SEV Biblia, Chapter 27:50
¶ Mas Jess, habiendo otra vez exclamado con gran voz, dio el Espíritu.
Clarke's Bible Commentary - Matthew 27:50
Verse 50. Yielded up the ghost.] afhke to pneuma, He dismissed the spirit. He himself willingly gave up that life which it was impossible for man to take away. It is not said that he hung on the cross till he died through pain and agony; nor is it said that his bones were broken, the sooner to put him out of pain, and to hasten his death; but that himself dismissed the soul, that he might thus become, not a forced sacrifice, but a free-will offering for sin. Now, as our English word ghost, from the Anglo-Saxon gast, an inmate, inhabitant, guest, (a casual visitant,) also a spirit, is now restricted among us to the latter meaning, always signifying the immortal spirit or soul of man, the guest of the body and as giving up the spirit, ghost, or soul, is an act not proper to man, though commending it to God, in our last moments, is both an act of faith and piety; and as giving up the ghost, i.e. dismissing his spirit from his body, is attributed to Jesus Christ, to whom alone it is proper; I therefore object against its use in every other case.
Every man, since the fall, has not only been liable to death, but has deserved it; as all have forfeited their lives because of sin. Jesus Christ, as born immaculate, and having never sinned, had not forfeited his life, and therefore may be considered as naturally and properly immortal. No man, says he, taketh it, my life, from me, but I lay it down of myself: I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again; therefore doth the Father love me, because I lay down my life that I might take it again, John x. 17, 18. Hence we rightly translate ver. 50, afhke to pneuma, he gave up the ghost; i.e. he dismissed his spirit, that he might die for the sin of the world. The Evangelist St. John (John xix. 30) makes use of an expression to the same import, which we translate in the same way: paredwke to pneuma, he delivered up his spirit. We translate Mark xv. 37, and Luke xxiii. 46, he gave up the ghost, but not correctly, because the word in both these places is very different-exepneuse, he breathed his last, or expired; though in the latter place, Luke xxiii. 46, there is an equivalent expression-O Father, into thy hands, paratiqemai to pneuma mou, I commit my spirit; i.e. I place my soul in thy hand: proving that the act was his own; that no man could take his life away from him; that he did not die by the perfidy of his disciple, or the malice of the Jews, but by his own free act. Thus HE LAID DOWN his life for the sheep. Of Ananias and Sapphira, Acts v. 5,10, and of Herod, Acts xii. 23, our translation says, they gave up the ghost; but the word in both places is exeyuxe, which simply means to breathe out, to expire, or die: but in no case, either by the Septuagint in the Old, or any of the sacred writers in the New Testament, is afhke to pneuma, or paredwke to pneuma, he dismissed his spirit, or delivered up his spirit, spoken of any person but Christ. Abraham, Isaac, Ishmael, Jacob, &c., breathed their last; Ananias, Sapphira, and Herod, expired; but none, Jesus Christ excepted, gave up the ghost, dismissed, or delivered up his own spirit, and was, consequently, free among the dead. Of the patriarchs, &c., the Septuagint use the word ekleipwn, failing; or katepausen, he ceased, or rested.
John Gill's Bible Commentary
Ver. 50. Jesus, when he had cried again , etc.] A second time, as the Persic version; for he had cried once before, and expressed the words he did, as in ( Matthew 27:46), what he now delivered were, Father, into thy hands I commend my Spirit, ( Luke 23:46), and it is finished, ( John 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, ( Mark 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.
Matthew Henry Commentary
Verses 45-50 - During the three hours which the darkness continued, Jesus was in agony, wrestling with the powers of darkness, and suffering his Father's displeasure against the sin of man, for which he was no making his soul an offering. Never were there three such hours sinc the day God created man upon the earth, never such a dark and awfu scene; it was the turning point of that great affair, man's redemptio and salvation. Jesus uttered a complaint from Ps 22:1. Hereby he teaches of what use the word of God is to direct us in prayer, an recommends the use of Scripture expressions in prayer. The believer ma have tasted some drops of bitterness, but he can only form a very feeble idea of the greatness of Christ's sufferings. Yet, hence he learns something of the Saviour's love to sinners; hence he gets deepe conviction of the vileness and evil of sin, and of what he owes to Christ, who delivers him from the wrath to come. His enemies wickedl ridiculed his complaint. Many of the reproaches cast upon the word of God and the people of God, arise, as here, from gross mistakes. Christ just before he expired, spake in his full strength, to show that his life was not forced from him, but was freely delivered into his Father's hands. He had strength to bid defiance to the powers of death and to show that by the eternal Spirit he offered himself, being the Priest as well as the Sacrifice, he cried with a loud voice. Then he yielded up the ghost. The Son of God upon the cross, did die by the violence of the pain he was put to. His soul was separated from his body, and so his body was left really and truly dead. It was certai that Christ did die, for it was needful that he should die. He ha undertaken to make himself an offering for sin, and he did it when he willingly gave up his life.
Greek Textus Receptus
ο 3588 T-NSM δε 1161 CONJ ιησους 2424 N-NSM παλιν 3825 ADV κραξας 2896 5660 V-AAP-NSM φωνη 5456 N-DSF μεγαλη 3173 A-DSF αφηκεν 863 5656 V-AAI-3S το 3588 T-ASN πνευμα 4151 N-ASN
Vincent's NT Word Studies
50. Yielded up the ghost (afhke to pneuma). Lit., dismissed his spirit. Rev., yielded up his spirit. The fact that the evangelists, in describing our Lord's death, do not use the neuter verb, eqanen, he died, but he breathed out his life (ejxepneuse, Mark xv. 37), he gave up his spirit (paredwke to pneuma, John xix. 30), seems to imply a voluntary yielding up of his life. Compare John x. 18. Augustine says, "He gave up his life because he willed it, when he willed it, and as he willed it."
Robertson's NT Word Studies
27:50 {Yielded up his spirit} (aphken to pneuma). The loud cry may have been #Ps 31:5 as given in #Lu 23:46: "Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit." John (#Joh 19:30) gives {It is finished} (tetelestai), though which was actually last is not clear. Jesus did not die from slow exhaustion, but with a loud cry. {He breathed out} (exepneusen, #Mr 15:37), {sent back his spirit} (#Mt 27:50), {gave up his spirit} (pared"ken to pneuma, #Joh 19:30). "He gave up his life because he willed it, when he willed it, and as he willed it" (Augustine). Stroud (_Physical Cause of the Death of Christ_) considers the loud cry one of the proofs that Jesus died of a ruptured heart as a result of bearing the Sin of the world.
