John 3:29 - Coke's Commentary on the Holy Bible

He that hath the bride, is the bridegroom:— "So far am I from envying his growing fame, or the number of his disciples, that I greatly rejoice in both; just as the bridegroom's friend, who is appointed to stand and hear him converse with his bride, rejoices in the love that she expresses to him; of which love the friend forms an idea likewise, by what he hears, the bridegroom say to her in return. My highest joy therefore is, that men cheerfully submit to the Messiah, and pay him all due honour." Among the Jews there is frequent mention, in the marriage ceremonies, of the Hhupha, a canopy or place where the bridegroom used to discourse familiarly with the bride, under a covering, as the means of conciliating her esteem, which he was not supposed to have done till he came cheerfully out of the Hhupha. This custom is preserved by the modern Jews, either before the synagogue, in a square place covered over, or, where there is no synagogue, they throw a garment over the bridegroom and the bride. While the bridegroom is engaged in this conference with the bride, his friends stand at the door or entrance; and when they hear the voice of joy from the bridegroom, a signal of his success, they immediately rejoice and spread the happy news. These circumstances appear to give light to the present passage; and as the idea of a bridegroom is more than once affixed to our Saviour, and the gospel dispensation compared to a marriage-feast, this interpretation will need no farther proof to establish it.