John 18:29-31

18:29 So Pilate came outside to them and said, “What accusation ¹  do you bring against this man?” ²  18:30 They replied, ³  “If this man ⁴  were not a criminal, ⁵  we would not have handed him over to you.” ⁶ 

18:31 Pilate told them, ⁷  “Take him yourselves and pass judgment on him ⁸  according to your own law!” ⁹  The Jewish leaders ¹⁰  replied, ¹¹  “We cannot legally put anyone to death.” ¹² 

[18:29]  ¹ tn Or “charge.”

[18:29]  ² sn In light of the fact that Pilate had cooperated with them in Jesus’ arrest by providing Roman soldiers, the Jewish authorities were probably expecting Pilate to grant them permission to carry out their sentence on Jesus without resistance (the Jews were not permitted to exercise capital punishment under the Roman occupation without official Roman permission, cf. v. 31). They must have been taken somewhat by surprise by Pilate’s question “What accusation do you bring against this man,” because it indicated that he was going to try the prisoner himself. Thus Pilate was regarding the trial before Caiaphas and the Sanhedrin as only an inquiry and their decision as merely an accusation.

[18:30]  ³ tn Grk “They answered and said to him.”

[18:30]  ⁴ tn Grk “this one.”

[18:30]  ⁵ tn Or “an evildoer”; Grk “one doing evil.”

[18:30]  ⁶ tn Or “would not have delivered him over.”

[18:31]  ⁷ tn Grk “Then Pilate said to them.”

[18:31]  ⁸ tn Or “judge him.” For the translation “pass judgment on him” see R. E. Brown (John [AB], 2:848).

[18:31]  ⁹ sn Pilate, as the sole representative of Rome in a troubled area, was probably in Jerusalem for the Passover because of the danger of an uprising (the normal residence for the Roman governor was in Caesarea as mentioned in Acts 23:35). At this time on the eve of the feast he would have been a busy and perhaps even a worried man. It is not surprising that he offered to hand Jesus back over to the Jewish authorities to pass judgment on him. It may well be that Pilate realized when no specific charge was mentioned that he was dealing with an internal dispute over some religious matter. Pilate wanted nothing to do with such matters, as the statement “Pass judgment on him according to your own law!” indicates. As far as the author is concerned, this points out who was really responsible for Jesus’ death: The Roman governor Pilate would have had nothing to do with it if he had not been pressured by the Jewish religious authorities, upon whom the real responsibility rested.

[18:31]  ¹⁰ tn Or “the Jewish authorities”; Grk “the Jews.” Here the phrase refers to the Jewish leaders, especially members of the Sanhedrin. See the note on the phrase “Jewish leaders” in v. 12.

[18:31]  ¹¹ tn Grk “said to him.”

[18:31]  ¹² tn Grk “It is not permitted to us to kill anyone.”