Verse 26. Scourged Jesus] This is allowed to have been a very severe punishment of itself among the Romans, the flesh being generally cut by the whips used for this purpose; so the poet--

Horribili SECTERE flagello.

"To be cut by the horrible whip."-HOR. Sat. I. 3. 119. And sometimes, it seems, they were whipped to death. See the same poet, Sat. I. 2. 41.

Ille FLAGELLIS

AD MORTEM casus.

See also HORAT. Epod. od. iv. v. 11.

It has been thought that Pilate might have spared this additional cruelty of whipping; but it appears that it was a common custom to scourge those criminals which were to be crucified; (see Josephus De Bello, lib. ii. c. 25.) and lenity in Christ's case is not to be allowed: he must take all the misery in full tale.

Delivered him to be crucified.] Tacitus, the Roman historian, mentions the death of Christ in very remarkable terms:

Nero- quæsitissimis panis affecit, quos — vulgus CHRISTI ANOS appellabat. Auctor nominis ejus CHRISTUS, qui Tiberio imperitante, per Procuratorem Pontium Pilatum supplicio affectus erat.. "Nero put those who commonly went by the name of Christians to the most exquisite tortures. The author of this name was CHRIST, who was capitally punished in the reign of TIBERIUS, by PONTIUS PILATE the PROCURATOR.”

Verse 27. The common hall] Or, prætorium. Called so from the prator, a principal magistrate among the Romans, whose business it was to administer justice in the absence of the consul. This place might be termed in English the courthouse, or common hall.

and Bishop Pearce and Michaelis are of this opinion. Mark, chap. xv. 17. and John, chap. xix. 5. term it :Pavov anarbivov, which may very well be translated an acanthine crown, or wreath formed out of the branches of the herb acanthus, or bear's-foot. This, however, is a prickly plant, though nothing like thorns, in the common meaning of that word. Many Christians have gone astray in magnifying the sufferings of Christ from this circumstance; and painters, the worst of all commentators, frequently represent Christ with a crown of long thorns, which one standing by is striking into his head with a stick. These representations engender ideas both false and absurd.

There is a passage produced from Philo by Dr. Lardner, which casts much light on these indignities offered to our blessed Lord.

Caligula, the successor of Tiberius, gave Agrippa the tetrarchy of his uncle Phillip, with the right of wearing a diadem or crown. When he came to Alexandria, on his way to his tetrarchate, the inhabitants of that place, filled with envy at the thoughts of a Jew having the title of king, shewed their indignation in the following way. They brought one Carabas (a sort of an ideot) into the theatre; and having placed him on a lofty seat, that he might be seen by all, they put a diadem upon his head, made of the herb Byblos, (the ancient papyrus, or paper flag;) his body they covered with a mat or carpet, instead of a royal cloke. - One sceing a piece of reed, mamugov, (the stem, probably,, of the aforesaid herb) lying on the ground, picked it up, and put it in his hand in place of a sceptre. Having thus given him a mock royal dress, several young fellows, with poles on their shoulders, came and stood on each side of him as his guards. Then

to ask justice, and some to consult him on affairs of state; and the crowd that stood round about, made a confused noise, crying Mario, that being, as they say, the Syriac word for LORD; thereby shewing, that they intended to ridicule Agrippa, who was a Syrian." See PHILO, Flacc. p. 970. and Dr. Lardner, Works, Vol. I. P. 159.

There is the most remarkable coincidence between this account and that given by the Evangelists; and the conjecture concerning the acanthus, will probably find no inconsiderable support from the byblos and papyrus of Philo. This plant, Pliny says, grows to ten cubits long in the stem; and the

flowers were used ad deos coronandos, for CROWNING THE GODS. See Hist. Nat. lib. xiii. c. 11.

The reflections of pious Quesnel on these insults offered to our blessed Lord are worthy of serious attention. "Let the crown of thorns make those Christians blush, who throw away so much time, pains, and money, in beautifying and adorning a sinful head. Let the world do what it will to render the royalty and mysteries of Christ contemptible, it is my glory to serve a King thus debased; my salvation, to adore that which the world despises; and my redemption, to go unto God through the merits of him who was crowned with thorns."

Verse 30. And they spit upon him] "Let us pay our adoration," says the same pious writer, " and humble ourselves in silence at the sight of a spectacle which faith alone renders credible, and which our senses would hardly endure. Jesus Christ, in this condition, preaches to the kings of the earth this truth: that their sceptres are but reeds, with which themselves shall be smitten, bruised, and crushed at his tribunal, if they do not use them here to the advancement of his kingdom."

Verse 32. A man of Cyrene-him they compelled to bear his cross.] In John, chap. xix. 16, 17. we are told Christ himself bore the cross, and this, it is likely, he did for a part of the way; but being exhausted with the scourging and other cruel usage which he had received, he was found incapable of bearing it alone; therefore they obliged Simon, not, I think, to bear it entirely, but to assist Christ by bearing a part of it. It was a constant practice among the Romans, to oblige criminals to bear their cross to the place of execution: insomuch that Plutarch makes use of it as an illustration of the misery of vice. Every kind of wickedness produces its own particular torment, just as every malefactor, when he is brought forth to execution, carries his own cross." See Lardner's Credib. Vol. I. p. 160.

Verse 33. A place called Golgotha] From the Hebrew na or baba golgoleth, a skull, probably so called from the many skulls of those who had suffered crucifixion and other capital punishments, scattered up and down in the place. It

is the same as Calvary, Calvaria, i. e. calvi capitis area, the place of bare skulls. Some think the place was thus called, because it was in the form of a human skull. It is likely that it was the place of public execution, similar to the Gemonia Scala at Rome.

Verse 34. They gave him vinegar-mingled with gall] Perhaps the word xon, commonly translated gall, signifies no more than bitters of any kind. It was a common custom to administer a stupifying potion compounded of sour wine, which is the same as vinegar, from the French vinaigre, frankincense, and myrrh, to condemned persons; to help to alleviate their sufferings, or so disturb their intellect, that they might not be sensible of them. The Rabbins say, that they put a grain of frankincense into a cup of strong wine; and they ground this on Prov. xxxi. 6. Give strong drink unto him that is ready to perish, i. e. who is condemned to death. Some person, out of kindness, appears to have administered this to our blessed Lord; but he, as in all other cases, determining to endure the fulness of pain, refused to take what was thus offered to him, chusing to tread the wine-press alone. Instead of os, vinegar, several excellent MSS. and Versions have ovov, wine; but as sour wine is said to have been a general drink of the common people, and Roman soldiers, it being the same as vinegar, it is of little consequence which reading is here adopted. This custom of giving stupifying potions to condemned malefactors, is alluded to in Prov. xxxi. 6. strong drink, p shekar, inebriating drink, to him who is ready to PERISH; and wine to him who is BITTER of soul--because he is just going to suffer the punishment of death. And thus the Rabbins, as we have seen above, understand it. See Lightfoot and Schoetgen.

Give

Michaelis offers an ingenious exposition of this place. "Immediately after Christ was fastened to the cross, they gave him, according to Matt. xxviii. 34. vinegar mingled with gall; but, according to Mark xv. 23. they offered him wine mingled with myrrh. That St. Mark's account is the right one, is probable from this circumstance, that Christ refused to drink what was offered him, as appears from both Evangelists Wine mixed with myrrh was given to malefactors at the place

M m

He is crucified.

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They cast lots for his garments,

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a Mark 15. 24. Luke 23. 34. John 19. 24.

b Ps. 22. 18.

of execution, to intoxicate them, and make them less sensible to pain. Christ, therefore, with great propriety, refused the aid of such remedies. But if vinegar was offered him, which was taken merely to assuage thirst, there could be no reason for his rejecting it. Besides, he tasted it before he rejected it; and therefore he must have found it different from that which, if offered to him, he was ready to receive. To solve this difficulty, we must suppose that the words used in the Hebrew Gospel of St. Matthew, were such as agreed with the account given by St. Mark, and at the same time were capable of the construction which was put on them by St. Matthew's Greek translator. Suppose St. Matthew wrote & (chaleea bemireera) which signifies, sweet wine with bitters, or sweet wine and myrrh, as we find it in Mark; and Matthew's translator overlooked the yod in (chaleca) he took it for (chala) which signifies vinegar; and bitter, he translated by xoan, as it is often used in the Septuagint. Nay, St. Matthew may have written, and have still meant to express sweet wine; if so, the difference only consisted in the points; for the same word which, when pronounced chalé, signifies sweet, denotes vinegar, as soon as it is pronounced chala."

With this conjecture Dr. Marsh (Michaelis's translator) is net satisfied; and therefore finds a Chaldee word for ovos wine, which may easily be mistaken for one that denotes oĝos vinegar; and likewise a Chaldee word, which signifies auugva, (myrrh) which may be easily mistaken for one that denotes xoλn, (gall.) "Now," says he, " (chamar) or x (chamera) really denotes ovos, (wine) and prn (chamets) or syn (chametsa) really denotes oos, (vinegar.) Again, (mura) really signifies puga, (myrrh) and 2 (murera) really signifies xorn, (gall.) If, then, we suppose that the original Chaldee text was in (chamera haleet bemura) wine mingled with myrrh, which is not at all improbable, as it is the reading of the Syriac version, at Mark xv. 23. it might easily have been mistaken for za ob ayen (chametsa halcet benurera) vinegar mingled with gall." This is a more ingenious conjecture than that of Michaelis. See Marsh's notes to Michaelis, Vol. III. part 2d. p. 127-28. But as that kind of sour wine, which was used by the Roman soldiers and common people, appears to have been termed owos, and vinegar (vin aigre) is sour wine, it is not difficult to reconcile the two accounts, in what is most material to the facts here recorded.

Verse 35. And they crucified him] Crucifixion properly means the act of nailing or tying to a cross. The cross was made of two beams, either crossing at the top at right angles, like a T, or in the middle of their length like an X. There

was besides, a piece on the centre of the transverse beam, to which the accusation or statement of the crime of the culprit was attached, and a piece of wood which projected from the middle, on which the person sat, as on a sort of saddle; and by which the whole body was supported. Tertullian mentions this particularly: Nobis, says he, tota crux imputatur, cum antenna scilicet sua, et cum illo SEDILIS excessu. Advers. Nationes, lib. ii. Justin Martyr, in his Dialogue with Trypho the Jew, gives precisely the same description of the cross; and it is worthy of observation, that both he and Tertullian flourished before the punishment of the cross had been abolished. The cross on which our Lord suffered was of the former kind; being thus represented in all old monuments, coins, and crosses. St. Jerom compares it to a bird flying, a man swimming, or praying with his arms extended. The punishment of the cross was inflicted among the ancient Hindoos from time immemorial for various species of theft; sec Halhead's Code of Gentoo Laws, p. 248. and was common among the Syrians, Egyptians, Persians, Africans, Greeks, and Romans: it is also still in use among the Chinese, who do not nail, but tie the criminal to it. It was probably the Romans who introduced it among the Jews. Before they became subject to the Romans, they used hanging or gibbeting, but not the cross. This punishment was the most dreadful of all others, both for the shame and pain of it: and so scandalous, that it was inflicted as the last mark of detestation, upon the vilest of people. It was the punishment of robbers and murderers, provided they were slaves; but if they were free, it was thought too infamous a punishment for such, let their crimes be what they might.

The body of the criminal was fastened to the upright beam by nailing or tying the feet to it, and on the transverse piece by nailing, and sometimes tying the hands to it. As the hands and feet are the grand instruments of motion, they are provided with a greater quantity of nerves; and the nerves in those places, especially the hands, are peculiarly sensible. Now as the nerves are the instruments of all sensation or feeling, wounds in the parts where they abound, must be peculiarly painful; especially when inflicted with such rude instruments as large nails, forced through the places by the violence of a hammer; thus tearing asunder the nervous fibrillæ, delicate tendons, and small bones of those parts. This punishment will appear dreadful enough, when it is considered, that the person was permitted to hang (the whole weight of, his body being borne up by his nailed hands and the projecting piece which passed between the thighs) till he perished through

His accusation.

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37 And set up over his head his accusation written, THIS IS JESUS THE

KING OF THE JEWS.

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40 And saying, Thou that destroyest the

Ver. 54. Mark 15. 26. Mark 15. 27.

Luke 23. 38. John 19. 19.Luke 23. 32, 33. John 19. 18.

Isai. 53. 12.

Ps. 22. 7. & 109. 25. Mark 15. 29. Luke 23. 35.-—ech. 26. 61. John 2. 19.

agony and lack of food. Some, we are informed, have lived three whole days in this state. It is true that, in some cases, there was a kind of mercy shewn to the sufferer, which will appear sufficiently horrid, when it is known that it consisted in breaking the bones of their legs and thighs to pieces with a large hammer, in order to put them the sooner out of pain! Such a coup de grace as this, could only spring from those tender mercies of the wicked, which God represents as cruelty itself. Some were permitted to hang on the cross, till eaten up by birds of prey, which often began to tear them before life was extinct. Horace alludes to this punishment, and from what he says, it seems to have been inflicted on slaves, &c. not on trifling occasions, but for the most horrible crimes. Si quis eum servum, patinam qui tollere jussus Semesos pisces tepidumque ligurrierit jus, In CRUCE Suffigat :- HOR. Satyr. 1. i. s. 3. v. 80. If a poor slave who takes away your plate, Lick the warm sauce, or half cold fragments eat, Yet should you crucify the wretch.—

:

FRANCIS.

Non hominem occidi: non pasces in CRUCE Corvos. I have not committed murder: Then thou shalt not be nailed to the cross, to feed the ravens." HOR. Epist. 1. i. e. 16.

v. 48.

The anguish occasioned by crucifixion, was so intense, that crucio, (a cruce) among the Romans, was the common word by which they expressed suffering and torment in general.

And parted his garments, casting lots] These were the Roman soldiers, who had crucified him and it appears from this circumstance, that in those ancient times, the spoils of the criminal were claimed by the executioners, as they are to the present day. It appears that they divided a part, and cast lots for the rest: viz. for his seamless coat, John xix. 23, 24.

That it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet, saying, They parted my garments among them, and upon my vesture did they cast lots.] The whole of this quotation should be omitted, as making no part originally of the genuine text of this Evangelist. It is omitted by almost every MS. of worth and importance, by almost all the Versions, and the most reputable of the primitive Fathers, who have written or commented on the place. The words are plainly an in

terpolation, borrowed from John xix. 24. in which place they will be properly noticed.

Verse 36. They watched him] To prevent his disciples or relatives, from taking away the body, or affording any relief to the sufferer.

Verse 37. His accusation] It was a common custom to affix a label to the cross, giving a statement of the crime for which the person suffered. This is still the case in China, when a person is crucified. Sometimes a person was employed to carry this before the criminal, while going to the place of punishment.

It is with much propriety, that Matthew calls this aria, accusation; for it was false, that ever Christ pretended to be KING OF THE JEWS, in the sense the inscription held forth: he was accused of this, but there was no proof of the accuFrom John xix. sation; however it was affixed to the cross. 21. we find that the Jews wished this to be a little altered: Write, said they, that HE said, I am king of the Jews; thus endeavouring, by the addition of a vile lie, to countenance their own conduct, in putting him to death. But this, Pilate refused to do. Both Luke, chap. xxiii. 38. and John, chap. xix. 20. say, that this accusation was written in Greek, Latin, and Hebrew. In those three languages, we may conceive the label to stand thus, according to the account given by St. John; the Hebrew being the mixed dialect then spoken. In Hebrew-Eßgaïsı:

ישוע נצריא מלכא דיהודיא

In Greek-Eλanuısı:

інсоүс о NAZWPAIOCO ВАСІЛЄүс ΤΩΝ ΙΟΥΔΑΙΩΝ

In Latin-Paucist:

IESUS NAZARENUS REX IUDAEORUM It is only necessary to observe, that all the letters, both of the Greek and Roman alphabets, were those now called square or uncial, similar to those above..

Verse 38. Two thieves] Angas, robbers, or cut-throats: men who had committed robbery and murder; for it does not appear that persons were crucified for robbery only. Thus was our Lord numbered (his name enrolled, placed as it were in the death warrant) with transgressors, according to the pro