Barnes New Testament Notes

Verse 19. Have thou nothing to do, etc. That is, do not condemn him. Perhaps she was afraid that the vengeance of heaven would follow her husband and family, if he condemned the innocent.

That just man. The word just here has the sense of innocent; or not guilty. She might have been satisfied of his innocence from other sources, as well as from the dream. It is possible that the woman might have been a worshipper of the true God, and that she might therefore have desired that the Messiah should be released.

I have suffered many things, etc. Dreams were occasionally considered as indications of the Divine will; and, among the Romans and Greeks, as well as the Jews, great reliance was placed on them. Her mind -- probably agitated with the subject; satisfied of the innocence of Jesus; and knowing that the Jews would make every effort to secure his condemnation -- was also excited during her sleep, perhaps with a frightful prospect of the judgments that would descend on the family of Pilate if Jesus was condemned. She therefore sent to him to secure if possible his release.

{u} "that just man" Isa 53:11; Zec 9:9; Lu 23:47; 1 Pe 2:22; 1 Jn 2:1