And some of the bystanders, hearing it, said, “This man is calling Elijah.”
47. He calleth Elijah. Those who consider this as spoken by the soldiers, ignorant and unskilled in the Syriac language, and unacquainted with the Jewish religion, and who imagine that the soldiers blundered through a resemblance of the words, are, in my opinion, mistaken.
And straightway one of them ran and took a sponge,.... Which was not far from the cross, where a vessel full of vinegar was set, Joh 19:29, and filled it with vinegar; dipping it into it, it sucked it up. Some of these sponges had leathern handles to them. (r).
Verse 47. This man calleth for Elias. This was done purposely to deride him and his pretentions to be the Messiah. The words Eli, Eli, they might easily pretend that they understood to mean Elias, or so pervert them. The taunt would be more cutting, because it was the universal belief of the Jews, as well as the doctrine of Christ, that Elias would come before the Messiah.