XV

1. Matt. xxvii, 1, 2; Luke xxii, 66; Luke xxiii, 1; John xviii, 28.

3. Matt. xxvii, 12.

7. Insurrection - A crime which the Roman governors, and Pilate in particular, were more especially concerned and careful to punish.

9. Will ye that I release to you the king of the Jews - Which does this wretched man discover most? Want of justice, or courage, or common sense? The poor coward sacrifices justice to popular clamour, and enrages those whom he seeks to appease, by so unseasonably repeating that title, The king of the Jews, which he could not but know was so highly offensive to them.

16. Praetorium - The inner hall, where the praetor, a Roman magistrate, used to give judgment. But St. John calls the whole palace by this name. Matt. xxvii, 27; John xix, 2.

17. Purple - As royal robes were usually purple and scarlet, St. Mark and John term this a purple robe, St. Matthew a scarlet one. The Tyrian purple is said not to have been very different from scarlet.

20. Matt. xxvii, 31; John xix, 16.

21. The father of Alexander and Rufus - These were afterward two eminent Christians, and must have been well known when St. Mark wrote.

22. Matt. xxvii, 33; Luke xxiii, 33; John xix, 17.

24, 25. St. Mark seems to intimate, that they first nailed him to the cross, then parted his garments, and afterward reared up the cross.

28. Isaiah liii, 12.

29. Matt. xxvii, 39.

33. Matt. xxvii, 45; Luke xxiii, 44.

34. My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me - Thereby claiming God as his God; and yet lamenting his Father's withdrawing the tokens of his love, and treating him as an enemy, while he bare our sins.

37. Matt. xxvii, 50; Luke xxiii, 46; John xix, 30.

41. Who served him - Provided him with necessaries.

42. Because it was the day before the Sabbath - And the bodies might not hang on the Sabbath day: therefore they were in haste to have them taken down.

43. honourable - A man of character and reputation: A counsellor - A member of the sanhedrim. Who waited for the kingdom of God - Who expected to see it set up on earth. Matt. xxvii, 57; Luke xxiii, 50; John xix, 38.

46. He rolled a stone - By his servants. It was too large for him to roll himself.