They that hate me without a cause
As the Jews did; see ( John
15:18-25 ) ; for he did no injury to the persons or
properties of men; but went about continually doing good, both to
their souls and bodies; so that he merited their highest esteem
and love, and not their hatred; and yet they were his implacable
enemies; see ( Luke 19:14 Luke 19:27 ) ;
are more than the hairs of mine head;
they were a multitude that came to take him in the garden; and it
was the multitude that the priests and Pharisees instigated to
ask for the release of Barabbas, and the crucifixion of Jesus;
and a vast number of people followed him to the cross, and
insulted him on it; the Gentiles and the people of Israel were
gathered together against him;
they that would destroy me;
as the Jews sought to do often before his time was come;
[being] mine enemies wrongfully;
without cause, as before; or through lies and falsehoods told of
him, and spread about concerning him:
are mighty;
lively and strong, as David's enemies were, ( Psalms 38:19
) . The great men of the earth, kings and princes, as Herod and
Pontius Pilate, and also the infernal principalities and powers,
who were concerned in contriving those lies, and putting them
into the minds of men; for Satan is the father of lies and
falsehood;
then I restored [that] which I took not away;
by rapine, force, and violence, as the word F23
signifies; and which was done by others. Thus, for instance,
Christ restored the glory of God, of which he was robbed, and
which was taken away by the sin of man; by veiling his own glory,
not seeking that, but his Father's; and by working out the
salvation of his people, in such a manner as that all the divine
perfections were glorified by it; hence, "glory to God in the
highest", ( Luke 2:14 ) . He
satisfied justice he had never injured, though others had; he
fulfilled a law, and bore the penalty of it, which he never
broke; and made satisfaction for sins he never committed; and
brought in a righteousness he had not taken away; and provided a
better inheritance than what was lost by Adam: and all this was
done at the time of his sufferings and death, and by the means of
them.