ACC ~ Matthew 27 v44

ONE CONVERTED

ORIGEN: It is appropriate that both thieves be understood to have blasphemed the Lord at first. Afterwards, however, one of them converted and believed because of the wonders he heard performed by the Lord and also, perhaps, because he saw miraculous changes in the heavens and the falling of an untimely darkness. COMMENTARY ON MATTHEW 133. [1]

[1] GCS 38.2:271.

MOCKED IN THE SAME WAY

JEROME: Here, through a figure of speech called syllepsis, [1] instead of only one thief, both are described as having mocked Jesus. According to Luke, however, after one thief blasphemed, the other thief confessed his faith and rebuked the first. [2] The Gospels do not disagree with each other. At first each thief blasphemed. But after the sun had fled, the earth shook, rocks split apart and darkness fell, one of the thieves believed in Jesus and recanted his initial denial by a subsequent confession. Along with the two thieves each crowd of both the Gentiles and the Jews at first mocked the Lord. COMMENTARY ON MATTHEW 4.27.44. [3]

[1] Resorting to the trope of syllepsis (a grammatical construction used to perform two syntactic functions such as a free agreement between two elements of a phrase), Jerome explains the divergence of Matthew from Luke.

[2] Lk 23:39-40.

[3] CCL 77:272-73. Here, as is typical, Jerome follows and expands upon Origen.