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Commentary Index | Return to PrayerRequest.com | DownloadCambridge Greek Testament for Schools and Colleges - Luke 23:34 - 23:34
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34. πάτερ, ἄφες αὐτοῖς. Isa 53:12, “He bare the sins of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.” These words were probably uttered at the terrible moment when the Sufferer was outstretched upon the Cross and the nails were being driven through the palms of the hands. They are certainly genuine, though strangely omitted by BD. They may come from some external source, or they may have been added by St Luke himself in a later recension. For the evidence respecting them see Westcott and Hort, Greek Test. II. They stand on the same footing as Mat 22:43-44. We hear the echo of them, as Meyer says, in Act 3:17; Act 7:60. We must surely suppose that the prayer was uttered not only for the Roman soldiers, who were the mere instruments of the executors, but for all His enemies. It was in accordance with His own teaching (Mat 5:44), and His children have learnt it from Him (Act 7:59-60; Euseb. H. E. II. 29). They were the first of the seven words from the Cross, of which three (Luk 23:34; Luk 23:43; Luk 23:46) are recorded by St Luke only, and three (Joh 19:27-28; Joh 19:30) by St John only. The last cry also began with the word “Father.” The seven words are
Luk 23:34. The Prayer for the Murderers.
Luk 23:43. The Promise to the Penitent.
Joh 19:26. The provision for the Mother.
Mat 27:46; Mar 15:34. Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani?
Joh 19:28. The sole expression of human agony.
Joh 19:30. “It is finished.”
Luk 23:46. “Father, into Thy hands I commend My spirit.”
Thus they refer to His enemies, to penitents, to His mother and disciple, to the agony of His soul, to the anguish of His body, to His work, and to His Heavenly Father. St Luke here omits our Lord’s refusal of the sopor—the medicated draught, or myrrh-mingled wine (Mar 15:23; Mat 27:34), which, if it would have deadened His pains, would also have beclouded His faculties.
ἄφες. Christ died “for the remission (ἄφεσιν) of sins,” Mat 26:28.
οὐ γὰρ οἴδασιν. “Through ignorance ye did it,” Act 3:17; 1Co 2:8. “Judaei clamant Crucifige; Christus clamat Ignosce. Magna illorum iniquitas sed major tua, O Domine, pietas.” St Bernard.
τὰ ἱμάτια. For the fuller details see Joh 19:23-24.