The brow of the hill. — See Notes on Luke 1:26. The hill now shown as the Mount of Precipitation is about two miles from the city, and could hardly have been the place referred to. There is, however, a cliff about forty feet high close to the city.
That they might cast him down headlong. — The Greek word implies casting down from a cliff or precipice. It was not a recognised Jewish punishment, as flinging from the Tarpeian rock was at Rome; but we have an instance of it as an improvised method of execution in Amaziah’s treatment of the Edomite prisoners in 2 Chronicles 25:12. A multitude under the influence of fanaticism or anger is always fertile in expedients of this nature.