for he entertained a just notion of it, "He knew that the chief priests had delivered him for envy." He knew the cause of their envy, was impressed with a favourable opinion of Jesus, and wished by all means to acquit him. And it was early: and they themselves went not into the judgment-hall, lest they should be defiled, but that they might eat the passover. Having purified them selves in order to eat the passover, they would not enter the pa lace which was the house of a heathen, for fear of contracting such defilement as might have rendered them incapable of eating the paschal supper. See Chronolog. Dissert. VI. They stood, therefore, before the palace, waiting for the governor, who on such occasions came out to them. See the beginning of the following section.

And now Judas Iscariot, who, from the motives mentioned above, § 125. had delivered his Master into the hands of the council, finding his project turn out quite otherwise than he expected, was pierced with the deepest remorse on account of what he had done. Therefore, to make some reparation for the injury, he came and confessed his sin openly before the chief priests, scribes, and elders, and offered them the money with which they had hired him to commit it, earnestly wishing that they would take it back. It seems he thought this the most public testimony he could possibly give of his Master's innocence, and of his own repentance. Matt. xxvii. 3. Then Judas which had betrayed him, when he saw that he was condemned, repented himself, and brought again the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and elders, 4. Saying, I have sinned, in that I have betrayed the innocent blood. But they would not relax their sentence in the least, nor abate the violence of their malicious prosecution; affirming, that notwithstanding he might think the prisoner innocent, and for that reason had sinned in bringing mischief upon him, they were not to blame, because they knew him to be a blasphemer who deserved to die. And they said, What is that to us? see thou to that. They would not so much as take back their money from him. When Judas found that he could give his Master no help, his conscience being enraged, griped him harder and lashed him more furiously than before, suggesting thoughts which by turns made the deepest wounds in his soul. His Master's innocence and benevolence, the usefulness of his life, the favours he had received from him, with many other considerations, crowded into his mind, and racked him to such a degree, that his torment became intolerable; he was as if he had been in the suburbs of hell. Wherefore, unable to sustain the misery of those agonizing passions and reflections, he threw down the wages of his iniquity in the temple, probably in the treasury before the Levite porters and others who happened to be there, with a confession of his sin and of his Master's innocence, like

that

that which he had before made to the priests, then went away in despair and hanged himself, making such an end of a wicked life as the evil dispositions by which it had been governed deserved. 5. And he cast down the pieces of silver in the temple, and departed, and went and hanged himself. Thus perished. Judas Iscariot the traitor, a miserable example of the fatal influence of covetousness, and a standing monument of the Divine vengeance, fit to deter future generations from acting contrary to conscience through love of the world, for which this wretch betrayed his Master, Friend, and Saviour, and cast away his own soul. See Matt. xxvi. 24. The thirty pieces of silver which Judas threw down in the temple, were gathered up and delivered to the priests; for they consulted among themselves about the use they were to make of the money, and at length agreed to buy the Potter's field with it, for burying strangers in, whether Jews ar Gentiles, who happening to die at Jerusalem had no burial place of their own. But because the deliberation of the priests concerning this matter, and their buying the Potter's field, had an immediate

Matt. 5. And he cast down the pieces of silver, &c.] Because Judas cast down this money in the temple, it is thought that the council adjourned thither before they carried Jesus to the governor, and that Judas found them there. But they were too much in earnest to delay their revenge one moment. Besides, they had now no time to spend in the temple. See the last note, 137. He might come to the priests immediately after they had condemned his Master, and while they were yet in the highpriest's palace or he might accost them as they were passing along the street to the prætorium; or he might find them standing before the pra torium, into which they would not enter lest they should be defiled. This latter seems to be the true supposition; for the historian insinuates that Judas addressed the priests after they had carried Jesus to the governor. When they refused the money, he left thein, and went to hang himself; but taking the temple in his way, he threw down the whole sum ip the treasury, or that part of the women's court where the chests were placed for receiving the offerings of the people who came to worship. See § 122. This money might be gathered up by the Levite porters who always waited at the gates of the temple, 1 Chron. xxvi, and might be carried by them to the priests, with an account how they got it.

Ibid. And went and hanged himself) Peter seems to give a different account of the traitor's death, Acts i. 18. " Falling headlong, he burst asunder in the midst, and all his bowels gushed out,” And to reconcile the two passages, Tobit iii. 1o. is adduced to prove, that the word anyğzî, in Matthew, may signify suffocation with grief, in consequence of which a man's bowels may gush out; and instances are cited from Virgil, Ecl. vii. 27. Invidia rumpantur ut ilia Codro.

and from Josephus, Antiq. xv. 13, &c. where one Zenodorus is mentioned, who is supposed to have died in this manner. But as these instances may be otherwise understood, it is more natural to suppose that, Judas hanged himself on some tree growing out of a precipice; and that the branch breaking, or the knot of the handkerchief, or whatever else he hanged himself with, opening, he fell down headlong, and dashed himself to pieces, so that his bowels gushed out. Peter's phrase, sλannos μsoos, be burst asunder, favours this conjecture, for new signifies properly lacero cum strepitu ; and so may imply, that Judas burst asunder by falling from an height.

immediate relation to Judas's treachery, Matthew very fitly takes notice of it here, though the purchase may not have been made for some days, perhaps weeks or months after Judas hanged himself. Matt. xxvii. 6. And the chief priests took the silver pieces, and said, It is not lawful for to put them into the treasury, because it is the price of blood. 7. * And they took counsel, and bought with them the potter's field, to bury strangers in. 8. Wherefore that field was called, The field of blood, unto this day. 9. (Then was fulfilled that which was spoken by Jeremy the prophet, saying, And they took the thirty pieces of silver, the price of him that was valued, whom they of the children of Israel

did

Ver. 7. And they took counsel, and bought with them the potter's field.] Thirty pieces of silver may seem but a small price for a field so near to Jerusalem as this was. Probably the potters, by digging earth out of it for their ware, had made it useless either for tillage or pasture.

+ Ver. 9. Then was fulfilled that which was spoken by Jeremy, &c.] How this transaction comes to be connected with a prophecy spoken (enter) by Jeremiah, is not easily accounted for, as the prophecy cited is found in the writings of Zechariah only. The Syriac version indeed has only, which avas spoken by the prophet. If this is the genuine lection, it proves that the name Jeremiah was inserted by some officious transcriber.

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Or we may suppose with Bishop Hall, that in copying, the word Jeremiah was put down for Zechariah, a blunder which transcribers might easily commit, especially if the names were written by abbreviation, Ig for Zg, as the bishop says he has seen them in some ancient MSS. But if the sent reading is retained, we may allow, that as the Jewish scriptures were divided into three parts, the law, the prophets, and the psalms, what was found in the prophets might properly enough be said to be in Jeremiah, if his prophecies stood first in the collection, just as our Lord affirmed; that whatever was in the hagiographa concerning him, was contained in the psalms, because the psalms stood first in that division of the scripture. Or we may adopt the solution offered by Grotius, who observes, that the Jews had many prophecies handed down to them by tradition, such as the prophecy of Enoch, Jude 14, 15. and the traditionary prophecies concerning the destruction of the city, mentioned by Josephus. They had likewise traditionary facts, such as the contest between Michael and Satan about the body of Moses, Jude 9. He observes farther, that the later prophets often allude to and repeat the words of the former. Thus Ezekiel often repeats passages from Jeremiah. Compare Jer. xxxi. 29, c. Ezek. xviii. 23. So likewire John in the Revelations, has several sections from Ezekiel and Daniel. Moreover, Zechariah delights to imitate the phrases of Je remiah. Compare Zech. i. 4. Jer. xviii. 11. xxxv. 15. also Zech. i. 6. Lam. ii. 17. also Zech. iii. 8. Jer. xxiii. 5. On these accounts, as Grotius informs us, the Jews used to say the spirit of Jeremiah was in Zechariah. He therefore declares it to be his opinion, that the prophecy con cerning the thirty pieces of silver, recorded Zech. xi. 12, 13. and which represented symbolically, according to the manner of the proplets, the things that were to befal Messiah, was originally acted and spoken by Je remiah, as Matthew affirms; but that Zechariah, who in many particulars followed Jeremiah, was directed by the Spirit to repeat it afterwards, and preserve it in writing among his other prophecies: and that the Jews had preserved the knowledge of this fact by tradition; wherefore, though it be now found in Zechariah, being originally spoken by Jeremiah, Matthew has committed no error here in referring it to him.

did value: 20. And gave them for the potter's field, as the Lord appointed me.) The historian's mentioning the purchase of the Potter's field with the money for which Judas betrayed his Master, being a public appeal to a very public transaction, puts the truth of this part of the history beyond all manner of excep

tion.

Mark

§ CXXXIX. Pilate's first attempt to save Jesus. He refuses to judge him; and declares him innocent. Matt. xxvii. 11. xv. 2. Luke xxiii. 2,-4. John xviii. 29,-38.

By the law, Numbers xix. 22. whosoever touched any unclean person, was unclean. For this reason the chief priests and elders, when they came to the prætorium, as we have already seen, John xviii. 28. would not go in, lest the pollutions they might have contracted in the house of a heathen, should render them unfit for eating the passover. See Acts x. 28. The same reason likewise hindered them from going into the prætorium at the other festivals, which the governor attended for the sake of administering justice. But to make matters easy, a kind of structure was erected, adjoining to the palace, which served instead of a tribunal or judgment-seat. This structure, from its Hebrew name Gabbatha, seems to have been pretty high; and being called in Greek Agro, John xix. 13. was finely paved with little pieces of marble of divers colours, because it was generally exposed to the weather. Perhaps it was something like a stage, but larger, open on all sides, and covered above, at least when the governor was to hear causes, having a throne placed on it for him to sit on. And as it was joined to the palace wall, there was a door in the wall by which he came out upon it from within. The people, therefore, standing around in the open air, could hear and see the governor when he spake to them from the pavement, without danger of being defiled either by him or by any of his retinue.

Jesus being carried into the palace, and the priests with the multitude having taken their places round the tribunal, the governor came out. John xviii. 29. Pilate then went out unto them, and said, What accusation bring ye against this man? This was the most natural question imaginable for a judge to ask on such an occasion; nevertheless, the priests thought themselves affronted by it. It seems they knew the governor's sentiments concerning the prisoner, and understood his question as carrying an insinuation along with it, of their having brought one to be condemned, against whom they could find no accusation. Besides, Pilate may have spoken to them with a stern air, so as to signify his displeasure. Hence, 30. They answered, haughtily, and said unto him, If he were not a malefactor, we would not have delivered him up unto thee. John xviii. 31. Then said Pilate unto them, Take ye him and judge him according to your law. By

making this offer to them, the governor told them plainly, that, in his opinion, the crime which they laid to their prisoner's charge was not of a capital nature; and that such punishments as they were permitted by Cesar to inflict, might be adequate to any misdemeanor Jesus was chargeable with. But the priests peremptorily refused this proposal, because it condemned the whole of their procedure, and told him that it was not lawful for them to put any man to death; by which they insinuated that the prisoner was guilty of a capital crime, that he deserved the highest punishment, and that none but the governor himself could give judgment in the cause. The Jews, therefore, said unto him, It is not layful for us to put any man to death. The evangelist observes, that the Jews were directed thus to speak and act, that there might be an accomplishment of the Divine counsels concerning the manner of our Lord's death; of which counsels Jesus himself had given frequent intimations in the course of his ministry. 32. That the saying of Jesus might be fulfilled which he spake, signifying what death he should die. Thus was the governor's first attempt to save Jesus frustrated. He made four other efforts to the same purpose, but was equally unsuccessful in them all. This good effect, however, has flowed from them: they serve to testify how strongly Pilate was impressed with the conviction of our Lord's innocence, and at the same time they shew to what a height the malice and wickedness of the Jewish great men were risen.

Pilate being obliged to proceed to the trial, the Jews began and accused Jesus of seditious practices, affirming that he had used every method to dissuade the people from paying taxes to Cesar, whose revenue in the province, Pilate, as procurator, was particularly bound to take care of; also that he had affected regal power, under pretence of being their Messiah, in open contempt of the emperor's majesty, and of his governor's authority, who was Procurator cum potestate, or chief magistrate in the province. Upon what they founded the calumny of his forbidding the people to pay tribute, is hard to say, unless they put a sinister construction upon the answer which he returned to the Pharisees and Sadducees, who asked his opinion concerning the lawfulness of the taxes, 117. For though our Lord's meaning was sufficiently plain, as is evident from the effect which his answer had upon the persons who asked him the question, (Matt. xxii. 22.) his words were such as were capable of being perverted. Accordingly his enemies on this occasion, to excite the indignation of the governor against him, joined his pretending to be Messiah with his forbidding the people, as they said, to give tribute, making it the foundation of his prohibition, and from the two joined together, affirmed that he stirred up the nation to rebellion, Luke xviii. 2. And they began to accuse him, saying, We found this

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