Which none of the princes of this world knew: for had they known it, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.
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Ambrosiaster
AD 400
The rulers of this age are not only those who were great among the Jews and the Romans but also every spiritual power which sets itself up against God. The Jewish rulers cannot be called rulers of this age, because they were subject to the Romans. Nor did the Romans crucify Jesus, because Pilate himself said that he found no fault in him. The rulers who crucified him were the demons. They knew that Jesus was the Messiah but not that he was the Son of God, and so it can be said that they crucified him in ignorance. Commentary on Paul’s Epistles.
But if Christ had not been put to death, death would not have died. The devil was overcome by his own trophy, for the devil rejoiced when, by seducing the first man, he cast him into death. By seducing the first man, he killed him. By killing the last man, he lost the first from his snare.
Which none of the princes of this world knew. The pronoun is better referred to glory than to Wisdom of Solomon , and the sense is: if this Wisdom of Solomon , or rather this glory and its being predestined in Christ, had been known by Pilate, Annas, Caiaphas, and the other princes of the world, they would never have crucified the Lord of Glory, viz, Christ, by whose merits this eternal glory was predestined and prepared for us from eternity. Gabriel Vasquez comments well on this passage (lib. i. disp2 , c3). The Apostle tacitly implies that none other of the princes of this world knew this glory and wisdom of Christ. For, Ã fortiori, the Jews were wiser than the Gentiles, especially in Divine things; if, therefore, they did not know it, much more were the others ignorant of it.
It appears from the gospel, that they suspected Jesus might be the Son of God; but the major part of interpreters judge from this text, that they had not a certain knowledge. (Bible de Vence)
As John says these things to the multitude, and as the people watch in eager expectation of seeing some strange spectacle with their bodily eyes, and the devil
But rather of those who "killed the Lord of glory.".
For if the Lord were a mere man, possessed of a soul and body only, why dost thou mutilate and explain away His being born with the common nature of humanity? Why dost thou call the passion a mere appearance, as if it were any strange thing happening to a .
Him who nourisheth all that require food. And thou temptedst the very "Lord of glory"
Now if they knew not, how said He unto them, John 7:28 You both know Me, and you know whence I am? Indeed, concerning Pilate the Scripture says, he knew not. see John 19:9 It is likely also that neither did Herod know. These, one might say, are called rulers of this world: but if a man were to say that this is spoken concerning the Jews also and the Priests, he would not err. For to these also He says, John 8:19 You know neither Me nor My Father. How then says He a little before, You both know Me, and you know whence I am? However, the manner of this way of knowledge and of that has already been declared in the Gospel; (Hom. 49. on St. John,) and, not to be continually handling the same topic, there do we refer our readers.
What then? Was their sin in the matter of the Cross forgiven them? For He surely did say, Forgive them. Luke 23:34 If they repented, it was forgiven. For even he who set countless assailants on Stephen and persecuted the Church, even Paul, became the champion of ...
Could Herod and the priests who wanted to crucify Jesus have been forgiven? Yes. If they repented, they were forgiven. Even Paul, who persecuted the church, was forgiven when he repented, and so they could have been as well. The ignorance of the rulers was not concerning Christ’s person but rather concerning the significance of the event which was taking place on the cross. Jesus prayed that they might be forgiven, not because they did not know him but because they did not understand what they were doing.
This applies to Herod and Pilate. It does not apply in the same way to the high priests and scribes, because they knew that Jesus was the Christ. They were more like the workers in the vineyard who said: “This is the heir. Let us kill him, and the vineyard will be ours.” .
But because (the apostle) subjoins, on the subject of our glory, that "none of the princes of this world knew it for had they known it they would not have crucified the Lord of glory".
According to Marcion, however, the apostle in the passage under consideration.
Who, after wandering far from his Father, squanders, by living heathenishly, the "substance "received from God his Father,-(the substance), of course, of baptism-(the substance), of course, of the Holy Spirit, and (in consequence) of eternal hope; if, stripped of his mental "goods "he has even handed his service over to the prince of the world
