Matthew Poole and continuators on Matthew 27:34

34 They gave him vinegar to drink, mingled with gall: and when he had tasted thereof, he would not drink.

Mark saith, Ch. 15.21. And they compelled one Simon a Cyrenian, who passed by coming out of the Country, the Father of Alexander, and Rufus, to bear his Cross. And they bring him unto the place Golgotha, which is, being interpreted the place of a Skull. And they gave him to drink Wine, mingled with Myrrh; but he received it not. Luke is larger in his Account of the passages, betwixt his Condemnation and Crucifixion, Ch. 23.26. to v. 33. And as they led him, they laid hold on one Simon a Cyrenian coming out of the Country, and on him they laid the Cross, that he might bear it after Iesus. And there followed him a great Company of People, and of Women, which also bewailed, and lamented him. But Iesus turning unto them, said, Daughters of Ierusalem, weep not for me, but for your selves, and for your Children: For behold the days are coming, in the which they shall say, Blessed are the Barren, and the Womb that never bare, and the Paps which never gave Suck. Then shall they begin to say to the Mountains fall on us, and to the Hills cover us. For if they do thus, in a Green Tree, what shall be done in the dry? And there were also two other Malefactors led with him [illegible: 1 word] [illegible: 1 letter]e put to Death. Iohn, Ch. 19.17. saith no more then, And [illegible: 1 word] bearing his Cross, went forth into a place, ca[illegible: 1 letter]led the place of a Skull, which is called in the Hebrew Golgotha. Matthew and Mark and Luke say, That a Countryman, one Simon a Cyrenian, (compelled to it by the Soldiers) carried the Cross after Christ. Iohn saith, that he himself bare it. Both were doubtless true, some say that Christ himself did carry it through the City, and when he was out of the City, this Simon carried it. Others think, that Christ being wearied, Simon took it, but reason will tell us, that the Cross was too heavy a piece of Timber for one to bear, and therefore Simon was compelled to bear the hinder part, therefore Luke saith, he bare it after Iesus: The Dispute, whether this Simon was a Native Iew, tho an inhabitant of Cyrene, or a Proselyted, Cyrenian, or as yet a Pagan, and whether this Cyrene was one of the ten Cities, comprehended in the Name Decapolis, is not worth spending any Words about: All the Evangelists agree, that he was Crucified at Golgotha, Luke calls it Calvary, they are both Names of the same Signification. The place of a Skull, the one is the Hebrew term, the other Latine: And they gave him Vinegar to drink, mingled with Gall. Mark saith, Wine mingled with Myrrh: There is so great a Cognation between Wine, and Vinegar, that it is no wonder if one Evangelist calls it Vinegar, another Wine, which, if it be acid, is Vinegar. The word translated Gall, signifies all Bitterness; w[illegible: 1 letter]ether it be caused from Gall, or Myrrh. Some think, th[illegible: 1 letter]t some good People gave him Wine, and the Soldiers added Myrrh to it. But this is a great incertainty: Certain it is, that it was an ordinary Favour they shewed to dying Persons, to give the[illegible: 1 letter] some Intoxicating Potion, to make them less sensible of their Pain: It is probable, it was something of this Nature; but our Saviour was not afraid to dye, and so had no need of suc[illegible: 1 letter] an Antidote ag[illegible: 1 letter]inst the Pain of it, he refused it: We shall [illegible: 1 letter]ind they afterward gave him something to drink also. Luke tells us, that gre[illegible: 1 letter]t multitudes followed him to the place of Execution (which is still very ordinary) Lamenting him, to whom our Saviour saith, Daughters of Ierusalem, Weep not for me, bu[illegible: 1 letter] for [illegible: 1 letter]our selves, and for your Children; and then prophesiet[illegible: 1 letter] the Miseries that should follow his Death, to that degree, that the Barren should bless themselves; and they all should say to the Mountains fall on us, and to the Hills cover us. He bids the women Weep only for themselves and for their Children: For how much better is it, for Persons of any Tenderness to have no Children, then to have Children, and to see them dashed against the Stones, as was threatned to Babylon, Psal. 137.9. or to Kill them for the Parents Sustenance, as it happened in Ahab's time, or to see them slain before the Parents Faces, as it happened to Zedekiah, when the Enemy took Ierusalem, Ier. 52.10. The People also, he saith, should (as it was of old Prophesied of those of Samaria) Hos. 20.8. Cry to the Mountains to cover them, and to the Hills to fall on them: A Proverbial Expression, to signifie their wishing themselves dead and under Ground, or expounded by Isaiah 2.19. And they shall go into the Holes of the Rocks, and into the Caves of the Earth, for Fear of the Lord, and for the Glory of his Majesty, when he shall arise to shake Terribly the Earth. See the like Expressions, Rev. 6.16. & 9.6. In those days, Men shall seek Death, and shall not find it, and shall desire to dye, and Death shall flee from them. For if they do thus to the green Tree, what shall be done to the dry? It is another Proverbial Expression, which may either be understood Impersonally. If they do, that is, if it be thus done to. If God suffers them thus to do to me, who am his Son, what shall be done to you? Who are but as dry Sticks, and so fitter for the Fire. If Iudgment begin at the House of God, where shall the Wicked and ungodly appear? 1 Pet. 4.17.

Marginal references: Psal▪ [illegible: 1 letter]9. [illegible: 2 letters] ▪