When, therefore, Christ fulfilled these things which God would have done, and which He foretold many ages before by His prophets, incited by these things, and ignorant of the sacred Scriptures, they conspired together to condemn their God. And though He knew that this would come to pass, and repeatedly⁷³³

733 Subinde, “from time to time.”

734 Legatus. This title was given, in the time of the Roman emperors, to the governors sent by them into the provinces. Pontius Pilate was procurator of Judæa, which was not a separate province, but a dependency of the province of Syria, which was at this time governed by Silanus.

735 John ii. 19, 20. The forty-six years spoken of were not occupied with the rebuilding of the temple, which was completed in nine years, but with the additional works which Herod the Great and his successors were continually carrying on for the adorning and beautifying of the temple. See Prideaux. [I regret the loose references of the translator, and yet more that the inexorable demands of the press give me time to supply only the more important ones. See Connections, book ix. vol. ii. p. 394.]

Then Pontius⁷³⁶

736 [It is probable, that, owing to the perpetual and universal recitation of the Creed, this unhappy name has been more frequently uttered and recalled to human memory than that of any other human being.]

737 Herod Antipas the tetrarch of Galilee. According to St. Luke (xxiii. 15), Herod agreed with Pilate in declaring the innocency of Jesus.

738 This statement requires some modification. Pilate did indeed say to the Jews, “Take ye Him, and judge Him according to your law;” but they declared that it was not lawful for them to put any man to death. The punishment was entirely Roman, the mode of death Roman, the executioners Roman soldiers. There were two distinct trials,—one before the Jewish Sanhedrim on a charge of impiety, the other before the Roman governor on a charge of treason.

739 Punicei coloris. The colour was a kind of red, not purple. [It was mixed with blue, so as to be at once purple and in some reflections scarlet.]

740 The quaternion of Roman soldiers who carried out the execution.

741 De tunicâ et pallio. The “tunica” was the inner garment, the “pallium” a mantle or cloak. Thus the proverbial phrase, “tunica proprior pallio.” [Vol. iv. p. 13, Elucidation I., this series.]

742 Gavius was crucified by Verres. [In Verrem, act ii. cap. 62. This event providentially illustrated the extreme wickedness of what was done to our Lord, but so quickened the Roman conscience that it prevented like injustice to St. Paul, although a Roman citizen, over and over again. Acts xvi. 37, 38, and xxii. 24, 25.]

743 Suffixus.

744 Tantæ affluentiæ ubertate. [Compare Cicero (ut supra): Crux, crux! inquam infelici et ærumnoso, qui nunquam istam potestatem viderat comparabatur.]

But that these things were thus about to happen, was announced both by the utterances of the prophets and by the predictions of the Sibyls. In Isaiah it is found thus written:⁷⁴⁵

745 Isa. l. 5, 6, quoted from the Septuagint.

746 i.e., of the smiters; Gr. εἰς ῥαπίσματα, “blows with the hand.”

747 Ps. xxxv. 15, 16. The quotation is from the Septuagint, and differs widely from the authorized English version.

748 Flagella, said to be used for men deserving the scourge; wicked men.

749 Super me, “over me.”

750 Ignoraverunt. Others read “ignoravi,” I knew it not.

751 Deriserunt me derisu. So the Greek, ἐξεμυκτήρισάν με μυκτηρισμόν

752 ἁπλω̑ς.

Likewise respecting His silence, which He perseveringly maintained even to His death, Isaiah thus spoke again:⁷⁵³

753 Isa. liii. 7.

But respecting the food and the drink which they offered to Him before they fastened Him to the cross, David thus speaks in the sixty-eighth Psalm:⁷⁵⁴

754 Ps. lxix. 21.

And another Sibyl rebukes the land of Judæa in these verses:—  

Now, that it would come to pass that the Jews would lay hands upon their God, and put Him to death, these testimonies of the prophets foretold. In Esdras it is thus written:⁷⁵⁶

756 Justin Martyr quotes this passage in his Dialogue with Trypho, and complains that it had been expunged by the Jews. [See vol. i. p. 234, and remarks of Bishop Kaye, Justin Martyr, p. 44, on passages suppressed by the Jews.]

757 Negaverunt. Another reading is “necaverunt,” they put to death.

758 Isa. liii. 8–10, 12. The quotation is made from the Septuagint.

759 Consequetur. In the Greek, κληρονομήσει, “shall inherit.”

760 Ps. xciv. 21, 22.

761 Jer. xi. 18, 19, quoted from the Septuagint.

762 Sine malitiâ. Another reading is “sine maculâ,” without spot.

763 Ad victimam.

764 For the various explanations, see Pole’s Synopsis Some suppose that there is a reference to the corruption of food by poisonous wood; others that the meaning is a substitution of wood for bread. Another explanation is, that the word translated bread denotes fruit, as in the English authorized version, “Let us destroy the tree, with the fruit thereof.” But see Pole on the passage. [Jer xi. 19. Here is a very insufficient note, the typology of Scripture not being duly observed. Compare Tertullian, vol. iii. p. 166, especially at note 10, which illustrates the uniform spirit of the Fathers in dealing with the Jews. And note Bishop Kaye’s remark, vol. ii. p. 206, note 5, this series.]

765 This explanation appears altogether fanciful and unwarranted.

Respecting this, however, Moses himself more plainly spoke to this effect, in Deuteronomy:⁷⁶⁶

766 Deut. xxviii. 66.

767 So the Septuagint. The English authorized version appears accurately to express the idea intended to be conveyed: “Thy life shall hang in doubt before Thee.”

768 The idea is that God is not in doubt, as a man, as to His conduct, nor is He liable to change His mind, or to be influenced by threats or in any other way.

769 Minas patitur.

770 Zech. xii. 10.

771 Ps. xxii. 16–18. [Compare vol. i. p. 176, note 4, this series.]

772 1 Kings ix. 6–9, with some additions and omissions; and 1 Chron. vii. 19–22.

773 Ex omnibus. The English authorized version has, “out of my sight.”

774 In perditionem et improperium.

775 This is not taken from the passages cited, nor from the Old Testament.

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