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Commentary Index | Return to PrayerRequest.com | DownloadCambridge Greek Testament for Schools and Colleges - Mark 15:36 - 15:36
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36. γεμίσας σπόγγον ὄξους. Lk. omits this, having mentioned at an earlier stage that the soldiers mocked Him by offering Him ὄξος, i.e. the posca or sour wine provided for them, and possibly for the sufferers. The sponge and the stalk may have been ready for the latter purpose, or the sponge may have been a stopper for the jar. Sponge is mentioned nowhere else in the Bible, but its use is often mentioned elsewhere, and it would be common in places near the sea. Jn says that it was Christ’s “I thirst” which led to this incident, and again he has the definiteness of an eyewitness. He remembers the jar of wine and that the “reed” was a stalk of “hyssop,” which was not our Hyssopus officinalis, for that does not grow in Palestine. A stalk of two or three feet long would suffice. Pictures with the feet of the Crucified above the heads of the spectators are misleading. So tall a cross would be troublesome to carry and difficult to fix upright.
The accumulation of participles is characteristic (see on Mar 1:15) and περιθείς is exact, the sponge being round the top of the stalk and crowning it (Mar 15:17; cf. Mar 12:1). Psa 69:22 perhaps suggested ἐπότιζεν, which is the conative imperf., like ἐδίδουν in Mar 15:23. Mt. here retains the imperf.
λέγων Ἄφετε ἴδωμεν. Here Mt. differs completely. He says that it was the companions of the giver of the wine who cried, Ἄφες ἴδωμεν, i.e. “Let Him alone”; or “Leave off; let us see whether Elijah is coming to save Him.” Apparently Mt. had some authority which he preferred to Mk. In each case there is a doubt as to Ἄφετε or Ἄφες, whether it means “Let be” (A.V., R.V.), or coalesces with ἴδωμεν, as in ἄφες ἐκβάλω (Mat 7:4). Ἄφετε might mean, “Let me alone,” “Don’t stop me.” But, whatever rendering we adopt, it is evident that Mk and Mt. follow different traditions as to what took place. Ἄφες ἴδω occurs Epict. Dis. iii. 12 sub fin.