no sympathy in thy breast?

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Verse 40. Dost not thou fear God] The sufferings of this person had been sanctified to him, so that his heart was open to receive help from the hand of the Lord: he is a genuine penitent, and gives the fullest proof he can give of it, viz. the acknowledgment of the justice of his sentence. He had sinned, and he acknowledges his sin; his heart believes unto righteousness, and with his tongue he makes confession unto salvation. While he condemns himself he bears testimony that Jesus was innocent. Bishop PEARCE supposes that these were not robbers in the common sense of the word, but Jews who took up arms on the principle that the Romans were not to be submitted to, and that their levies of tribute money were oppressive; and therefore they made no scruple to rob all the Romans they met with. These Jews Josephus calls λησται, robbers, the same term used by the evangelists. This opinion gains some strength from the penitent thief's confession: We receive the reward of our deeds - we rose up against the government, and committed depredations in the country; but this man hath done nothing amiss - ατοπον, out of place, disorderly, - nothing calculated to raise sedition or insurrection; nor inconsistent with his declarations of peace and good will towards all men, nor with the nature of that spiritual kingdom which he came to establish among men; though he is now crucified under the pretence of disaffection to the Roman government.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

(40) But the other answering rebuked him.—On the legends connected with the penitent thief, see Notes on Mat_27:44. Dysmas, or Titus, as they name him, had once before looked on the face of the Christ. He had been one of a band of robbers that attacked the holy travellers in their flight from Bethlehem, and had then pleaded for their lives. The Virgin Mother had blessed him. The child Christ had foretold his suffering and his repentance. Now, as he gazed on the face of the divine Sufferer, he recognised the features of the infant Jesus (Gosp. of Infancy, viii. 1-8; Gosp. of Nicodemus, i. 10). Confining ourselves to what St. Luke records, we may think of him as impressed by the holiness and patience of Him he looked on. What such a One claimed to be, that He must have a right to claim, and so the very words uttered in mockery, “Christ, the King of Israel,” became an element in his conversion. This, of course, implies that he cherished Messianic hopes of some kind, if only of the vague nature then common among his people. Yet deeper in the ground-work of his character there must have been the fear of God, the reverence and awe rising out of a sense of sin, the absence of which he noted in his companion. He accepted his punishment as just, and in so doing made it reformatory and not simply penal.

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

40. But the other] The ‘bonus latro,’ or ‘Penitent Robber,’is called by various traditional names, and in the Arabic ‘Gospel of the Infancy’ (an Apocryphal book) he is called Titus and Dysmas in Ev. Nicodem. X., and a story is told that he had saved the Virgin and her Child from his comrades during their flight into Egypt. There are robber caves in the Valley of Doves which leads from Gennesareth to Kurn Hattin (see on Luk_6:12), and he may have been among the crowds who hung on the lips of Jesus in former days. “Doubtless the Cross aided his penitence. On the soft couch conversion is rare.” Bengel.

Dost not thou fear God] Rather, Dost not thou even fear God?

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

And when Jesus had cried with a loud voice,.... A second time; for at the first loud cry, he uttered these words, "Eli, Eli, lama, sabachthani"; and at the second what follows; see Mat 27:46. See Gill on Mat 27:47. See Gill on Mat 27:48. See Gill on Mat 27:49. See Gill on Mat 27:50.

he said, Father, into thy hands I commend my Spirit; not the Holy Spirit, nor his divine nature, but his human soul: for that he had a reasonable soul, as well as a true body, is certain; from his having an human understanding, will, and affections, ascribed to him; and indeed, without this he would not have been a perfect man, nor like unto us; and could not have been tempted, bore sorrows and griefs, and endured the wrath of God; nor could he have been a Saviour of souls: now just as he was expiring, as he made his soul an offering for sin, and which he offered unto God, he committed it to his divine care and protection; and to enjoy his presence, during its separation from his body, using the words of the Psalmist in Psa 31:5 and this shows, that his spirit, or soul, belonged to God, the Father of spirits, and now returned to him that gave it; that it was immortal, and died not with the body, and was capable of existing in a separate state from it, and went immediately to heaven; all which is true of the souls of all believers in Christ; and what the dying head did, dying members may, and should, even commit their souls into the same hands: and having said thus, he gave up the ghost; breathed out his soul dismissed his spirit, laid down his life, freely and voluntarily, and which no man, or devil, otherwise could have taken away from him.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

40 But the other answering rebuked him, saying, Dost not thou fear God, seeing thou art in the same condemnation?

Ver. 40. But the other answering] Silent he was for a while, and therefore seemed to consent; till hearing Christ’s prayers and the enemies’ outrages, he brake out into this brave confession, worthy to be written in letters of gold.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Dost not thou fear God ... - You are condemned to die as well as he. It is improper for you to rail on him as the rulers and Romans do. God is just, and you are hastening to his bar, and you should, therefore, fear him, and fear that he will punish you for railing on this innocent man.

Same condemnation - Condemnation to death; not death for the same thing, but the same “kind” of death.

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

40. The other… rebuked—He may have been for the time being borne on by the general contagion of hostility to Jesus. His fellow-malefactor leads the way, obsequiously joining the crowd to show how he too, though a malefactor, can rail at the central object of the common contempt. But this other has different views and feelings. Is there anything improbable in the supposition, that during the wide range of our Lord’s ministry through Galilee, Paerea, and Judea, this malefactor may have heard his preaching and been impressed with his divine character and doctrines? Very probably he was an insurgent against the Roman government, rather than a robber, and was expecting the speedy establishment of Messiah’s reign. And, when he beheld the calm majesty of Jesus in suffering, heard the railings at his claims of Messiahship, read the inscription proclaiming him a king of the Jews, and finally felt the shades of miraculous darkness gathering over the scene of violence, he recognized Jesus as true Saviour, Messiah, king, and Lord. In this awe, conviction, and confession, he was more or less soon followed by most of the attendants at the crucifixion.

Not thou fear God— Whose frown is visible in the supernatural darkness gathering round us

Seeing—The phrase as thou oughtest should precede this word, to make the sense complete.

Same condemnation—Under a like sentence, on a like cross, and, therefore, unentitled to emulate these blaspheming railers against him.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

The other rebuked him - What a surprising degree was here of repentance, faith, and other graces! And what abundance of good works, in his public confession of his sin, reproof of his fellow criminal, his honourable testimony to Christ, and profession of faith in him, while he was in so disgraceful circumstances as were stumbling even to his disciples! This shows the power of Divine grace. But it encourages none to put off their repentance to the last hour; since, as far as appears, this was the first time this criminal had an opportunity of knowing any thing of Christ, and his conversion was designed to put a peculiar glory on our saviour in his lowest state, while his enemies derided him, and his own disciples either denied or forsook him.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.

40. ὁ ἕτερος. The ‘bonus latro,’ or ‘Penitent Robber,’ is called Titus in the Arabic ‘Gospel of the Infancy’; and Dysmas in Ev. Nicodem. X., and a story is told that he had saved the Virgin and her Child from his comrades during their flight into Egypt. There are robber caves in the Valley of Doves which leads from Gennesareth to Kurn Hattin (see on Luk 6:12), and he may have been among the crowds who hung on the lips of Jesus in former days. “Doubtless the cross aided his penitence. On the soft couch conversion is rare.” Bengel.

οὐδὲ φοβῇ σὺ τὸν θεόν. ‘Dost not thou even fear God?’

Cambridge Greek Testament for Schools and Colleges (Cambridge University Press, 1896; 21 vols, various authors incl. Carr, Maclear, Plummer, Farrar, Lumby, Moule, M. R. James, Simcox) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

40.] Bengel supports the notion that this penitent thief was a Gentile. But surely this is an unwarranted assumption. What should a Gentile know of Paradise, or of the kingdom of the Messiah as about to come? The silence of the penitent is broken by the ἡμᾶς of the other compromising him in the scoff.

οὐδέ alludes to the multitude—Dost thou too not fear God? ὅτι—(as thou oughtest to do), seeing that.…

Henry Alford, The Greek Testament (1849–1861) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

40. Οὐδὲ φοβῇ σὺ τὸν Θεόν. The οὐδέ cannot be taken with either σύ (De W. Nösg.) or τὸν Θεόν (Pesh.), but only with φοβῇ. “Dost thou not even fear,” to say nothing of penitent submission (Schanz). “Dost not even thou fear” would be οὐδὲ σὺ φοβῇ; Vulg. Neque tu times, Beza Ne tu quidem times, and Godet Et toi non plus, tu ne crains donc point, are all inaccurate. The meaning is, “You and He will soon have to appear before God. Does not even fear restrain you from adding to your sins; whereas He has nothing to answer for.”

International Critical Commentary — older volumes (1896–1929), various authors — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.