According to Mark’s account (15.36), the same person who offered Jesus the wine is also the one who now mocks him. But Matthew distinguishes between this man and the others, who said Wait, let us see whether Elijah will come to save him. The verb Wait may be taken either as a command (equivalent to “don’t do it!”) or with the weakened meaning, “Now then we will see if Elijah comes to save him.”

“Seizing a lance, another pricked his side, and out came water and blood” (Moffatt) is inserted here by some Greek manuscripts, though of the modern translations only Moffatt places it in the text. A few others (Revised Standard Version, Barclay) make reference to this alternative reading in a footnote. The UBS Greek New Testament reflects the opinion that the words were later brought into Matthew’s Gospel on the basis of John 19.34 (see TC-GNT).

Quoted with permission from Newman, Barclay M. and Stine, Philip C. A Handbook on the Gospel of Matthew. (UBS Handbook Series). New York: UBS, 1988. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .