The account of the piercing of the side (John 19:31-37) is peculiar to St. John.
The preparation,.... an high day. — Comp. Excursus F: The Day of the Crucifixion of our Lord, p. 559. The Roman custom was to allow the bodies to remain on the cross. To the Jews this was defilement (Deuteronomy 21:22-23), against which they were the more anxious to take precaution because the approaching Sabbath was “an high day.”
That their legs might be broken. — The breaking of the legs by means of clubs was a Roman punishment, known by the name of crurifragium, which sometimes accompanied crucifixion, and appears also to have been used as a separate punishment. It is not otherwise clear that its purpose was, or that its effect would be, to cause death, but this is the impression we derive from the present context (John 19:33).