Matthew 27:44

44 And the thieves, that were crucified with him, upbraided him of the same thing. [+Forsooth also the thieves, that were crucified with him, put to him with reproof the same thing.]

Matthew 27:44 Meaning and Commentary

Matthew 27:44

The thieves also
One or other of them, not both; an Hebrew way of speaking, as Drusius F2 observed: so it is said of Jonah, ( Jonah 1:5 ) , that he was "gone down into the sides of the ship"; not into both sides, but into one or other of them: so here the thieves, one or other of them, not naming which, railed at Jesus, for it was but one of them; see ( Luke 23:39 ) , unless it can be thought, as it is by some, that they both at first reviled him; but one being quickly convinced of his evil, ceased, and rebuked his fellow sufferer, confessed his, sin, bore a testimony to the innocence of Christ, and desired to be remembered by him in his kingdom. This was an aggravation of the sufferings of Christ, that he should be vilified by those,

which were crucified with him;
who ought to have been, considering the condemnation they were in, and the future state they were just entering into, lamenting and confessing the sins they had been guilty of, instead of adding sin to sin, and so aggravating their condemnation. These, at least one of them,

cast the same into his teeth;
as the populace, the chief priests, Scribes, elders, and Pharisees had done; twitted him with his pretensions of being the Son of God, the Messiah, and king of Israel; and urged, that if he was, why did not he save himself, and them also?


FOOTNOTES:

F2 Quaest. Heb. l. 1. qu. 5.

Matthew 27:44 In-Context

42 He made other men safe, he may not make himself safe; if he is [the] king of Israel, come he now down from the cross, and we believe to him;
43 he trusted in God; deliver he him now, if he will; for he said, That I am God's Son [for he said, I am the Son of God].
44 And the thieves, that were crucified with him, upbraided him of the same thing. [+Forsooth also the thieves, that were crucified with him, put to him with reproof the same thing.]
45 But from the sixth hour darknesses were made on [upon] all the earth, till the ninth hour. [+Soothly from the sixth hour darknesses were made on all the land, unto the ninth hour.]
46 And about the ninth hour Jesus cried with a great voice, and said [saying], Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani, that is, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?
Copyright © 2001 by Terence P. Noble. For personal use only.