Now when the even was come, he sat down with the twelve.
Now when the even was come, he sat down with the twelve.
Now when even was come, he was sitting at meat with the twelve disciples;
Now when evening was come, he was seated at table with the twelve disciples;
Now when the evening was come, he sat down with the twelve.
Now when evening had come, he was reclining at the table with the twelve disciples.
Now when even was come, he was sitting at meat with the twelve disciples;
Now when the even was come, he sat down with the twelve. - It is a common opinion that our Lord ate the passover some hours before the Jews ate it; for the Jews, according to custom, ate theirs at the end of the fourteenth day, but Christ ate his the preceding even, which was the beginning of the same sixth day, or Friday; the Jews begin their day at sunsetting, we at midnight. Thus Christ ate the passover on the same day with the Jews, but not on the same hour. Christ kept this passover the beginning of the fourteenth day, the precise day and hour in which the Jews had eaten their first passover in Egypt. See Exodus 12:6-12. And in the same part of the same day in which the Jews had sacrificed their first paschal lamb, viz. between the two evenings, about the ninth hour, or 3 o'clock, Jesus Christ our passover was sacrificed for us: for it was at this hour that he yielded up his last breath; and then it was that, the sacrifice being completed, Jesus said, It Is Finished. See Exodus 12:6, etc., and Deuteronomy 16:6, etc. See on John 18:28 (note), and the Treatise on the Eucharist, referred to Matthew 26:19; and see the notes on Matthew 26:26 and following verses.
When the even was come - The lamb was killed "between the evenings," Exodus 12:6 (Hebrew) - that is between three o'clock, p. m., and nine in the evening. The Jews reckoned two evenings - one from three o'clock p. m. to sunset, the other from sunset to the close of the first watch in the night, or nine o'clock p. m. The paschal supper was commonly eaten after the setting of the sun, and often in the night, Exodus 12:8.
He sat down - At first the supper was eaten standing, with their loins girded and their staff in their hand, denoting the haste with which they were about to flee from Egypt. Afterward, however, they introduced the practice, it seems, of partaking of this as they did of their ordinary meals. The original word is, "he reclined" - that is, he placed himself on the couch in a reclining posture, in the usual manner in which they partook of their meals. See the notes at Matthew 23:6. While reclining there at the supper, the disciples had a dispute which should be the greatest. See the notes at Luke 22:24-30. At this time, also, before the institution of the Lord's supper, Jesus washed the feet of his disciples, to teach them humility. See the notes at John 13:1-20.
26:20 14:17 ; Luke 22:14.