Click
here to show/hide instructions.
Instructions on how to use the page:
The commentary for the selected verse is is displayed below.
All commentary was produced against the King James, so the same verse from that translation may appear as well. Hovering your mouse over a commentary's scripture reference attempts to show those verses.
Use the browser's back button to return to the previous page.
Or you can also select a feature from the Just Verses menu appearing at the top of the page.
Selected Verse: Matthew 27:54 - King James
| Verse |
Translation |
Text |
| Mt 27:54 |
King James |
Now when the centurion, and they that were with him, watching Jesus, saw the earthquake, and those things that were done, they feared greatly, saying, Truly this was the Son of God. |
Summary Of Commentaries Associated With The Selected Verse
| A Commentary, Critical, Practical, and Explanatory on the Old and New Testaments, by Robert Jamieson, A.R. Fausset and David Brown [1882] |
Now when the centurion--the military superintendent of the execution.
and they that were with him watching Jesus, saw the earthquake--or felt it and witnessed its effects.
and those things that were done--reflecting upon the entire transaction.
they feared greatly--convinced of the presence of a Divine Hand.
saying, Truly this was the Son of God--There cannot be a reasonable doubt that this expression was used in the Jewish sense, and that it points to the claim which Jesus made to be the Son of God, and on which His condemnation expressly turned. The meaning, then, clearly is that He must have been what He professed to be; in other words, that He was no impostor. There was no medium between those two. See, the similar testimony of the penitent thief--"This man hath done nothing amiss"--on Luk 23:41.
The Galilean Women (Mat 27:55-56). |
| Notes on the Bible, by Albert Barnes, [1834] |
Now when the centurion ... - Centurion, a captain of a hundred soldiers. He was here placed over the band that attended the crucifixion.
They feared greatly - They regarded these things as proof that God was angry, and they were terrified at the prospect that vengeance was coming on them.
Truly this was the Son of God - They had heard, probably, that Jesus professed to be the Son of God. Seeing these wonders, they believed that God was now attesting the truth of his professions. The centurion was a pagan, and had probably no very distinct notions of the phrase "the Son of God" - perhaps understanding by it only that he was like the pagan heroes who had been deified; but he certainly regarded these wonders as proof that he was "what he professed to be." In the original it is "a son of a god;" an expression perfectly suitable to a polytheist, who believed in the existence of many gods. Mark Mar 15:39 says that they affirmed that "this man was the Son of God." Luke Luk 23:47, that they said, "Certainly this was a righteous man.' These things were said by "different persons," or at different periods of his sufferings - one evangelist having recorded one saying, and another another. |
| Vincent's Word Studies, by Marvin R. Vincent [1886] |
The Son of God. But there is no article
The words must not be construed as a recognition of Christ's divine son-ship. They were uttered by a pagan soldier in his own sense of a demigod or hero. Yet they may have taken color from the fact that the soldiers had heard from the chief priests and others that Christ had claimed to be God's son. |
| Explanatory Notes on the Whole Bible, by John Wesley [1754-65] |
| The centurion - The officer who commanded the guard; and they that were with him feared, saying, Truly this was the Son of God - Referring to the words of the chief priests and scribes, Mat 27:43 He said, I am the Son of God. |
| Adam Clarke Commentary on the Whole Bible - Published 1810-1826 |
The centurion - The Roman officer who superintended the execution, called centurio, from centum, a hundred, because he had the command of one hundred men.
Truly this was the Son of God - An innocent, holy, and Divine person; and God thus shows his disapprobation of this bloody tragedy. It is not likely that this centurion had any knowledge of the expectation of the Jews relative to the Messiah, and did not use the words in this sense. A son of God, as the Romans used the term, would signify no more than a very eminent or Divine person; a hero. |
55 And many women were there beholding afar off, which followed Jesus from Galilee, ministering unto him:
56 Among which was Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James and Joses, and the mother of Zebedee's children.
41 And we indeed justly; for we receive the due reward of our deeds: but this man hath done nothing amiss.
47 Now when the centurion saw what was done, he glorified God, saying, Certainly this was a righteous man.
39 And when the centurion, which stood over against him, saw that he so cried out, and gave up the ghost, he said, Truly this man was the Son of God.
43 He trusted in God; let him deliver him now, if he will have him: for he said, I am the Son of God.