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Commentary Index | Return to PrayerRequest.com | DownloadCambridge Greek Testament for Schools and Colleges - Luke 23:2 - 23:2
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This Chapter Verse Commentaries:
2. εὕραμεν. A word, which like the contemptuous τοῦτον (‘this fellow,’ Tyndale), was intended to excite prejudice.
διαστρέφοντα τὸ ἔθνος. Comp. Sir 11:34, ἀφίστασθαι καὶ διαστρέφειν. The technical Jewish name for an offender of this sort was Mesith, ‘seducer’ or ‘impostor,’ Act 13:8-10. This was their first head of indictment, and had the advantage of being perfectly vague.
κωλύοντα φόρους Καίσαρι διδόναι. This was a complete falsehood; but a political accusation was necessary for their purpose, since a heathen would not have listened to any religious accusation. The mixture of religion with politics is always perilous to truth and sincerity. This was their second charge.
Χριστὸν βασιλέα. The word ‘King’ is an explanation to bring the case under the head of treason. Yet they must have been well aware that this charge was all the more false in spirit from being true in the letter;—for Christ had always refused and prevented every effort to make Him a temporal king (Joh 6:15). This was their third charge. Marcion, according to Epiphanius, added two more charges; namely καὶ καταλύοντα τὸν νόμον καὶ τοὺς προφήτας, and καὶ ἀποστρέφοντα τὰς γυναῖκας καὶ τὰ τέκνα. The Jews, no longer possessing the jus gladii, formulated their accusation in such a way as to exasperate the Roman authorities against Jesus.