Matthew 27:43 - Exposition

He trusted in ( ἐπι Ì , on ) God. These scoffers cite a passage from Psalms 22:8 , "He trusted unto the Lord that he would deliver him; let him deliver him, seeing he delighteth in him" (Hebrew); or, according to the Septuagint, "He hoped in the Lord; let him deliver him, let him save him, because he desires ( θε ì λει ) him." Let him deliver him now, if he will have him ( εἰ θε ì λει ). θε ì λω is used in the Septuagint in the sense of "I love," "I wish for" (see Deuteronomy 21:14 ; Psalms 17:1-15 :19; Psalms 40:11 ). But the Vulgate, by omitting the first αὐτο ì ν , possibly takes the verb in the usual sense, Liberet nunc, si vult, eum. The Sinaitic and Vatican manuscripts and others support this reading, which is followed now by Tischendorf, and Westcott and Hort, so that the clause will run, Let him now, if he will, deliver him. But the Received Text and the Authorized Version are in closer agree ment with the original language of the psalm. For he said, I am the Son of God. Insultingly they allude to his own assertions concerning his Divine nature, implying that, were he such as he pretended to be, he would not now be dying on the shameful cross. There are wonderful coincidences in thought and language between this passage and one in the Book of Wisdom (2:13-20), which speaks of the oppression of the righteous, e.g. "He professeth to have the knowledge of God; and he calleth himself the child of the Lord....Let us see if his words be true; and let us prove what shall happen in the end of him. For if the just man be the Son of God, he will help him, and deliver him from the hand of his enemies." The similarity of expression is to be attributed to the typical nature of the treatment of Christ, which the writer of Wisdom, with remarkable insight, thus forcibly delineated.