7. His being lifted up to die in public, so that those who passed by could see Him; and the way in which they mocked Him, shaking their heads, etc.
8. The exact words they used: He trusted on the Lord that He would deliver him, let Him deliver him seeing He delighteth in him (margin). These words show that the speakers themselves were Jews, and that He was thus put to death among His own nation. And the last clause can only be meant ironically in the sense that the Sufferer claimed that God delighted in him, claimed, that is, in some special sense to be beloved by God.
9. And, as a matter of fact, God had always watched over Him, and had saved Him in His infancy from being slain by Herod.
10. And in return His whole life had been dedicated to God; so that He could say that God had been His God, even from His birth.
11. His being abandoned by His disciples, and left without a helper;
12. though surrounded by His enemies, described as bulls of Bashan. This curious term is used elsewhere for the unjust rulers of the people,[381] and was therefore very applicable to the chief priests and rulers, who had so unjustly condemned Him, and now stood round the Cross reviling Him.
[381] Amos. 4. 1.
13. And they continually insulted Him, gaping with the mouth being a common expression of contempt;[382] ravening appropriate to the way in which they had thirsted for His blood before Pilate; and roaring to the great noise and tumult made at the time.
[382] E.g., Job 16. 10.
14. His side being pierced, so that there poured out a quantity of watery fluid (mixed with clots of blood), the probable cause of this—the rupture of the heart[383]—being also hinted at; while His bones were nearly out of joint, through the weight of the suspended Body.