John 19:17-19

19:17 and carrying his own cross ¹  he went out to the place called “The Place of the Skull” ²  (called in Aramaic ³  Golgotha). ⁴  19:18 There they ⁵  crucified ⁶  him along with two others, ⁷  one on each side, with Jesus in the middle. 19:19 Pilate also had a notice ⁸  written and fastened to the cross, ⁹  which read: ¹⁰  “Jesus the Nazarene, the king of the Jews.”

¹ tn Or “carrying the cross by himself.”

² sn Jesus was led out to the place called “The Place of the Skull” where he was to be crucified. It is clear from v. 20 that this was outside the city. The Latin word for the Greek κρανίον (kranion) is calvaria. Thus the English word “Calvary” is a transliteration of the Latin rather than a NT place name (cf. Luke 23:33 in the KJV).

³ tn Grk “in Hebrew.”

⁴ sn This is a parenthetical note by the author.

⁵ tn Grk “where they.” This is a continuation of the previous verse in Greek, but contemporary English style tends toward shorter sentences. A literal translation would result in a lengthy and awkward English sentence.

⁶ sn See the note on Crucify in 19:6.

⁷ tn Grk “and with him two others.”

⁹ tn Or “an inscription.”

¹⁰ tn Grk “Pilate also wrote a notice and placed it on the cross.” The two verbs should be read as causatives, since it is highly unlikely that the Roman governor would perform either of these actions himself. He ordered them to be done.

¹¹ tn Grk “Now it was written.”