Luke 23:20-23

23:20 Pilate addressed them once again because he wanted ¹  to release Jesus. 23:21 But they kept on shouting, ²  “Crucify, crucify ³  him!” 23:22 A third time he said to them, “Why? What wrong has he done? I have found him guilty ⁴  of no crime deserving death. ⁵  I will therefore flog ⁶  him and release him.” 23:23 But they were insistent, ⁷  demanding with loud shouts that he be crucified. And their shouts prevailed.

¹ sn The account pictures a battle of wills – the people versus Pilate. Pilate is consistently portrayed in Luke’s account as wanting to release Jesus because he believed him to be innocent.

² tn Grk “shouting, saying.” The participle λέγοντες (legontes) is redundant and has not been translated here.

³ tn This double present imperative is emphatic.

⁴ tn Grk “no cause of death I found in him.”

⁵ sn The refrain of innocence comes once again. Pilate tried to bring some sense of justice, believing Jesus had committed no crime deserving death.

⁶ tn Or “scourge” (BDAG 749 s.v. παιδεύω 2.b.γ). See the note on “flogged” in v. 16.

⁷ tn Though a different Greek term is used here (BDAG 373 s.v. ἐπίκειμαι), this remark is like 23:5.