And there followed him a certain young man, having a linen cloth cast about his naked body; and the young men laid hold on him:
All Commentaries on Mark 14:51 Go To Mark 14
Cornelius a Lapide
AD 1637
And a certain young man followed him having a linen cloth cast round about his naked body; and they laid hold on him. That Isaiah , he was clothed (amictus, Vulg.) with a linen vest over his naked body. It is plain, from the word amictus, that this piece of linen was a kind of linen garment, fitting the body, but so that it might easily be put on and off the back. This is also clear from Pollux, who calls the linen cloth πεζιβόλαιον, i.e, a veil, a cloak, a covering.
You will ask who this young man was: 1st S. Epiphanius (Hres78) and S. Jerome, or whoever the author is on Ps. xxxviii, think that he was James the Lord"s brother.
2nd Bede and S. Chrysostom, S. Ambrose, S. Gregory, and Baronius think it was S. John; for he was a youth, and the youngest of the Apostles. But that it was neither John nor James , nor any of the Apostles, is plain from this, that Mark has just before said, ver50 , then all His disciples, meaning, Apostles, forsook Him and fled.
3Theophylact and Euthymius think that the young man was some one from the house of John Mark , in which Christ had eaten the Passover.
4th And more probably, Cajetan (in Jentaculis) and others conjecture that this young man was a member or servant of a house adjacent to the garden, who, being awoke by the noise made by those who were apprehending Christ as they passed by, rose up from his bed, and ran to see what was being done. That he was a favourer or disciple of Christ appears from what Mark says, he followed Him. Wherefore also the officers laid hold of him, i.e, they wished to hold him by seizing his garment. The Hebrew active verbs often signify commencement and effort.
