3:8 Then Haman said to King Ahasuerus, “There is a particular people 1 that is dispersed and spread among the inhabitants 2 throughout all the provinces of your kingdom whose laws differ from those of all other peoples. Furthermore, they do not observe the king’s laws. It is not appropriate for the king to provide a haven for them. 3 3:9 If the king is so inclined, 4 let an edict be issued 5 to destroy them. I will pay ten thousand talents of silver 6 to be conveyed to the king’s treasuries for the officials who carry out this business.”
3:10 So the king removed his signet ring 7 from his hand and gave it to Haman the son of Hammedatha, the Agagite, who was hostile toward the Jews.
6:6 So these supervisors and satraps came by collusion 14 to the king and said 15 to him, “O King Darius, live forever! 6:7 To all the supervisors of the kingdom, the prefects, satraps, counselors, and governors it seemed like a good idea for a royal edict to be issued and an interdict to be enforced. For the next thirty days anyone who prays 16 to any god or human other than you, O king, should be thrown into a den of lions. 6:8 Now let the king issue a written interdict 17 so that it cannot be altered, according to the law of the Medes and Persians, which cannot be changed. 18 6:9 So King Darius issued the written interdict.
19:12 From this point on, Pilate tried 19 to release him. But the Jewish leaders 20 shouted out, 21 “If you release this man, 22 you are no friend of Caesar! 23 Everyone who claims to be a king 24 opposes Caesar!” 19:13 When Pilate heard these words he brought Jesus outside and sat down on the judgment seat 25 in the place called “The Stone Pavement” 26 (Gabbatha in 27 Aramaic). 28 19:14 (Now it was the day of preparation 29 for the Passover, about noon. 30 ) 31 Pilate 32 said to the Jewish leaders, 33 “Look, here is your king!”
19:15 Then they 34 shouted out, “Away with him! Away with him! 35 Crucify 36 him!” Pilate asked, 37 “Shall I crucify your king?” The high priests replied, “We have no king except Caesar!” 19:16 Then Pilate 38 handed him over 39 to them to be crucified.
So they took Jesus,
1 tn Heb “one people.” Note the subtle absence at this point of a specific mention of the Jewish people by name.
2 tn Heb “peoples” (so NASB, NIV); NAB “nations”
3 tn Heb “to cause them to rest”; NASB “to let them remain”; NAB, NIV, NRSV “to tolerate them.”
4 tn Heb “If upon the king it is good”; KJV “If it please the king.”
5 tn Heb “let it be written” (so KJV, ASV); NASB “let it be decreed.”
6 sn The enormity of the monetary sum referred to here can be grasped by comparing this amount (10,000 talents of silver) to the annual income of the empire, which according to Herodotus (Histories 3.95) was 14,500 Euboic talents. In other words Haman is offering the king a bribe equal to two-thirds of the royal income. Doubtless this huge sum of money was to come (in large measure) from the anticipated confiscation of Jewish property and assets once the Jews had been destroyed. That such a large sum of money is mentioned may indicate something of the economic standing of the Jewish population in the empire of King Ahasuerus.
7 sn Possessing the king’s signet ring would enable Haman to act with full royal authority. The king’s ring would be used to impress the royal seal on edicts, making them as binding as if the king himself had enacted them.
8 tn Aram “looking to find.”
9 tn Aram “from the side of the kingdom.”
10 tn Aram “pretext and corruption.”
11 tn Aram “no negligence or corruption was found in him.” The Greek version of Theodotion lacks the phrase “and no negligence or corruption was found in him.”
12 tn Aram “were saying.”
13 tn Aram “unless we find [it] against him.”
14 tn The Aramaic verb רְגַשׁ (rÿgash) occurs three times in this chapter (vv. 7, 12, 16). Its meaning is widely disputed by commentators, and the versions vary considerably in how they render the word. The suggestion that it means “to come thronging” (BDB 1112 s.v.; cf. NAB) seems inappropriate, since it is unlikely that subordinates would enter a royal court in such a reckless fashion. The ancient versions struggled with the word and are not in agreement in their understanding of its meaning. In this chapter the word apparently means to act in agreement with other parties in the pursuit of a duplicitous goal, namely the entrapment of Daniel. Cf. NIV, NCV “went as a group”; NRSV “conspired and came to the king.”
15 tn Aram “thus they were saying.”
16 tn Aram “prays a prayer.”
17 tn Aram “establish a written interdict and inscribe a written decree.”
18 tn Or “removed.”
19 tn Grk “sought.”
20 tn Or “the Jewish authorities”; Grk “the Jews.” Here the phrase refers to the Jewish leaders, especially members of the Sanhedrin, and their servants (mentioned specifically as “the chief priests and their servants” in John 19:6). See the note on the phrase “Jewish leaders” in v. 7.
21 tn Grk “shouted out, saying.”
22 tn Grk “this one.”
23 sn Is the author using the phrase Friend of Caesar in a technical sense, as a title bestowed on people for loyal service to the Emperor, or in a more general sense merely describing a person as loyal to the Emperor? L. Morris (John [NICNT], 798) thinks it is “unlikely” that the title is used in the technical sense, and J. H. Bernard (St. John [ICC], 2:621) argues that the technical sense of the phrase as an official title was not used before the time of Vespasian (
24 tn Grk “who makes himself out to be a king.”
25 tn Or “the judge’s seat.”
26 sn The precise location of the place called ‘The Stone Pavement’ is still uncertain, although a paved court on the lower level of the Fortress Antonia has been suggested. It is not certain whether it was laid prior to
27 tn Grk “in Hebrew.”
28 sn This is a parenthetical note by the author.
29 sn The term day of preparation (παρασκευή, paraskeuh) appears in all the gospels as a description of the day on which Jesus died. It could refer to any Friday as the day of preparation for the Sabbath (Saturday), and this is the way the synoptic gospels use the term (Matt 27:62, Mark 15:42, and Luke 23:54). John, however, specifies in addition that this was not only the day of preparation of the Sabbath, but also the day of preparation of the Passover, so that the Sabbath on the following day was the Passover (cf. 19:31).
30 tn Grk “about the sixth hour.”
31 sn This is a parenthetical note by the author.
32 tn Grk “And he”; the referent (Pilate) has been specified in the translation for clarity, and the conjunction καί (kai, “and”) has not been translated here in keeping with the tendency of contemporary English style to use shorter sentences.
33 tn Or “the Jewish authorities”; Grk “the Jews.” Here the phrase refers to the Jewish leaders, especially members of the Sanhedrin, and their servants (mentioned specifically as “the chief priests and their servants” in John 19:6). See the note on the phrase “Jewish leaders” in v. 7.
34 tn Grk “Then these.”
35 tn The words “with him” (twice) are not in the Greek text. Direct objects were often omitted in Greek when clear from the context.
36 sn See the note on Crucify in 19:6.
37 tn Grk “Pilate said to them.” The words “to them” are not translated because it is clear in English who Pilate is addressing.
38 tn Grk “Then he”; the referent (Pilate) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
39 tn Or “delivered him over.”
40 tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the vision.
41 sn According to the next verse, these three unclean spirits are spirits of demons.
42 tn BDAG 699 s.v. οἰκουμένη 1 states, “the inhabited earth, the world…ὅλη ἡ οἰκ. the whole inhabited earth…Mt 24:14; Ac 11:28; Rv 3:10; 16:14.”
43 tn On this word BDAG 755 s.v. παντοκράτωρ states, “the Almighty, All-Powerful, Omnipotent (One) only of God…(ὁ) κύριος ὁ θεὸς ὁ π. …Rv 1:8; 4:8; 11:17; 15:3; 16:7; 21:22.”
44 tn This is the same word translated “sexual immorality” earlier in the verse, but here the qualifier “sexual” has not been repeated for stylistic reasons.