Verse 39. One of the malefactors. Mt 27:44 says "the thieves -- cast the same in his teeth." See the apparent contradiction in these statements reconciled in the Notes on that place.

If thou be Christ. If thou art the Messiah; if thou art what thou dost pretend to be. This is a taunt or reproach of the same kind as that of the priests in Lu 23:35.

Save thyself and us. Save our lives. Deliver us from the cross. This man did not seek for salvation truly; he asked not to be delivered from his sins; if he had, Jesus would also have heard him. Men often, in sickness and affliction, call upon God. They are earnest in prayer. They ask of God to save them, but it is only to save them from temporal death. It is not to be saved from their sins, and the consequence is, that when God does raise them up, they forget their promises, and live as they did before, as this robber would have done if Jesus had heard his prayer and delivered him from the cross.

{e} "one of the malefactors" Lu 17:34-36