Matthew 27:49

Mat 27:49. Οἱ δὲ λοιποὶ, but the rest) i.e. of those present, opposed to those whose speech and conduct is related in Mat 27:47-48.[1210]—ἔλεγον, κ.τ.λ., said, etc.) After the fearful darkness, they return to their scoffs.—ἄφες, let be) They mean, that the aid of their companion [who offered the vinegar] is unnecessary, as Elias has been summoned.

[1210] Not, however, excluding the man who presented to Jesus, on a hyssop stick, the spunge filled with vinegar. We may readily suppose that this man was a Jew enlisted among the Roman soldiery. Comp. with this view Mar 15:36.—Harm., p. 574.

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

Mat 27:49 . ἄφες : either redundant coalescing with ἴδωμεν = let us see ( cf. chap. Mat 7:4 ), age videamus , Grotius ( vide also Burton, M. T., § 161), or meaning: hold, stop, don’t give Him the drink, let us see whether Elias will come ( ἔρχεται , comes without fail) to help Him. The latter is the more probable. The λοιποὶ belong to the scoffing crew. The remainder of this verse about the spear thrust another, final, act of mercy, though attested by important MSS., seems to be imported from Joh 19:34 . It is omitted in R. V [159]

[159] Revised Version.

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

Verse 49. After this verse, BCL and five others add, Another, taking a spear, pierced his side, and there came out blood and water. Several of the fathers add the same words here: they appear, however, to be an interpolation from Joh 19:34.

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

(49) Let us see whether Elias will come.—Here again we have eager expectation rather than derision. Was the “great and dreadful day” (Mal_4:5) about to burst on them? Would the long-expected prophet at last appear? The sponge and vinegar would seem to minds thus on the stretch an unworthy interruption of the catastrophe of the great drama of which they were spectators.

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

49. Let be] We must understand this to mean either (1) leave him, do not assist him; or (2) leave it, do not give the draught to him; or (3) “Let be” in the Greek coalesces with the verb following, and = “let us see.” For the construction in the original cp. Luk_6:42. In Mark the words “Let alone; let us see” are put in the mouth of him who offered the wine to the Saviour. There “let alone” may = “let me alone.”

to save him] Here the Sinaitic and Vatican MSS. add, “and another took a spear and pierced his side, and there came out water and blood.”

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.

Jesus, when he had cried again,.... "A second time", as the Persic version; for he had cried once before, and expressed the words he did, as in Mat 27:46, what he now delivered were, "Father, into thy hands I commend my Spirit", Luk 23:46, and "it is finished", Joh 19:30, which he said

with a loud voice; which showed the vehemency of his affection, his strong confidence in God, and his being fearless of death; as also he thus spoke, that he might be heard, and his words attended to, since they contained things of the greatest importance and consequence: moreover, being able to express himself in such a manner, this declared him to be more than a mere man; for after such agonies in the garden, and so much fatigue in being hurried from place to place, and such loss of blood by being buffeted, scourged, crowned with thorns, and nailed to the accursed tree, where, being stretched, he had hung for some hours; to speak with so loud a voice was more than human, and was a conviction to the centurion, that he was a divine person: for when he saw that he so cried out, and "gave up the ghost", he said, "truly this man was the Son of God",

Mar 15:39, and likewise it shows, that he died freely and voluntarily, and not through force and necessity: it was not all that men had done, or could do to him, that could have forced his life from him: he died willingly, and when nature was in its full strength; and which is signified in the next phrase,

yielded up the ghost, or "dismissed the Spirit", as the Syriac version truly renders it; he sent it away. It was not taken from him, he laid down his life of himself, as the Lord of it, and gave himself freely to be an offering and sacrifice in the room of his people; which is a proof of his great love, and amazing grace unto them.

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

49 The rest said, Let be, let us see whether Elias will come to save him.

Ver. 49. Let us see whether Elias, &c.] This mocking is the murder of the tongue, which therefore our Saviour suffered, ut nos illusori Satanae insultaremus, saith one. It is reported of Aretine, that by a long custom of libellous and contumelious speaking against men, he had gotten such a habit that at last he came to diminish and disesteem God himself. May not the same be made good of these malicious miscreants?

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.

The rest said ... - Still deriding his sufferings, and refusing to allow even the poor consolation of a drink, to assuage the thirst of the Saviour of the world in his dying agonies.

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

49. Let be — This was not spoken to the soldier who was relieving his thirst with the sponge. As appears by Mark, the soldier himself joined in the expression. It means, “Wait and let us see if Elias will come to his rescue.” These words plainly show that there was no jest. There was an actual suspense, awakened by the awful darkness, as to whether the divine interposition would not take place.

After this verse, I am inclined to place the prayer of the penitent malefactor, in Luk_23:42-43. Matthew (Mat_27:44) clearly affirms that the thieves reviled him. Now it might be perfectly reasonable to say, as some do, that Matthew uses the plural for the singular, if the other thief silently assented, or did not dissent from the reproaches. But it is too much to concede that Matthew includes both in the plural as reviling, at the very moment when one never did revile, but reproved the reviler and prayed to Jesus. The only way of fair reconciliation is to hold Matthew and Luke as narrating different moments of the action of the malefactors. To suppose that one of them relented after the approach of supernatural darkness, brings the fact into correspondence with other proofs of a subsidence of hostile feeling at that point.

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

The rest but the rest said, Let be (afev). This is a common expression, meaning, "Stand off!" "Be quiet!" "Soft!" The bystanders addressed the person who had presented the drink. In St. Mark the verb is in the plural, afete , that is, the giver of the drink calls upon the others to keep quiet and wait. Let as see whether Elias will come (ercetai , cometh, is coming). They speak in a kind of superstitious mockery, half deriding and half believing in the possible appearance of the great prophet. Between this verse and the following, the Sinaitic, Vatican, and some other manuscripts, together with some few versions, insert a passage borrowed from Joh_19:34, "And another taking a spear pierced his side, and there came out water and blood." This evident interpolation has been introduced by a scribe, who deemed it expedient to rectify an omission on St. Matthew"s part, and clumsily inserted it in a wrong place. It is to be rejected, not only on critical, but on historical and theological grounds, seeing that it makes the piercing of the side to precede Christ"s death, and conveys the impression that it was this spear wound that cut short his life.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

49. Let be, let us see, etc. This was spoken in the way of interruption of him who was furnishing the draught of vinegar. According to Mark, he replied, and asked to be let alone.

B. W. Johnson's The People's New Testament with Notes (1889–1891) — public domain. Electronic text from the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (CCEL) ThML edition.

49. After this verse the important MSS. אBCL insert these words: ἄλλος δὲ λαβὼν λόγχην ἔνυξεν αὐτοῦ τὴν πλευράν, καὶ ἐξῆλθεν ὕδωρ καὶ αἷμα. Cp. Joh 19:34. Evidence from the Fathers points to the very early existence of this important reading, which states that the Saviour was pierced while still living. The words are, however, rightly rejected by the best textual criticism. See Tischendorf and Meyer loc., and Scrivener (, &c. p. 472, 480), who well points out the danger of following without discrimination the reading of even the oldest and most authoritative MSS.

49. ἄφες ἴδωμεν. We must understand this to mean either (1) leave him, do not assist him; or (2) leave it, do not give the draught to him; or (3) ἄφες coalesces with the verb following as in modern Greek, and = ‘let us see.’ For the construction cp. ch. Mat 7:4 and Luk 6:42. In Mark the words ἄφετε ἴδωμεν are put in the mouth of him who offered the wine to the Saviour. There ἄφετε may mean, ‘let me alone.’

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.

49.] If we take our account as the Strictly precise one, the rest—in mockery—call upon this person to desist, and wait for Elias to come to save Him: if that of Mark, the giver of the drink calls upon the rest (also in mockery) to let this suffice or to let him (the giver) alone, and wait, &c. The former seems more probable. It is remarkable that the words undeniably interpolated from John should have found their place here before the death of Jesus, and can only be attributed to carelessness, there being no other place here for the insertion of the indignity but this, and the interpolator not observing that in John it is related as inflicted after death.

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

(M) 49. And the rest said, Stay, let us see whether Elias is coming to save Him.] Mk. has: “Saying, Let us see whether Elias is coming to take Him down.” In Mk. it is the offerer of the vinegar who, as he gave the Lord to drink, said, “Let us see,” etc. But Mt. infers from the plural ἴδωμεν that it was not the offerer of the vinegar, but the bystanders who said, “Let us see.” He therefore substitutes for λέγων, οἱ δὲ λοιποὶ εἶπαν, changes Ἀφετε into ἄφες “And the rest said, Stay” (i.e. “do not relieve Him”), and changes καθελεῖν αὐτον into σώσων. “Let us see if Elias will come to His assistance.” For Mk.’s ἄφετε ἴδωμεν, cf. Mat 7:4.—σώσων] For the rare fut. part., see Blass, p. 37. See also Moulton, p. 356 n.

49. At the end of this verse the words: ἄλλος δὲ λαβὼν λόγχην ἔνυξεν αὐτοῦ τὴν πλευρὰν καὶ ὲξῆλθεν ὔδωρ καὶ αἶμα, are added by א B C L U Γ 54 8 67 115 127 *. The words seem to be a gloss derived from Joh 19:34 inserted by someone whose memory was recalled to Joh 19:34 by the εἶς ὲξ αὐτῶν of the last verse. In spite of their strong attestation, the fact that the next verse begins with ὁ δὲ Ἰησοῦς πάλιν κράξας, and the contradiction, in fact, between the statement made by the verse as here placed and the Fourth Gospel, has served to check the transmission of the words by later copyists. The clause is omitted by A D αἰ S1 latt.

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