Matthew 27:24 — meaning, Hebrew and Greek word study, commentary
Matthew 27:24
When Pilate saw that he could prevail nothing, but that rather a tumult was made, he took water, and washed his hands before the multitude, saying, I am innocent of the blood of this just person: see ye to it.
properly · verb — present active participle, nominative singular masculine
am
εἰμιeimi
G1510
I exist (used only when emphatic) · verb — present active indicative, 1st person singular
innocent
ἀθῷόςathōos
G121
not guilty · adjective — nominative singular masculine
of
ἀπὸapo
G575
"off · preposition
blood
αἵματοςaimatos
G129
blood · noun — genitive singular neuter
this
τούτουtoútou
G5127
of (from or concerning) this (person or thing)
person
δικαίουdikaiou
G1342
equitable (in character or act) · adjective — genitive singular masculine
see
ὄψεσθε.¶opsesthe
G3700
to gaze (i.e. with wide-open eyes · verb — future middle deponent indicative, 2nd person plural
ye
ὑμεῖςhymeîs
G5210
you (as subjective of verb)
Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).
Cross-references
Matthew 27:4 Saying, I have sinned in that I have betrayed the innocent blood. And they said, What is that to us? see thou to that.
Psalms 26:6 I will wash mine hands in innocency: so will I compass thine altar, O LORD:
2 Corinthians 5:21 For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.
Deuteronomy 21:6-8 And all the elders of that city, that are next unto the slain man, shall wash their hands over the heifer that is beheaded in the valley:
Job 9:30-31 If I wash myself with snow water, and make my hands never so clean;
Matthew 26:5 But they said, Not on the feast day, lest there be an uproar among the people.
John 19:4 Pilate therefore went forth again, and saith unto them, Behold, I bring him forth to you, that ye may know that I find no fault in him.
1 Peter 3:18 For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but qu…
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Matthew 27:9
Then was fulfilled that which was spoken by Jeremy the prophet, saying-- (Zac 11:12-13). Never was a complicated prophecy, otherwise hopelessly dark, more marvellously fulfilled. Various conjectures have been formed to account for Matthew's ascribing to Jeremiah a prophecy found in the book of Zechariah. But since with this book he was plainly familiar, having quoted one of its most remarkable prophecies of Christ but a few chapters before (Mat 21:4-5), the question is one more of critical interest than real importance. Perhaps the true explanation is the following, from LIGHTFOOT: "Jeremiah of old had the first place among the prophets, and hereby he comes to be mentioned above all the rest…
When Pilate saw he could prevail nothing,.... That it was to no purpose to talk to them, and in favour of Jesus; he saw they were determined upon his crucifixion, and that nothing else would satisfy them:
but that rather a tumult was made; there was an uproar among the people, and he might fear the consequences of it, should he not grant their request; otherwise, as Philo the (p) Jew says of him, he was, , "naturally inflexible, rigid, and self-willed": but he knew the temper of these people, and had had experience of their resoluteness, when they were determined on any thing; as in the case of his introducing the golden shields into the holy city, of which the same author speaks: and…
Matthew 27:24-32
Matthew 27:24-32
Mark 15:15-21
Luke 23:24-32
24. But Pilate, perceiving that he gained nothing by it, but that the tumult became the greater, took water, and washed his hands before the people, saying, I am innocent of the blood of this righteous man: see you to it. 25. And the whole people, answering, said, His blood be on us and on our children. 26. Then he released to them Barabbas, and after having scourged Jesus, he delivered him up to be crucified. 27. Then the soldiers of the governor conducted Jesus into the Pretorium, and gathered around him the whole band. 28. And having stripped him, they put on him a scarlet robe. 29. And having wreathed a crown of thorns, th…
The Church Fathers
It was customary among the ancients, when one would refuse to participate in any crime, to take water and wash his hands before the people.
(Serm. lix. 2.) The impiety of the Jews then exceeded the fault of Pilate; but he was not guiltless, seeing he resigned his own jurisdiction, and acquiesced in the injustice of others.
When I was scrupulously making a thorough investigation of this practice, and searching into the reason of it, I ascertained it to be a commemorative act, bearing on the surrender of our Lord.
The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).
Dictionary and topics
Ablution — Or washing, was practised, (1.) When a person was initiated into a higher state: e.g., when Aaron and his sons were set apart to the priest’s office, they were washed with water previous to their…
Barabbas — I.e., son of Abba or of a father, a notorious robber whom Pilate proposed to condemn to death instead of Jesus, whom he wished to release, in accordance with the Roman custom (John 18:40; Mark 15:7;…
Hand — Called by Galen “the instrument of instruments.” It is the symbol of human action (Ps. 9:16; Job 9:30; Isa. 1:15; 1 Tim. 2:8). Washing the hands was a symbol of innocence (Ps. 26:6; 73:13; Matt.…
Purification — The process by which a person unclean, according to the Levitical law, and thereby cut off from the sanctuary and the festivals, was restored to the enjoyment of all these privileges. The great…
Ablution · Of the hands, as a token of innocency — Of the hands, as a token of innocency
Barabbas · A pri — A pri
Complicity · .Pilate, in the — .Pilate, in the
Court · 3:11;7:3; — 3:11;7:3;
Demagogism · .Pilate — .Pilate
Hand · Washing of, a symbol of innocency — Washing of, a symbol of innocency
Hands, The · Were washed: In token of innocency — Were washed: In token of innocency
Washing · Of hands, a token of innocence — Of hands, a token of innocence
Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).
