For of necessity he must release one - That is, he was under the necessity of releasing one at this feast. The custom, however it originated, had now been so completely established that Pilate was obliged to attend to it. See on Matthew 27:15 ; (note). read more
Away with this man - That is, Put him to death - αιρε τουτον , literally, Take this one away, i.e. to punishment - to death. read more
Verse 16 Luke 23:16.I will therefore chastise him, and release him. If any slight offense had been committed, which was not a capital crime, the Roman governors (262) were wont to cause the offenders to be beaten with rods; and this kind of punishment was called, in the Latin language, coerctio Pilate, therefore, acts unjustly when, after pronouncing Christ to be free from all blame, he resolves to punish him, as if he had been guilty of an ordinary offense; for he not only declares that he... read more
Jesus vindicated by his enemies. We pass now from the ecclesiastical to the secular sphere. The charge brought forward in the Sanhedrin is blasphemy ; before Pilate and Herod the charge must be sedition and treason. Yet amid his unscrupulous enemies unimpeachable testimony is forthcoming of his innocence. I. THE TESTIMONY ELICITED BY PILATE . ( Luke 23:1-7 ,) The accusation made against Christ was twofold: Now, the first part of the accusation was totally false.... read more
And Pilate … said unto them.., behold I… have found no fault in this Man … No, nor yet Herod:… lo, nothing worthy of death is done unto him ; more accurately rendered, is done by him. This was the Roman's deliberate judgment publicly delivered. The decision then announced, that he would scourge him ( Luke 23:16 ), was singularly unjust and cruel. Pilate positively subjected a Man whom he had pronounced innocent to the horrible punishment of scourging, just to satisfy the clamour of the... read more
The Lord is tried again before Pilate, who wishes to release him, but, over-persuaded by the Jews, delivers him to be crucified. read more
Guilty compromise. Twice (see Luke 23:22 ) Pilate made this offer to the Jews. He would chastise Jesus and release him; he would thus gratify them by putting the Object of their hatred to pain and humiliation, and he would satisfy his own conscience by saving an innocent man from the last extremity. It was a poor and a guilty compromise he proposed as a solution. If Jesus were as guilty as they claimed that he was, he deserved to die, and Pilate was in duty bound to condemn him to death;... read more
( For of necessity he must release one unto them at the feast. ) Probably, however, before the scourging was inflicted, the attempt to liberate Jesus in accordance with a custom belonging to that feast was made by Pilate. We know it failed, and a condemned robber called Barabbas was preferred by the people. The more ancient authorities omit this verse (17). It probably was introduced at an early period into many manuscripts of St. Luke as a marginal. gloss, as an explanatory statement... read more
And they cried out all atones, saying, Away with this Man! and release unto us Barabbas: (who for a certain sedition made in the city, and for murder, was east into prison). Barabbas, whose release the people demanded at the instigation of the influential men of the Sanhedrin, was a notable leader in one of the late insurrectionary movements so common at this time. St. John styles him a robber; this well describes the character of the man; a bandit chief who carried on his lawless career... read more
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Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Luke 23:15
No, nor yet Herod: for I sent you to him - That is, to see whether he could find that Christ had ever attempted to raise any disaffection or sedition among the Galileans, among whom he had spent the principal part of his life; and yet Herod has not been able to find out any evil in his conduct. Your own accusations I have fully weighed, and find them to the last degree frivolous. Instead of ανεπεμψα γαρ ὑμας προς αυτον , for I sent you to him, BHKLM, and many other MSS., with some... read more