The bright light of the fire shining on his face, &c.——This incident is taken from Luke xxii. 56, where the expression in the common version is, “a certain maid saw him as he sat by the fire.” But in the original Greek this last word is φῶς, (phos,) which means “light,” and not “fire;” and it is translated here in this peculiar manner, because it evidently refers to the light of the fire, from its connection with the preceding verse, where it is said that “Peter sat down among them ‘before’ the fire which they had kindled;” the word fire in this passage being in the Greek πυρ, (pur,) which is never translated otherwise. But the unusual translation of the word φῶς, by “fire” in the other verse, though it gives a just idea of Peter’s position, makes a common reader lose sight of the prominent reason of his detection, which was, that the “light of the fire” shone on his face.
In speaking of Peter’s fall and its attendant circumstances, Lampius (in Gospel of John xviii. 17,) seems to be most especially scandalized by the means through which Peter’s ruin was effected. “Sed ab ancilla Cepham vinci, dedecus ejus auget. Quanta inconstantia! Qui in armatos ordines paulo ante irruperat nunc ad vocem levis mulierculae tremit. Si Adamo probrosum, quod a femina conjuge seductus erat, non minus Petro, quod ab ancilla.” That is, “But that Cephas should have been overcome by a girl, increases his disgrace. How great the change! He who, but a little before, had charged an armed host, now trembled at the voice of a silly woman. If it was a shame to Adam, that he had been seduced by his wife, it was no less so to Peter, that he was by a girl.”
The cock crew.——By this circumstance, the time of the denial in all its parts is well ascertained. The first cock-crowing after the first denial marked the hour of midnight, and the second cock-crowing announced the first dawn of day. As Lampius says, “Altera haec erat αλεκτροφῶνια, praenuncia lucis, non tantum in terra, sed et in corde Petri, tenebris spississimis obsepto, mox iterum oriturae.” “This was the second cock-crowing, the herald of light, soon to rise again, not only on earth, but also in the heart of Peter, now overspread with the thickest darkness.”
And thinking thereon, he wept.——This expression is taken from Mark xiv. 72, and accords with our common translation, though very different from many others that have been proposed. The word thus variously rendered, is in the original Greek, επιβαλων, (epibalon,) and bears a great variety of definitions which can be determined only by its connections, in the passages where it occurs. Campbell says, “There are not many words in scripture which have undergone more interpretations than this term;” and truly the array of totally diverse renderings, each ably supported by many of the most learned Biblical scholars that ever lived, is truly appalling to the investigator. (1.) Those who support the common English translation are Kypke, Wetstein, Campbell and Bloomfield, and others quoted by the latter.——(2.) Another translation which has been ably defended is, “he began to weep.” This is the expression in the common German translation, (Martin Luther’s,) “ER HOB AN ZU WEINEN.” It is also the version of the Vulgate, (“Coepit flere,”) the Syriac, Gothic, Persian, and Armenian translations, as Kuinoel and Heinsius observe, who also maintain this rendering.——(3.) Another is, “He proceeded to weep,” (“Addens flevit.”) which is that of Grotius, LeClerc, Simon, Petavius and others.——(4.) Another is, “covering his head, he wept.” This seems to have begun with Theophylact, who has been followed by a great number, among whom Salmasius, Wolf, Suicer, Macknight, and Krebs, are the most prominent.——(5.) Another is, “rushing out, he wept.” This is maintained by Beza, Rosenmueller, Schleusner, Bretschneider and Wahl.——(6.) Another is, “Having looked at him,” (Jesus,) “he wept.” This is the version of Hammond and Palairet.——“Who shall decide when” so many “doctors disagree?” I should feel safest in leaving the reader, as Parkhurst does, to “consider and judge” for himself; but in defense of my own rendering, I would simply observe, that the common English version is that which is most in accordance with the rules of grammar, and is best supported by classic usage, while the second and third are justly objected to by Bloomfield and Campbell as ungrammatical, and unsupported by truly parallel passages, notwithstanding the array of classical quotations by Bp. [♦]Bloomfield and others; and the fourth and fifth equally deserve rejection for the very tame and cold expression which they make of it, the fourth also being ungrammatical like the second and third. The sixth definition also may be rejected on grammatical grounds, as well as for lack of authorities and classic usage to support such an elliptical translation.——For long and numerous discussions of all these points, see any or every one of the writers whose names I have cited in this note.
[♦] “Blomfield” replaced with “Bloomfield”
CHRIST’S CRUCIFIXION.
From that moment we hear no more of the humbled apostle, till after the fatal consummation of his Redeemer’s sufferings. Yet he must have been a beholder of that awful scene. When the multitude of men and women followed the cross-bearing Redeemer down the vale of Calvary, mourning with tears and groans, Peter could not have sought to indulge in solitary grief. And since the son of Zebedee stood by the cross during the whole agony of Jesus, the other apostles probably had no more cause of fear than John, and Peter also might have stood near, among the crowd, without any danger of being further molested by those whom he had offended, since they now looked on their triumph as too complete to need any minor acts of vengeance, to consummate it over the fragments of the broken Nazarene sect. Still, it was in silent sorrow and horror that he gazed on this sight of woe, and the deep despair which now overwhelmed his bright dreams of glory was no longer uttered in the violent expressions to which his loquacious genius prompted him. He now had time and reason enough to apprehend the painfully literal meaning of the oft-repeated predictions of Christ about these sad events——predictions which once were so wildly unheeded or perversely misconstrued as best suited the ambitious disciples’ hopes of power, which was to be set up over all the civil, religious, and military tyrants of Palestine, and of which they were to be the chief partakers. These hopes all went out with the last breath of their crucified Lord, and when they turned away from that scene of hopeless woe, after taking a last look of the face that had so long been the source of light and truth to them, now fixed and ghastly in the last struggle of a horrible death, they must have felt that the delusive dream of years was now broken, and that they were but forlorn and desperate outcasts in the land which their proud thoughts once aspired to rule. What despairing anguish must have been theirs, as climbing the hillside with sad and slow steps, they looked back from its top down upon the cross, that might still be seen in the dark valley, though dim with the shades of falling night! Their Lord, their teacher, their guide, their friend,——hung there between the heavens and the earth, among thieves, the victim of triumphant tyranny; and they, owing their safety only to the contemptuous forbearance of his murderers, must now, strangers in a strange land, seek a home among those who scorned them.
The VALE of Calvary.——This expression will no doubt excite vast surprise in the minds of many readers, who have all their lives heard and talked of Mount Calvary, without once taking the pains to find out whether there ever was any such place. Such persons will, no doubt, find their amazement still farther increased, on learning that no Mount Calvary is mentioned in any part of the Bible, nor in any ancient author.
The whole account given of this name in the Bible, is in Luke xxiii. 33, where in the common translation it is said that Christ was crucified in “the place called Calvary.” In the parallel passages in the other gospels, the Hebrew name only is given, Golgotha, which means simply “a skull.” (Matthew xxvii. 33: Mark xv. 22: John xix. 17.) This particular place does not seem to be named and designated in any part of the Old Testament, but a very clear idea of its general situation can be obtained, from the consideration of the fact, that there was a place beyond the walls of Jerusalem, where all the dead were buried, and whither all the carcasses of slain animals were carried and left to moulder. This was that part of the valley of the Kedron which was called the valley of Tophet, or the vale of the son of Hinnom. This is often alluded to as the place of dead bodies. (Jeremiah vii. 32, &c.) Besides, all reason and analogy utterly forbid the supposition, that dead carcasses would be piled up on a “mount” or hill, to rot and send their effluvia all over the city in every favorable wind; while on the other hand, a deep valley like that of Hinnom would be a most proper place for carrying such offensive matters. Josephus, in his description of the temple, very particularly notices the fact, that all the blood and filth which flowed from the numerous sacrifices, was conveyed by a subterraneous channel or drain to this very valley.
THE RESURRECTION.