And those who passed by heaped abuse on Him, shaking their heads
Matthew 27:39. And they that passed by. These circumstances carry great weight; for they place before us the extreme abasement of the Son of God, that we may see more clearly how much our salvation cost him, and that, reflecting that we justly deserved all the punishments which he endured, we may be more and more excited to repentance.
And saying, thou that destroyest the temple,.... The Vulgate Latin, and Munster's Hebrew Gospel, read, "the temple of God"; and add "ah!" here, as in Mar 15:29, and so Beza says it is read in a certain copy. They refer to the charge of the false witnesses against him, who misrepresenting his words in Joh 2:19, declared that he gave out that he was able...
Verse 39. Wagging their heads. In token of derision and insult. See . (h) "wagging"