Kunigunde Kreuzerin wrote:
It seems to me that Luke meant also the Jews.
Agreed, if not
only the Jews (or at least their leaders). Luke 23.13-38:
13 Pilate summoned the chief priests and the rulers and the people, 14 and said to them [πρὸς αὐτούς], “You brought this man to me as one who incites the people to rebellion, and behold, having examined Him before you, I have found no guilt in this man regarding the charges which you make against Him. 15 No, nor has Herod, for he sent Him back to us; and behold, nothing deserving death has been done by Him. 16 Therefore I will punish Him and release Him.” 17 [Now he was obliged to release to them at the feast one prisoner.]
18 But they cried out [ἀνέκραγον] all together, saying, “Away with this man, and release for us Barabbas!” 19 He was one who had been thrown into prison for an insurrection made in the city, and for murder. 20 Pilate, wanting to release Jesus, addressed them [αὐτοῖς] again, 21 but they kept on calling out [ἐπεφώνουν], saying, “Crucify, crucify Him!” 22 And he said to them [πρὸς αὐτούς] the third time, “Why, what evil has this man done? I have found in Him no guilt demanding death; therefore I will punish Him and release Him.” 23 But they were insistent [ἐπέκειντο], with loud voices asking that He be crucified. And their [αὐτῶν] voices began to prevail. 24 And Pilate pronounced sentence that their [αὐτῶν] demand be granted. 25 And he released the man they were asking for [ᾐτοῦντο] who had been thrown into prison for insurrection and murder, but he delivered Jesus to their [αὐτῶν] will.
26 When they led Him away [ἀπήγαγον], they seized a man, Simon of Cyrene, coming in from the country, and they placed [ἐπέθηκαν] on him the cross to carry behind Jesus.
27 And following Him was a large crowd of the people, and of women who were mourning and lamenting Him. 28 But Jesus turning to them said, “Daughters of Jerusalem, stop weeping for Me, but weep for yourselves and for your children. 29 For behold, the days are coming when they will say, ‘Blessed are the barren, and the wombs that never bore, and the breasts that never nursed.’ 30 Then they will begin to say to the mountains, ‘Fall on us,’ and to the hills, ‘Cover us.’ 31 For if they do these things when the tree is green, what will happen when it is dry?”
32 Two others also, who were criminals, were being led away to be put to death with Him.
33 When they came [ἦλθον] to the place called The Skull, there they crucified [ἐσταύρωσαν] Him and the criminals, one on the right and the other on the left. 34 [But Jesus was saying, “Father, forgive them [αὐτοῖς]; for they do not know what they are doing.”] And they cast [ἔβαλον] lots, dividing up His garments among themselves. 35 And the people stood by, looking on. And even the rulers were sneering at Him, saying, “He saved others; let Him save Himself if this is the Christ of God, His Chosen One.” 36 The soldiers also mocked Him, coming up to Him, offering Him sour wine, 37 and saying, “If You are the King of the Jews, save Yourself!” 38 Now there was also an inscription above Him, “THIS IS THE KING OF THE JEWS.”
Follow the bouncing pronouns.... It seems to me that verses 27-31 are intrusive, unless the "they" of verse 33 is supposed now to refer back to the crowd of people, including the mourning women! Which seems unlikely to me. If we disregard the intrusion, the third person pronouns here seem to refer back to "the chief priests and the rulers and the people" of verse 13, right up until we hear about the people, the rulers, and the soldiers all doing different things in verses 35-36.
Ben.