Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Matthew 26:30
And when they had sung a hymn, they went out into the mount of Olives.
30. when they had sung a hymn ] Properly, “ the hymn,” the second part of the hallel. See note on Mat 26:20 ( f).
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Mat 26:30
And when they had sung an hymn.
The parting hymn
Our Lord commemorated the Passover as His countrymen were wont to do; and we may justly conclude that He sung what they were used to sing in finishing the solemn celebration. When the Passover was instituted on the night of the destruction of the firstborn of the Egyptians, various forms and practices were enjoined (Exo 12:1-51.). But in after times, especially in those of our Saviour, when traditions came to their height, numerous circumstances were added to the celebration, so that the original rites formed but a small part of what were practised by the Jews. And learned men have well observed that Christ commemorated the Passover without rejecting such customs as could not distinctly plead the authority of the law. For instance, the Jews altered the posture in which it was eaten. Also wine came to be taken as well as unleavened bread. In like manner, with regard to the singing of a hymn or psalm, there is nothing said of this in Exodus. Yet the hundred and thirteenth and five following psalms were selected.
I. We observe that our Lord, by conforming to certain customs of the Jews in the eating of the Passover, gave his sanction to ceremonies which may not be able to plead a divine institution. We venture to take our Lords conduct with regard to the ceremonies at the Passover as establishing the authority of the Church to ordain and alter ceremonies and rites, and as strongly condemning those who would make mere ceremonies the excuse for disunion. Our Lord conformed to customs and alterations for which no Divine warrant could be produced, and against which specious objections could have been advanced. We agree, therefore, that the Church is not bound to chapter and verse for any ceremony she may enjoin. The apostles might have said, What an unnatural moment for singing joyous hymns, as they grew sorrowful at the Lords departure. But they kept to the ordinances of the Church.
II. We may perhaps say that it was with the singing of a hymn that Christ prepared himself for his unknown agony. They were joyous hymns in which they joined. Was it a strange preparation for the Mount of Olives thus to commemorate the mercies and ,chant the praises of God? We should join praise with prayer and recount Gods mercies when face to face with new trials. For many, like the captives in Babylon, hang their harps upon the willows, when they find themselves in a strange land; whereas, if they would sing One of the songs of Zion it would remind of home and encourage them to expect deliverance. Paul and Silas sang in the prison. We may fairly say that the power of singing has not been sufficiently considered as one of the Creators gifts to His creatures, and therefore intended to be used for His glory. Singing, like music, has been too much given up by the Church to the world. (H. Melvill, B. D.)
Music not merely a human invention
We are too apt to regard music as a human art, or invention, just because men make certain musical instruments, and compose certain musical pieces. And hence there are Christians who would banish music from the public worship of God, as though unsuited to, or unworthy of, so high and illustrious an employment. But it is forgotten, as has been observed by a well-known writer, that the principles of harmony are in the elements of nature, that, the element of air was as certainly ordained to give us harmonious sounds in due measure, as to give respiration to the lungs. God has given us music in the air as He hath given us wine in the grape; leaving it to man to draw forth the rich melody, as well as to extract the inspiriting juice, but designing that both should be employed to His glory, and used in His service. (H. Melvill, B. D.)
Song more marvellous than speech
But, to quote again from the writer already referred to, the faculty, by which the voice forms musical sounds, is as wonderful as the flexure of the organs of speech in the articulation of words. Considered as the result of certain mechanical arrangements, singing is perhaps even more marvellous than speaking, or gives a stronger witness to the skill and the power of the Creator. This is not the place for bringing proof of such assertion; but they who have considered the human throat as a musical instrument, and have examined, on this supposition, its structure and capacity, declare that it presents such a refinement on mechanism as exceeds all description. And we are not to doubt that God gave this faculty to man, that he might employ it on His praises. (H. Melvill, B. D.)
The spiritual benefit of improved psalmody
I do not merely mean that there is a humanizing power in music, and that the poor, taught to sing, are likely to be less wild, and less prone to disorder, and therefore more accessible to the ministrations of religion. Not, indeed, that I would make no account for this, for I thoroughly believe that, in improving the tastes of a people, you are doing much for their moral advancement. I like to see our cottagers encouraged to train the rose and the honeysuckle round their doors, and our weavers, as is often the fact, dividing their attention between their looms and their carnations; for the man who can take care of a flower, and who is all alive to its beauty, is far less likely than another, who has no delight in such recreations, to give himself up to gross lusts and habits. But, independently on this, if singing were generally taught, the psalmody in our churches could not fail to be generally improved. And I am quite sure that this could not take place without, by the blessing of God, a great spiritual benefit. (H. Melvill, B. D.)
The closing hymn
1. It bears testimony to the inspiration of Christian song.
2. It bears testimony to the comfort of Christian song.
3. It bears testimony to the brotherhood of Christian song.
4. This act bears testimony to the power of song. Consider the nature of this hymn. Jesus kept the Passover. He conformed to the Jewish custom.
They use the hundred and thirteenth psalm, and five following psalms.
1. It was a song of praise.
2. It was a song of victory.
3. It was a song of joy. (J. A. Gray.)
The hymn of the Eucharist
In some respects this is one of the most remarkable statements in the life of our Saviour. Jesus sang. What was the subject of their song? The presumption is strong that they sung one of the inspired psalms.
1. In these words there is a fearful meaning. They went out to the scene of agony.
2. Is it not a fair conclusion, that sacred song adapts itself to seasons of the deepest grief? Songs of praise are not to be intermitted or silenced by seasons of great affliction.
3. That our emotions are increased or relieved by due utterance.
4. The particular mention of this hymn by two of the Evangelists, amidst the very record of our Lords death, shows clearly that sacred praise harmonises well with all the facts and all the doctrines of the atoning work. What can be a stronger argument for the authority and fitness of sacred song, in connection with sacramental communions! There is greatly needed a revival of the spirit of worship. (J. W. Alexander, D. D.)
The memorable hymn
I. The fact that Jesus sang at such a time as this. What does He teach us by it?
1. My religion is one of happiness and joy.
2. Our Lords complete fulfilment of the law is even more worthy of our attention. It was customary when the Passover was held, to sing, and this is the main reason why the Saviour did so.
3. The holy absorption of the Saviours soul in His Fathers will.
4. His whole-heartedness in the work He was about to do.
II. The singing of the disciples. Like true Jews they joined in the national song. Israel had good cause to sing at the Passover. What shall I say of those who are the Lords spiritually redeemed?
III. How earnestly I desire you to sing a hymn. Let your hearts be brimming with the essence of praise. What hymn shall we sing? Many sorts of hymns were sung in the olden time; look down the list, and you will scarce find one which will not suit us now-the war song, the pastoral, the festive songs, the love song, etc.
IV. What shall the tune be? The tune must have all the parts of music. It must be very soft, sweet, strong, etc.
V. Who shall sing this hymn? All the Fathers children. They only can. (C. H. Spurgeon.)
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
Verse 30. And when they had sung a hymn] means, probably, no more than a kind of recitative reading or chanting. As to the hymn itself, we know, from the universal consent of Jewish antiquity, that it was composed of Psalms 113, 114, 115, 116, 117, and 118, termed by the Jews halel, from halelu-yah, the first word in Psalm 113. These six Psalms were always sung at every paschal solemnity. They sung this great hillel on account of the five great benefits referred to in it; viz.
1. The Exodus from Egypt, Ps 114:1.
When Israel went out of Egypt, &c.
2. The miraculous division of the Red Sea, Ps 114:3.
The sea saw it and fled.
3. The promulgation of the law, Ps 114:4.
The mountains skipped like lambs.
4. The resurrection of the dead, Ps 116:9.
I will walk before the Lord in the land of the living.
5. The passion of the Messiah, Ps 115:1.
Not unto us, O Lord, not unto us, &c.
See Schoettgen, Hor. Hebr. p. 231, and my Discource on the nature and design of the Eucharist, 8vo. Lond. 1808.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
And when they had sung an hymn,…. The “Hallell”, which the Jews were obliged to sing on the night of the passover; for the passover, they say l, was , “bound to an hymn”. This “Hallell”, or song of praise, consisted of six Psalms, the 113th, 114th, 115th, 116th, 117th, and 118th m: now this they did not sing all at once, but in parts. Just before the drinking of the second cup and eating of the lamb, they sung the first part of it, which contained the 113th and 114th Psalms; and on mixing the fourth and last cup, they completed the “Hallell”, by singing the rest of the Psalms, beginning with the 115th Psalm, and ending with the 118th; and said over it, what they call the “blessing of the song”, which was Ps 145:10, c., and they might, if they would, mix a fifth cup, but that they were not obliged to, and say over it the “great Hallell”, or “hymn”, which was the 136th Psalm n. Now the last part of the “Hallell”, Christ deferred to the close of his supper there being many things in it pertinent to him, and proper on this occasion, particularly Ps 115:1, and the Jews themselves say o, that , “the sorrows of the Messiah” are contained in this part: that this is the hymn which Christ and his disciples sung, may be rather thought, than that it was one of his own composing; since not only he, but all the disciples sung it, and therefore must be what they were acquainted with; and since Christ in most things conformed to the rites and usages of the Jewish nation; and he did not rise up from table and go away, until this concluding circumstance was over; though it was allowed to finish the “Hallell”, or hymn, in any place they pleased, even though it was not the place where the feast was kept p however, as soon as it was over,
they went out to the Mount of Olives; he and his disciples, excepting Judas: first he himself alone, and then the disciples followed him, according to Lu 22:39, and the Persic version here reads it, “he went out”. This seems to be contrary to a Jewish canon; for the passover was , “bound to lodging a night” q; that is, as the gloss explains it,
“the first night (i.e. of the passover) a man must lodge in Jerusalem; thenceforward it was lawful to dwell without the wall, within the border.”
And a little after, the same phrase, being bound to lodge, is explained, one night in the midst of the city: but Christ had more important business to attend unto, than to comply with this rule, which was not obligatory by the word of God, though the Jews pretend to found it on De 16:7 r. The place where he went with his disciples, was the Mount of Olives, which was on the east side of Jerusalem; and was the place where the high priest stood, and burnt the red heifer, and sprinkled its blood s: now from the temple, or from the mountain of the house, there was a causeway, or bridge on arches, made to the Mount of Olives, in which the high priest and the heifer, , “and all his assistants”, (the priests that helped him in this service,) went to this mount t: in this same way it is very probable, went Christ the great high priest, who was typified by the red heifer, and his companions the disciples, to the same place, where he had his bloody sweat, and where his sorrows and sufferings began.
l Misn. Pesach. c. 9. 3. T. Bab. Pesach. fol. 95. 1, 2. m Seder Tephillot, fol. 101, &c. Ed. Amstelod. n Maimon. Hilch. Chametz Umetzah, c. 8. sect. 5. 10. o T. Bab. Pesachim, fol. 118. 1. p Maimon. ut supra. (Hilch. Chametz Umetzah, c. 8. sect. 5. 10.) q T. Bab. Pesach. fol. 95. 2. r Talmud ib. & Jarchi in Dent. xvi. 7. s Misn. Middot, c. 2. sect. 4. T. Bab. Yoma, fol. 16. 1. t Misn. Parah, c. 3. sect. 6. & Middot, c 1. sect. 3. & Maimon. & Bartenora in ib.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
Sang a hymn (). The Hallel, part of Ps 115-118. But apparently they did not go out at once to the Garden of Gethsemane. Jesus tarried with them in the Upper Room for the wonderful discourse and prayer in Joh 14-17. They may have gone out to the street after Joh 14:31. It was no longer considered obligatory to remain in the house after the passover meal till morning as at the start (Ex 12:22). Jesus went out to Gethsemane, the garden of the agony, outside of Jerusalem, toward the Mount of Olives.
Fuente: Robertson’s Word Pictures in the New Testament
Sung a hymn. Very probably the second part of the Jewish Hallel or Hallelujah, embracing Psalms 115, 116, 117, 118.
They went out. In the original institution of the Passover it was enjoined that no one should go out of his house until morning (Exo 12:22). Evidently this had ceased to be regarded as obligatory.
Fuente: Vincent’s Word Studies in the New Testament
(30) And when they had sung an hymn.This close of the supper would seem to coincide (but the work of the harmonist is not an easy one here) with the Rise, let us go hence of Joh. 14:31, and, if so, we have to think of the conversation in John 14 as either coming between the departure of Judas and the institution of the Lords Supper, or else between that institution and the concluding hymn. This was probably the received Paschal series of Psalms (Psalms 115-118, inclusive), and the word implies a chant or musical recitative. Psalms 113, 114, were sung commonly during the meal. The Greek word may mean when they had sung their hymn, as of something known and definite.
They went out into the mount of Olives.We must think of the breaking up of the Paschal company; of the fear and forebodings which pressed upon the minds of all, as they left the chamber and made their way, under the cold moonlight, through the streets of Jerusalem, down to the valley of the Kidron and up the western slope of Olivet. St. Luke records that His disciples followed Him, some near, some, it may be, afar off. The discourses reported in John 15, 16, 17, which must be assigned to this period in the evening, seem to imply a halt from time to time, during which the Master poured forth His heart to His disciples, or uttered intercessions for them. St. John, who had lain in His bosom at the supper, would naturally be nearest to Him now, and this may, in part at least, explain how it was that so full a report of all that was thus spoken appears in his Gospel, and in that only.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
30. And when they had sung a hymn According to the custom of the Jews, the passover was closed with singing what they called the Hallel, which consisted of Psalms cxiii-cxviii. It may be remarked that this is the only time our Lord is described as sanctioning by his example the exercise of singing. Before this closing exercise our Lord uttered the discourses and offered the prayer recorded in John, xiv-xvii.
Went out into the mount of Olives Our Lord is to be pictured to our minds as rising about nine or ten o’clock in the evening from the supper-table, and walking, followed by his accustomed train, (probably through the Golden, now St. Stephen’s Gate,) down the gorge, and across the brook Kedron, until he comes into a wood or grove called Gethsemane. Mat 26:36.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
‘And when they had sung a hymn, they went out to the mount of Olives.’
The celebration coming towards its end it closes as usual with the Hallel (Psalms 115-118), after which they leave the city proper and return to the Mount of Olives (but still remaining within the bounds allowed during the Passover. The western slopes of the Mount of Olives would be within those bounds, Bethany itself was outside them). And thus in a few short verses Matthew has brought out the main significance of the meal. As so often he was not concerned about the detail, but with the main message. And he signals the close of the meal by speaking of the singing of the Hallel.
This would be sung by the disciples with particular feeling as they began to grapple in their minds with what Jesus had been saying, for it considered many of the questions that must have been flooding through their minds, as will be seen by the contents repeated from our introductory words above. Here Matthew deliberately connects the promise of the certainly of the coming of the Kingly Rule of His Father with the Hallel (Mat 26:29-30). This speaks of God being their help and their shield (Psa 115:9-11), and the One Who will multiply blessing to His people from Heaven (Psa 115:12-15; compare Mat 5:3-10; Mat 13:16-17; Mat 16:17), so that they will bless the Lord (Psa 115:18). It reveals Him as the One Who will deliver them from death to life even when they are greatly afflicted (Psa 116:8-10; compare Mat 7:14; Mat 16:25; Mat 19:29; Mat 25:46), so that they will lift up the cup of salvation and call on the name of the Lord (Psa 116:13; Mat 26:27-28). Thus they will offer to Him the sacrifice of thanksgiving and call on the name of the Lord (Psa 116:17), praising Him for His covenant love towards them (Psa 117:2; Psa 118:2-3), for He is their strength and their song, and has also become their deliverance (Psa 118:14; Mat 1:21). The gates of righteousness will be opened to them for them to enter in (Psa 118:19; compare Mat 5:6; Mat 5:20; Mat 21:32), because He is their salvation (Psa 118:21; Mat 1:21), and this because the stone which the builders rejected has become the headstone of the corner (Psa 118:22; compare Mat 21:42). Thus ‘blessed is the One Who comes in the name of the Lord’ (Psa 118:26; compare Mat 21:9; Mat 23:39). Here are all the elements of the ‘drinking of the fruit of the vine (depicting rejoicing and celebration and partaking of the cup of salvation) in the Kingly Rule of His Father’. As Jesus said, ‘I will not drink again of this fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new with you within My Father’s Kingly Rule’, for then salvation will have been accomplished and they will have received life out of death (Mat 7:14; Mat 16:25; Mat 19:29; Mat 25:46) and will be going out with His salvation to the world with ‘the Good News of the Kingly Rule’ (Mat 24:14).
‘They went out to the Mount of Olives.’ Mention of the Mount of Olives at such a crucial time would ring bells in the minds of Christian Jews. The Mount of Olives was the place where great events were to take place when God began to act (Zec 14:4-9) which would lead to the establishment of God’s Kingly Rule (Zec 14:9). Now those events were beginning.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
Events at Gethsemane.
The prophecy of the denial:
v. 30. And when they had sung an hymn, they went out into the Mount of Olives.
v. 31. Then saith Jesus unto them, All ye shall be offended because of Me this night; for it is written, I will smite the Shepherd, and the sheep of the flock shall be scattered abroad.
v. 32. But after I am risen again, I will go before you into Galilee.
v. 33. Peter answered and said unto Him, Though all men shall be offended because of Thee, yet will I never be offended.
v. 34. Jesus said unto him, Verily I say unto thee, That this night, before the cock crow, thou shalt deny Me thrice.
v. 35. Peter said unto Him, Though I should die with Thee, yet will I not deny Thee. Likewise also said all the disciples. The concluding section of the great Hallel was sung after the close of the paschal meal, a solemn thanksgiving to God for all His gifts of goodness and mercy. Then Jesus led the way out of the upper room, through the narrow streets of Jerusalem, and across the dark valley of the Kidron, toward the slopes of Mount Olivet, to the garden of the agony. As they were passing along, now in the brightness of the spring full moon, then again in the obscurity of deep shadows cast by the olive trees along the path, Jesus, among other things, predicted that they all would become scandalized, become offended, be induced to stumble against Him that night. The distress of this night’s events would prove too great for their weak faith. They would not be able to reconcile their ideas of His divinity with the evidence of His greatest humiliation, as it would be presented to them that night. This had been prophesied by Zechariah, chapter 13:7. I shall smite the Shepherd, God had said, and the sheep of the flock will be dispersed widely. As a herd of sheep without a leader soon wanders astray, and is in great danger of becoming a prey to ravenous beasts, so the disciples, without the assurance of Christ’s almighty presence, would become victims of doubt, in danger of losing their faith altogether. Therefore Christ immediately reassures them, not only of His resurrection, but also of the fact that He would precede them into Galilee and that they would be able to see Him again. But Peter was not satisfied with Christ’s declaration. It reflected upon his faithfulness, and he was suffering, just then, with a fair amount of self-conceit. Therefore he objected to Christ’s sweeping statement, demanding an exception in his case; the others might be so forgetful of themselves as to become guilty of such gross misconduct, but as for him, he would never be offended. That was presumption and overweeningness. And therefore Christ declares unto him definitely that he would deny Him three times during that same night, before the time of cock-crowing, about three o’clock in the morning, Mar 13:35. Since the first crowing of the cock usually takes place somewhat before midnight, the more emphatic declaration of Jesus that Peter would actually deny Him thrice before the cock crow twice should have shaken him up out of his dream of self-complacency. But he is still stubborn, contradicting the Master vehemently: Though it should become necessary to die with Him, he most surely would not deny the Lord. And the other disciples seconded this bragging talk, instead of imploring the Lord for grace and power in the hour of temptation. A Christian that places his trust in his own ability to withstand the wiles of the devil, is less secure than a leaking canoe in the midst of a typhoon.
Fuente: The Popular Commentary on the Bible by Kretzmann
Mat 26:30. And when they had sung an hymn This is thought by some to have been one of the Psalms used at the paschal feast, (see on Mat 26:20.) though Grotius and others are of opinion, that it possibly was some other hymn more closely adapted to the celebration of the eucharist. The mount of Olives stood over against the temple of Jerusalem, about fifteen stadia from the city. Our Lord usually retired thither after having taught in the temple.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
Mat 26:30 . ] namely, the second portion of the Hallel (Psalms 115-118). See Buxtorf, Lex. Talm . p. 613 f. Jesus also took part in the singing. Comp. Justin, c. Tr. 106.
, . . .] The regulation (comp. Exo 12:22 ), which required that this night should be spent in the city (Lightfoot, p. 564), appears not to have been universally complied with. See Tosapht in Pesach . 8 in Lightfoot, minister templi , p. 727.
Fuente: Heinrich August Wilhelm Meyer’s New Testament Commentary
30 And when they had sung an hymn, they went out into the mount of Olives.
Ver. 30. And when they had sung an hymn ] The Jews at the Passover sang the great hallelujah, that is, the 113th Psalm with the five following Psalms. This they began to sing after that dismissory cup mentioned before. At all times we should sing hallelujahs, with grace in our hearts to the Lord; but at the sacrament the great hallelujah, the hosannah Rabbah. We should credit the feast by our spiritual jollity, shouting as a giant after his wine, singing and making melody to the Lord in our hearts. Chrysostom maketh mention of a hymn of thanksgiving, wont to be used by the monks of his time after they had supped: a and he calleth them angels for their holy and heavenly life and conversation. We should come from the Lord’s table, as Moses did from the mount, with our faces shining; as the good women, did from the sepulchre, “with fear and great joy;” as the people went to their tents from Solonmn’s feast, “joyful and glad of heart,” 1Ki 8:66 . If those in the wilderness were so cheered and cherished by their idolatrous feast before the golden calf; that they “eat and drink, and rise up to play,” 1Co 10:7 , how much more should we by this blessed banquet? To whet our stomachs, let faith feed upon some promise before the sacrament. A moderate breakfast gets a man the better stomach to his dinner, &c.
a . Hom. 55 in Matt.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
30 35. ] DECLARATION THAT ALL SHOULD FORSAKE HIM. CONFIDENCE OF PETER. Mar 14:26-31 . See Luk 22:31-38 ; Joh 13:36-38 . Here, accurately speaking perhaps between and , come in the discourses and prayer of our Lord in John 14-17, spoken (see note on Joh 14:31 ) without change of place, in the supper-chamber.
Fuente: Henry Alford’s Greek Testament
30. ] The was in all probability the last part of the Hallel, or great Hallel, which consisted of Psa 115:1-18 ; Psa 116:1-19 ; Psa 117:1-2 ; Psa 118:1-29 ; the former part (Ps. 113. 114.) having been sung during the meal. It is unlikely that this took place after the solemn prayer in Joh 17:1-26 .
. ] Luke ( Luk 22:39 ) adds namely, of every evening since his return to Jerusalem.
Fuente: Henry Alford’s Greek Testament
Mat 26:30-46 . Gethsemane (Mar 14:26-42 , Luk 22:39-46 ).
Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson
Mat 26:30 . . With this participle, referring to the last act within the supper chamber the singing of the paschal hymn (the Hallel, part 2, Psalms 115-118, or possibly a new song, Grotius) we pass without, and after talk between Jesus and the disciples, arising out of the situation, arrive at the scene of another sacred memory of the passion eve. If, as is said (Lightfoot, Hor. Heb. ), it was required of Jews that they should spend passover night in Jerusalem, the spirit of Jesus led Him elsewhere towards the Mount of Olives, to the garden of the agony.
Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson
Matthew
THE NEW PASSOVER
Mat 26:17 – Mat 26:30
The Tuesday of Passion Week was occupied by the wonderful discourses which have furnished so many of our meditations. At its close Jesus sought retirement in Bethany, not only to soothe and prepare His spirit but to ‘hide Himself’ from the Sanhedrin. There He spent the Wednesday. Who can imagine His thoughts? While He was calmly reposing in Mary’s quiet home, the rulers determined on His arrest, but were at a loss how to effect it without a riot. Judas comes to them opportunely, and they leave it to him to give the signal. Possibly we may account for the peculiar secrecy observed as to the place for the last supper, by our Lord’s knowledge that His steps were watched, and by His earnest wish to eat the Passover with the disciples before He suffered. The change between the courting of publicity and almost inviting of arrest at the beginning of the week, and the evident desire to postpone the crisis till the fitting moment which marks the close of it, is remarkable, and most naturally explained by the supposition that He wished the time of His death to be that very hour when, according to law, the paschal lamb was slain. On the Thursday, then, he sent Peter and John into the city to prepare the Passover; the others being in ignorance of the place till they were there, and Judas being thus prevented from carrying out his purpose till after the celebration.
The precautions taken to ensure this have left their mark on Matthew’s narrative, in the peculiar designation of the host,-’Such a man!’ It is a kind of echo of the mystery which he so well remembered as round the errand of the two. He does not seem to have heard of the token by which they knew the house, viz., the man with the pitcher whom they were to meet. But he does know that Peter and John got secret instructions, and that he and the others wondered where they were to go. Had there been a previous arrangement with this unnamed ‘such an one,’ or were the token and the message alike instances of Christ’s supernatural knowledge and authority? It is difficult to say. I incline to the former supposition, which would be in accordance with the distinct effort after secrecy which marks these days; but the narratives do not decide the question. At all events, the host was a disciple, as appears from the authoritative ‘the Master saith’; and, whether he had known beforehand that ‘this day’ incarnate ‘salvation would come to his house’ or no, he eagerly accepts the peril and the honour. His message is royal in its tone. The Lord does not ask permission, but issues His commands. But He is a pauper King, not having where to lay His head, and needing another man’s house in which to gather His own household together for the family feast of the Passover. What profound truths are wrapped up in that ‘My time is come’! It speaks of the voluntariness of His surrender, the consciousness that His Cross was the centre point of His work, His superiority to all external influences as determining the hour of His death, and His submission to the supreme appointment of the Father. Obedience and freedom, choice and necessity, are wonderfully blended in it.
So, late on that Thursday evening, the little band left Bethany for the last time, in a fashion very unlike the joyous stir of the triumphal entry. As the evening is falling, they thread their way through the noisy streets, all astir with the festal crowds, and reach the upper room, Judas vainly watching for an opportunity to slip away on his black errand. The chamber, prepared by unknown hands, has vanished, and the hands are dust; but both are immortal. How many of the living acts of His servants in like manner seem to perish, and the doers of them to be forgotten or unknown! But He knows the name of ‘such an one,’ and does not forget that he opened his door for Him to enter in and sup.
The fact that Jesus put aside the Passover and founded the Lord’s Supper in its place, tells much both about His authority and its meaning. What must He have conceived of Himself, who bade Jew and Gentile turn away from that God-appointed festival, and think not of Moses, but of Him? What did He mean by setting the Lord’s Supper in the place of the Passover, if He did not mean that He was the true Paschal Lamb, that His death was a true sacrifice, that in His sprinkled blood was safety, that His death inaugurated the better deliverance of the true Israel from a darker prison-house and a sorer bondage, that His followers were a family, and that ‘the children’s bread’ was the sacrifice which He had made? There are many reasons for the doubling of the commemorative emblem, but this is obviously one of the chief-that, by the separation of the two in the rite, we are carried back to the separation in fact; that is to say, to the violent death of Christ. Not His flesh alone, in the sense of Incarnation, but His body broken and His blood shed, are what He wills should be for ever remembered. His own estimate of the centre point of His work is unmistakably pronounced in His institution of this rite.
But we may consider the force of each emblem separately. In many important points they mean the same things, but they have each their own significance as well. Matthew’s condensed version of the words of institution omits all reference to the breaking of the body and to the memorial character of the observance, but both are implied. He emphasises the reception, the participation, and the significance of the bread. As to the latter, ‘This is My body’ is to be understood in the same way as ‘the field is the world,’ and many other sayings. To speak in the language of grammarians, the copula is that of symbolic relationship, not that of existence; or, to speak in the language of the street, ‘is’ here means, as it often does, ‘represents.’ How could it mean anything else, when Christ sat there in His body, and His blood was in His veins? What, then, is the teaching of this symbol? It is not merely that He in His humanity is the bread of life, but that He in His death is the nourishment of our true life. In that great discourse in John’s Gospel, which embodies in words the lessons which the Lord’s Supper teaches by symbols, He advances from the general statement, ‘I am the Bread of Life,’ to the yet more mysterious and profound teaching that His flesh, which at some then future point He will ‘give for the life of the world,’ is the bread; thus distinctly foreshadowing His death, and asserting that by that death we live, and by partaking of it are nourished. The participation in the benefits of Christ’s death, which is symbolised by ‘Take, eat,’ is effected by living faith. We feed on Christ when our minds are occupied with His truth, and our hearts nourished by His love, when it is the ‘meat’ of our wills to do His will, and when our whole inward man fastens on Him as its true object, and draws from Him its best being. But the act of reception teaches the great lesson that Christ must be in us, if He is to do us any good. He is not ‘for us’ in any real sense, unless He be ‘in us.’ The word rendered in John’s Gospel ‘eateth’ is that used for the ruminating of cattle, and wonderfully indicates the calm, continual, patient meditation by which alone we can receive Christ into our hearts, and nourish our lives on Him. Bread eaten is assimilated to the body, but this bread eaten assimilates the eater to itself, and he who feeds on Christ becomes Christ-like, as the silk-worm takes the hue of the leaves on which it browses. Bread eaten to-day will not nourish us to-morrow, neither will past experiences of Christ’s sweetness sustain the soul. He must be ‘our daily bread’ if we are not to pine with hunger.
The wine carries its own special teaching, which clearly appears in Matthew’s version of the words of institution. It is ‘My blood,’ and by its being presented in a form separate from the bread which is His body suggests a violent death. It is ‘covenant blood,’ the seal of that ‘better covenant’ than the old, which God makes now with all mankind, wherein are given renewed hearts which carry the divine law within themselves; the reciprocal and mutually blessed possession of God by men and of men by God, the universally diffused knowledge of God, which is more than head knowledge, being the consciousness of possessing Him; and, finally, the oblivion of all sins. These promises are fulfilled, and the covenant made sure, by the shed blood of Christ. So, finally, it is ‘shed for many, for the remission of sins.’ The end of Christ’s death is pardon which can only be extended on the ground of His death. We are told that Christ did not teach the doctrine of atonement. Did He establish the Lord’s Supper? If He did and nobody denies that, what did He mean by it, if He did not mean the setting forth by symbol of the very same truth which, stated in words, is the doctrine of His atoning death? This rite does not, indeed, explain the rationale of the doctrine; but it is a piece of unmeaning mummery, unless it preaches plainly the fact that Christ’s death is the ground of our forgiveness.
Bread is the ‘staff of life,’ but blood is the life. So ‘this cup’ teaches that ‘the life’ of Jesus Christ must pass into His people’s veins, and that the secret of the Christian life is ‘I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me.’ Wine is joy, and the Christian life is not only to be a feeding of the soul on Christ as its nourishment, but a glad partaking, as at a feast, of His life and therein of His joy. Gladness of heart is a Christian duty, ‘the joy of the Lord is your strength’ and should be our joy; and though here we eat with loins girt, and go out, some of us to deny, some of us to flee, all of us to toil and suffer, yet we may have His joy fulfilled in ourselves, even whilst we sorrow.
The Lord’s Supper is predominantly a memorial, but it is also a prophecy, and is marked as such by the mysterious last words of Jesus, about drinking the new wine in the Father’s kingdom. They point the thoughts of the saddened eleven, on whom the dark shadow of parting lay heavily, to an eternal reunion, in a land where ‘all things are become new,’ and where the festal cup shall be filled with a draught that has power to gladden and to inspire beyond any experience here. The joys of heaven will be so far analogous to the Christian joys of earth that the same name may be applied to both; but they will be so unlike that the old name will need a new meaning, and communion with Christ at His table in His kingdom, and our exuberance of joy in the full drinking in of His immortal life, will transcend the selectest hours of communion here. Compared with that fulness of joy they will be ‘as water unto wine,’-the new wine of the kingdom.
Fuente: Expositions Of Holy Scripture by Alexander MacLaren
NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: Mat 26:30
30After singing a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives.
Mat 26:30 “singing a hymn” The hymn was probably one or more of the Hallel Psalms 113-118, or 146-150, traditionally used at the close of the Passover ceremony or it may have been the Great Hallel (cf. Psalms 136).
Fuente: You Can Understand the Bible: Study Guide Commentary Series by Bob Utley
hymn = Psalm. Probably the second part of “the great Hallel” (or Hallelujah), Psalms 115, 116, 117, 118.
they went out. Another proof that this was not the Passover lamb. Compare Exo 12:22. See note on Mat 26:20.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
30-35.] DECLARATION THAT ALL SHOULD FORSAKE HIM. CONFIDENCE OF PETER. Mar 14:26-31. See Luk 22:31-38; Joh 13:36-38. Here, accurately speaking perhaps between and , come in the discourses and prayer of our Lord in John 14-17, spoken (see note on Joh 14:31) without change of place, in the supper-chamber.
Fuente: The Greek Testament
Mat 26:30. , having sung a hymn or hymns) sc. they either sang or recited[1140] Psalms 113, 114, 115, 118, 136 in which the mystery of Redemption is notably expressed. The hymn also contained the words which are quoted in ch. Mat 21:9; Mat 21:42. Our Lord is frequently said to have prayed while on earth; never to have sung.
[1140] After the recital of the hymn, and not previously, followed those things which John records in his chapters 15, 16, 17; for the hymn is closely connected with the Passover supper; and such is the formula of connection, Joh 18:1, that the prayers of Jesus, John 17, cannot be separated from His departure out of the city by the hymn. We may, not without good reason, suppose that the hymn was recited whilst they were yet in the supper room; but that the words of Jesus, in chapters 15 and 16 of John, and also the prayers, ch. 17, were spoken in the open air (Mat 26:1, Jesus lifted up His eyes to heaven), in the court of the house where He had supped, and within the city.-Harm., p. 522.
Fuente: Gnomon of the New Testament
when: Psa 81:1-4, Mar 14:26, Eph 5:19, Eph 5:20, Col 3:16, Col 3:17
hymn: or, psalm
they went: Luk 21:37, Luk 22:39, Joh 14:31, Joh 18:1-4
Reciprocal: Exo 12:22 – and none 1Ki 11:7 – the hill 1Ch 16:9 – psalms Psa 18:49 – sing Psa 113:1 – General Isa 30:29 – in the night Mat 21:1 – the mount Mar 11:1 – at the Act 1:12 – from Jam 5:13 – let him sing
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
6:30
According to Thayer and Robinson this hymn was one of the Psalms of David. The mount of Olives was the site of Gethsemane which will be explained at verse 36.
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
Mat 26:30. And when they had sung a hymn (Psalms 115-118.), they went out unto the mount of Olives, to Gethsemane (Mat 26:36). Between the hymn and the going out we must insert the discourse and prayer of John 14-17. The place of eating the Passover was probably kept concealed, to give time for that closing interview, appropriately called, the Holy of Holies.
Fuente: A Popular Commentary on the New Testament
Mat 26:30-32. And when they had sung a hymn Which was constantly sung at the close of the passover. It consisted of six psalms, from the 113th to the 118th. See the contents of Psalms 113. They went out into the mount of Olives That is, after some other facts had occurred, and some other instructions, advices, and warnings, see Luk 22:24-28; Joh 13:31-38; and the divine discourse recorded John 14. had been delivered to the eleven disciples: the sermon contained in the 15th and 16th chapters of the same gospel, it seems, being preached on the mount of Olives, where also Christ offered to his Father his intercessory prayer, in chap. 18. Then saith Jesus After they arrived on the mount of Olives. All ye shall be offended because of me this night Notwithstanding all the faith you have professed in me, and all the affection which you bear me, yet, not only one, or another, but all of you shall be so terrified by the distress befalling me in your presence, and by a view of the sufferings which I am beginning to pass through, that it shall prove the sad occasion of your giving way to unbelief and sin, and of your forsaking me, your master and friend. For it is written, Zec 13:7, I will smite the shepherd, &c. I am that shepherd, and you the timorous sheep, that will be scattered by the assault made on your keeper. But, as it is afterward added there, by way of encouragement, I will turn my hand upon the little ones, namely, to reduce and recover them from this dispersed state; so likewise, I assure you for your comfort, that after I am risen from the dead, as I soon shall be, I will go before you, as a shepherd before his sheep, into Galilee, and there give not only to you, my apostles, but to all my disciples, the amplest demonstration both of my resurrection and my love; whereby your hearts shall be established in the firmest adherence to me; for though you forsake me, I will not for this forsake you.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
CXXIII.
GOING TO GETHSEMANE, AND AGONY THEREIN.
(A garden between the brook Kidron and the Mount of Olives. Late Thursday night.)
aMATT. XXVI. 30, 36-46; bMARK XIV. 26, 32-42; cLUKE XXII. 39-46; dJOHN XVIII. 1.
d1 When Jesus had spoken these words [the words contained in Joh_1-17:26], a30 And when they had sung a hymn [the shadow of the cross did not quench the spirit of praise in Christ], they went out c39 And he came out, and dhe went forth with his disciples cas his custom was, dover the brook Kidron, ainto {bunto} the mount of Olives. dwhere was a garden, into which he entered, himself and his disciples. {cand the disciples also followed him.} a36 Then cometh Jesus with them b32 And they come unto a place which was named {acalled} Gethsemane [The name Gethsemane means a place of oil-presses, and hence it accords well with the name of the mountain at whose base it was situated. But the place was now a garden. It was about half a mile from the city, and from what Luke says here and elsewhere ( Luk 21:37), it seems that Jesus often resorted to it while in Jerusalem at the festivals. Compare also Joh 18:2], c40 And when he was at the place, he said {asaith} unto his disciples, Sit ye here, while I pray. cPray that ye enter not into temptation. [As the hour of trial and temptation came upon Jesus he fortified himself against it by prayer. And he bade his disciples do likewise, for his arrest would involve them also in temptations which he [685] foresaw that they would not be able to withstand.] a37 And he took {btaketh} with him Peter aand the two sons of Zebedee, bJames and John, and began to be greatly amazed, asorrowful and sore troubled. [While seeking heavenly aid in this hour of extremity, our Lord also manifested his desire for human sympathy. All the eleven apostles were with him in the garden, and the three most capable of sympathizing with him were stationed nearer to him than the rest.] c41 And he was parted from them about a stone’s cast [one hundred fifty to two hundred feet]; b34 And a38 Then saith he unto them, My soul is exceeding sorrowful, even unto death: babide ye here, and watch. awith me. [The sequel shows that the phrase “even unto death” was no figure of rhetoric. The nervous prostration of Jesus was such as to endanger his life, and the watching of the apostles may have been doubly needful. Not only did he require their sympathy, but he may also have looked to them to render him assistance in the case of a physical collapse.] 39 And he went forward a little, cand he kneeled down band fell on the face, aand fell on his face, and prayed, bthat, if it were possible, the hour might pass away from him. [This posture was expressive of the most intense supplication.] 36 And he said, {asaying,} bAbba, aMy Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass away from me: ball things are possible unto thee; cif thou be willing, remove this cup from me: bhowbeit anevertheless, not as {bwhat} I will, abut as {bwhat} thou wilt. cnot my will, but thine, be done. [Much of mystery is found in all life, so it is small wonder if the dual nature of Jesus presents insoluble problems. It perplexes many to find that the divine in Jesus did not sustain him better during his trial in the garden. But we must remember that it was appointed unto Jesus to die, and that the divine in him was not to interfere with this appointment, or the approaches to it. For want, therefore, of a better expression, we may say that from the time Jesus entered the garden until he expired on the cross, the human in him was in the [686] ascendant; and “being found in fashion as a man,” he endured these trials is if wholly human. His prayer, therefore, is the cry of his humanity for deliverance. The words “if it is possible” with which it opens breathe the same spirit of submissive obedience which is found in the closing words. Reminding the Father of the limitless range of his power, he petitions him to change his counsel as to the crucifixion of the Son, if his gracious purposes can be in any other way carried out. Jesus uses the words “cup” and “hour” interchangeably. They are both words of broad compass, intended to include all that he would undergo from that time until his resurrection. They embrace all his mental, moral, physical, and spiritual suffering which we can discover, together with an infinite volume of a propitiatory and vicarious nature which lies beyond the reach of our understanding. The submission of Jesus was no new fruitage of his character; the prayer of the garden had been the inner purpose of his entire life– Joh 5:30, Joh 6:38.] 43 And there appeared unto him an angel from heaven, strengthening him. 44 And being in an agony he prayed more earnestly; and his sweat became as it were great drops of blood falling down upon the ground. [Commentators give instances of bloody sweat under abnormal pathological conditions.] 45 And when he rose up from his prayer, he came {acometh} unto the disciples, and findeth {cfound} them sleeping for sorrow, 46 and said unto them, Why sleep ye? rise and pray, that ye enter not into temptation. [The admonition which had at first been addressed to all the eleven is now spoken to the chosen three] aand saith unto Peter, bSimon, sleepest thou? couldest thou not watch one hour? aWhat, could ye not watch with me one hour? 41 Watch and pray, that ye enter not into temptation: the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak. [Peter, having boasted of his loyalty, has his weakness pointed out and is further warned to be on his guard, since the weakness of his nature will not stand the coming strain. The slumber of the disciples was not through indifference; but was [687] caused by the prostration of grief. When we remember the excitement which they had endured that night, the tender words spoken by Jesus, the sadness of which was intensified by the atmosphere of mystery which pervaded them, the beautiful and touching prayer, and lastly this agony in the garden, it is not to be wondered at that the apostles, spurred by no sense of danger, should succumb to the long-borne tension and fall asleep. Had they comprehended how much the Lord needed their wakeful sympathy as he came again and again seeking for it, they would probably have kept awake.] b39 And again aa second time he went away, and prayed, bsaying the same words. asaying, My Father, if this cannot pass away, except I drink it, thy will be done. [Jesus here speaks of draining the cup. The “cup” was a common Hebrew figure used to denote one’s divinely appointed lot or fortune– Psa 23:5, Psa 75:8, Isa 51:17, Isa 51:22, Eze 23:31-33.] 43 And he came again and found them sleeping, for their eyes were bvery heavy; and they knew not what to answer him. [They were ashamed of the stupor which had come upon them and knew not what apology to make for it.] a44 And he left them again, and went away, and prayed a third time, saying again the same words. b41 And a45 Then cometh he to the disciples, bthe third time, and saith unto them, Sleep on now, and that your rest: it is enough; abehold, the hour is at hand, {bthe hour is come;} aand bbehold, the Son of man is betrayed into the hands of sinners. 42 Arise, let us be going: behold, he that betrayeth me is at hand. [Our Lord’s words are paradoxical. In our judgment the saying is best understood by regarding the first part of it as spoken from the Lord’s viewpoint, while the latter part is spoken from the disciple’s viewpoint. It is as if he said, “So far as I am concerned, you may sleep on and take your rest, for the time to be of comfort or assistance to me has wholly passed. But so far as you yourselves are concerned, you must arise and be going, because Judas with his band of temple police is upon us.”] [688]
[FFG 685-693]
Fuente: McGarvey and Pendleton Commentaries (New Testament)
GETHSEMANE
Mat 26:30-46; Mar 14:26-42; Luk 22:39-46;Joh 18:1. Jesus speaking these things, went out with His disciples beyond the brook Kidron, where was a garden, into which He and His disciples went. This is the Garden of Gethsemane, which means oil- press, as evidently it had some celebrity for the manufacture of olive-oil, corroborative of which the olive-trees there still abound. They look very venerable. Since the olive-tree ordinarily lives five hundred to a thousand years, there is a degree of plausibility in the tradition that the identical trees under which Jesus and His disciples frequently sat still survive, as several trunks from the same root are still green and flourishing, some looking old and others young, favoring the conclusion that as the old die, others grow up, thus perpetuating the tree from the same root. Garden, in the Old World, is: frequently synonymous with park in this country; e. g., the Garden of Eden.
Mat 26:30; Mat 26:36-37. And having sung a hymn, they went out into the Mount of Olives. Then Jesus comes with them into a place called Gethsemane, and says to His disciples, Sit here, until, having gone, I shall pray yonder. And taking Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, He began to give way to sorrow and dejection. You see how He compliments Peter, James, and John by taking them with Him to the exclusion of the rest. He did the same on the Mount of Transfiguration, and also at the resurrection of Jairuss daughter evidencing a deeper insight into spiritual things on the part of the apostolic trio. The unfallen humanity of Jesus, never callused by sin, is intensely emotional, feeling infinitely more acutely than we are likely to apprehend.
Luk 22:41-44. And He departed from them about a stones cast, and putting down His knees, continued to pray, saying, Father, if this cup wishes to pass from Me. This was spoken proleptically, implying a desire on the part of His humanity to retreat from the terrible ordeals of blood, insult, treason, abuse, and death which His Divinity saw in diabolical panorama moving before His eyes. Moreover, not My will, but Thine be done. Here you see He prefers the Divine will to his own human will, giving us an exceedingly profitable example. The human will of Jesus recoiled from the horrific tragedy coming to meet Him. So will ours under all circumstances. Hence we are to sink away into the Divine will, always keeping the human meekly acquiescent.
And an angel appeared unto Him from heaven, strengthening Him. While there was no retreat from the appalling and horrific maelstrom which opened its in hellish malice, yet the loving Father sends awful crisis. Hence you see the pertinency of prayer amid all of our temptations and trials; not that we will always be delivered from them, but that our Heavenly Father will send an angel to strengthen us, giving us the needed patience, resignation, forbearance, and perseverance adequate to the conflict. And being in agony, He continued to pray the more fervently. And His perspiration was like drops of blood falling down upon the ground. All efforts to explain this agony of His human soul are utterly vain. Millions of martyrs have gone singing to the burning stake, and shouted triumphantly amid the wreathing flames. Then why did Jesus agonize so intensely in contemplation of His martyrdom? You must remember that all comparison is really impertinent and utterly out of place as to any attempted exegesis, from the simple fact that none of the martyrs atoned for the sins of the world. The Divinity could neither suffer nor die, but only served as the altar on which the humanity was immolated to atone for the sins of a guilty world. Hence the innocent Man Jesus carried upon His spotless soul all the mountains of sin committed by the guilty; race in all ages, from Adam to the latest generation. Consequently, we are utterly incompetent to know or to realize the agony which He endured in the garden. There the battle was fought between the human and the Divine will, the latter triumphing. Gethsemane was the consecration and Calvary the sanctification. In the case of the latter, we see Him nailed to the cross, and pouring out His blood, and hear nothing of humanitys recoil from the appalling tragedy, the battle having been fought and the victory won in Gethsemane. Hence the soul seeking sanctification must first pass the Gethsemane of consecration, where the human utterly and eternally submits to the Divine will. Then you are prepared cheerfully to let the Holy Ghost nail Adam the First to the cross, and let him bleed and die. The followers of Jesus must all pass through Gethsemane on their way to Calvary. This bloody sweat is unparalleled in all the history of human suffering, illustrative of the fact that the world has never seen but the one Savior, who actually carried upon His spotless soul all of its guilt and crime.
Mar 14:38-39. And He comes and finds them sleeping, and says to Peter, Simon , do you sleep? Were you not able to watch with Me one hour? Watch and pray, lest ye may enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak. They had been constantly on foot and their attention engaged so long that drowsiness and nervous relaxation proved irresistible. And again having gone away; He prayed, speaking the same word. And returning, He found them again sleeping; for their eyes were heavy, and they knew not what they respond to Him.
It is about midnight. The apostles were stout, muscular men who, in case of nervous collapse, found drowsiness irresistible. He comes the third time, and says to them, Do you sleep on and take your rest. It is over: the hour has come; behold, the Son of man is betrayed into the hands of sinners. Arise, let us be going; behold; the one having betrayed Me draweth nigh. Jesus having seen all the maneuvers of His enemies, who, under the escort of Judas, have tracked them making inquiry of the people on the streets
from the upper room where they had taken the supper on Mount Zion, through the long way of the city to the east wall, and out across the Valley of Jehoshaphat and the brook Kidron to this garden, where Jesus had so often resorted with His disciples while Judas was with them, and who consequently kept His track, leading the mob, and also having seen all the hurry and bustle of His enemies, parading the temple guards and hiring the street rabble to accompany them, now, that they are coming right into the park, and knowing they are going to arrest Him, He commands the Eleven all to wake up, and goes to meet them.
Fuente: William Godbey’s Commentary on the New Testament
Mat 26:30-35. Prediction of the Disciples Desertion (Mar 14:26-31*).In Lk. (Luk 22:31-34) the prediction is confined to Peter. Note in Mt.s narrative (a) the disaster is to be this night, (Mat 26:31), (b) one cockcrow, (c) the omission of Peters exceeding vehement denial.
Fuente: Peake’s Commentary on the Bible
26:30 And when they had sung {q} an hymn, they went out into the mount of Olives.
(q) When they had made an end of their solemn singing, which some think was six Psalms, Psa 112:1 to Psa 117:2 .
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes
What Jesus and the disciples sang was undoubtedly the last part of the Hallel (Psalms 114-18 or 115-18; cf. Mar 14:26; Luk 22:39; Joh 18:1). The Jews customarily sang this antiphonally with the leader, in this case Jesus, singing the first lines and the other participants responding with "Hallelujah!" What Jesus sang included a commitment to keep His vows (Psa 116:12-13). Another section of the Hallel referred to Messiah’s appearing (Psa 118:25-26). It is edifying to read these psalms keeping in mind Jesus singing them in the upper room with His disciples.
"The disciples in the immediacy of the moment could not have begun to realize the significance of what Jesus was saying and doing. This they would first do after the resurrection. But by the time Matthew’s readers read this account, the Eucharist had long since become a fixed component in their worship; hence they read the narrative with fuller understanding." [Note: Hagner, Matthew 14-28, p. 775.]