John 18:33-36

Pilate Questions Jesus

18:33 So Pilate went back into the governor’s residence, ¹  summoned Jesus, and asked him, “Are you the king of the Jews?” ²  18:34 Jesus replied, ³  “Are you saying this on your own initiative, ⁴  or have others told you about me?” 18:35 Pilate answered, “I am not a Jew, am I? ⁵  Your own people ⁶  and your chief priests handed you over ⁷  to me. What have you done?”

18:36 Jesus replied, “My kingdom is not from this world. If my kingdom were from this world, my servants would be fighting to keep me from being ⁸  handed over ⁹  to the Jewish authorities. ¹⁰  But as it is, ¹¹  my kingdom is not from here.”

Luke 23:2-5

23:2 They ¹²  began to accuse ¹³  him, saying, “We found this man subverting ¹⁴  our nation, forbidding ¹⁵  us to pay the tribute tax ¹⁶  to Caesar ¹⁷  and claiming that he himself is Christ, ¹⁸  a king.” 23:3 So ¹⁹  Pilate asked Jesus, ²⁰  “Are you the king ²¹  of the Jews?” He replied, “You say so.” ²²  23:4 Then ²³  Pilate said to the chief priests and the crowds, “I find no basis for an accusation ²⁴  against this man.” 23:5 But they persisted ²⁵  in saying, “He incites ²⁶  the people by teaching throughout all Judea. It started in Galilee and ended up here!” ²⁷ 

Acts 17:6-7

17:6 When they did not find them, they dragged ²⁸  Jason and some of the brothers before the city officials, ²⁹  screaming, “These people who have stirred up trouble ³⁰  throughout the world ³¹  have come here too, 17:7 and ³²  Jason has welcomed them as guests! They ³³  are all acting against Caesar’s ³⁴  decrees, saying there is another king named ³⁵  Jesus!” ³⁶ 

[18:33]  ¹ tn Grk “into the praetorium.”

[18:33]  ² sn It is difficult to discern Pilate’s attitude when he asked, “Are you the king of the Jews?” Some have believed the remark to be sarcastic or incredulous as Pilate looked at this lowly and humble prisoner: “So you’re the king of the Jews, are you?” Others have thought the Roman governor to have been impressed by Jesus’ regal disposition and dignity, and to have sincerely asked, “Are you really the king of the Jews?” Since it will later become apparent (v. 38) that Pilate considered Jesus innocent (and therefore probably also harmless) an attitude of incredulity is perhaps most likely, but this is far from certain in the absence of clear contextual clues.

[18:34]  ³ tn Grk “Jesus answered.”

[18:34]  ⁴ tn Grk “saying this from yourself.”

[18:35]  ⁵ sn Many have seen in Pilate’s reply “I am not a Jew, am I?” the Roman contempt for the Jewish people. Some of that may indeed be present, but strictly speaking, all Pilate affirms is that he, as a Roman, has no firsthand knowledge of Jewish custom or belief. What he knows of Jesus must have come from the Jewish authorities. They are the ones (your own people and your chief priests) who have handed Jesus over to Pilate.

[18:35]  ⁶ tn Or “your own nation.”

[18:35]  ⁷ tn Or “delivered you over.”

[18:36]  ⁸ tn Grk “so that I may not be.”

[18:36]  ⁹ tn Or “delivered over.”

[18:36]  ¹⁰ tn Or “the Jewish leaders”; 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. In the translation “authorities” was preferred over “leaders” for stylistic reasons.

[18:36]  ¹¹ tn Grk “now.”

[23:2]  ¹² tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated.

[23:2]  ¹³ sn They began to accuse him. There were three charges: (1) disturbing Jewish peace; (2) fomenting rebellion through advocating not paying taxes (a lie – 20:20-26); and (3) claiming to be a political threat to Rome, by claiming to be a king, an allusion to Jesus’ messianic claims. The second and third charges were a direct challenge to Roman authority. Pilate would be forced to do something about them.

[23:2]  ¹⁴ tn On the use of the term διαστρέφω (diastrefw) here, see L&N 31.71 and 88.264.

[23:2]  ¹⁵ tn Grk “and forbidding.” Here καί (kai) has not been translated to suggest to the English reader that this and the following charge are specifics, while the previous charge was a summary one. See the note on the word “misleading” earlier in this verse.

[23:2]  ¹⁶ tn This was a “poll tax.” L&N 57.182 states this was “a payment made by the people of one nation to another, with the implication that this is a symbol of submission and dependence – ‘tribute tax.’”

[23:2]  ¹⁷ tn Or “to the emperor” (“Caesar” is a title for the Roman emperor).

[23:2]  ¹⁸ tn Or “Messiah”; both “Christ” (Greek) and “Messiah” (Hebrew and Aramaic) mean “one who has been anointed.”

[23:3]  ¹⁹ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “so” to indicate the implied result of the charges brought in the previous verse.

[23:3]  ²⁰ tn Grk “him”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[23:3]  ²¹ sn “Are you the king of the Jews?” Pilate was interested only in the third charge, because of its political implications of sedition against Rome.

[23:3]  ²² sn The reply “You say so” is somewhat enigmatic, like Jesus’ earlier reply to the Jewish leadership in 22:70.

[23:4]  ²³ tn Here δέ (de) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the narrative.

[23:4]  ²⁴ tn Grk “find no cause.”

[23:5]  ²⁵ tn Or “were adamant.” For “persisted in saying,” see L&N 68.71.

[23:5]  ²⁶ sn He incites the people. The Jewish leadership claimed that Jesus was a political threat and had to be stopped. By reiterating this charge of stirring up rebellion, they pressured Pilate to act, or be accused of overlooking political threats to Rome.

[23:5]  ²⁷ tn Grk “beginning from Galilee until here.”

[17:6]  ²⁸ tn See BDAG 977-78 s.v. σύρω on this verb. It was used in everyday speech of dragging in fish by a net, or dragging away someone’s (presumably) dead body (Paul in Acts 14:19).

[17:6]  ²⁹ tn L&N 37.93 defines πολιτάρχης (politarch") as “a public official responsible for administrative matters within a town or city and a member of the ruling council of such a political unit – ‘city official’” (see also BDAG 845 s.v.).

[17:6]  ³⁰ tn Or “rebellion.” BDAG 72 s.v. ἀναστατόω has “disturb, trouble, upset,” but in light of the references in the following verse to political insurrection, “stirred up rebellion” would also be appropriate.

[17:6]  ³¹ tn Or “the empire.” This was a way of referring to the Roman empire (BDAG 699 s.v. οἰκουμένη 2.b).

[17:7]  ³² tn Grk “whom.” Because of the awkwardness in English of having two relative clauses follow one another (“who have stirred up trouble…whom Jason has welcomed”) the relative pronoun here (“whom”) has been replaced by the conjunction “and,” creating a clause that is grammatically coordinate but logically subordinate in the translation.

[17:7]  ³³ tn Grk “and they.” Because of the length of the Greek sentence, the conjunction καί (kai) has not been translated here. Instead a new English sentence is begun.

[17:7]  ³⁴ tn Or “the emperor’s” (“Caesar” is a title for the Roman emperor).

[17:7]  ³⁵ tn The word “named” is not in the Greek text, but is supplied for clarity.

[17:7]  ³⁶ sn Acting…saying…Jesus. The charges are serious, involving sedition (Luke 23:2). If the political charges were true, Rome would have to react.