John 19:11-23

19:11 Jesus replied, “You would have no authority ¹  over me at all, unless it was given to you from above. Therefore the one who handed me over to you ²  is guilty of greater sin.” ³ 

19:12 From this point on, Pilate tried ⁴  to release him. But the Jewish leaders ⁵  shouted out, ⁶  “If you release this man, ⁷  you are no friend of Caesar! ⁸  Everyone who claims to be a king ⁹  opposes Caesar!” 19:13 When Pilate heard these words he brought Jesus outside and sat down on the judgment seat ¹⁰  in the place called “The Stone Pavement” ¹¹  (Gabbatha in ¹²  Aramaic). ¹³  19:14 (Now it was the day of preparation ¹⁴  for the Passover, about noon. ¹⁵ ) ¹⁶  Pilate ¹⁷  said to the Jewish leaders, ¹⁸  “Look, here is your king!”

19:15 Then they ¹⁹  shouted out, “Away with him! Away with him! ²⁰  Crucify ²¹  him!” Pilate asked, ²²  “Shall I crucify your king?” The high priests replied, “We have no king except Caesar!” 19:16 Then Pilate ²³  handed him over ²⁴  to them to be crucified.

The Crucifixion

So they took Jesus, 19:17 and carrying his own cross ²⁵  he went out to the place called “The Place of the Skull” ²⁶  (called in Aramaic ²⁷  Golgotha). ²⁸  19:18 There they ²⁹  crucified ³⁰  him along with two others, ³¹  one on each side, with Jesus in the middle. 19:19 Pilate also had a notice ³²  written and fastened to the cross, ³³  which read: ³⁴  “Jesus the Nazarene, the king of the Jews.” 19:20 Thus many of the Jewish residents of Jerusalem ³⁵  read this notice, ³⁶  because the place where Jesus was crucified was near the city, and the notice was written in Aramaic, ³⁷  Latin, and Greek. 19:21 Then the chief priests of the Jews ³⁸  said to Pilate, “Do not write, ‘The king of the Jews,’ but rather, ‘This man said, I am king of the Jews.’” 19:22 Pilate answered, “What I have written, I have written.”

19:23 Now when the soldiers crucified ³⁹  Jesus, they took his clothes and made four shares, one for each soldier, ⁴⁰  and the tunic ⁴¹  remained. (Now the tunic ⁴²  was seamless, woven from top to bottom as a single piece.) ⁴³ 

[19:11]  ¹ tn Or “power.”

[19:11]  ² tn Or “who delivered me over to you.”

[19:11]  ³ tn Grk “has the greater sin” (an idiom).

[19:12]  ⁴ tn Grk “sought.”

[19:12]  ⁵ 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.

[19:12]  ⁶ tn Grk “shouted out, saying.”

[19:12]  ⁷ tn Grk “this one.”

[19:12]  ⁸ 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 (a.d. 69-79). But there appears to be significant evidence for much earlier usage. Some of this is given in BDAG 498-99 s.v. Καῖσαρ. E. Bammel (“φίλος τοῦ καίσαρος (John 19:12),” TLZ 77 [1952]: 205-10) listed significant and convincing arguments that the official title was indeed in use at the time. Granting that the title was in use during this period, what is the likelihood that it had been bestowed on Pilate? Pilate was of the equestrian order, that is, of lower nobility as opposed to senatorial rank. As such he would have been eligible to receive such an honor. It also appears that the powerful Sejanus was his patron in Rome, and Sejanus held considerable influence with Tiberius. Tacitus (Annals 6.8) quotes Marcus Terentius in his defense before the Senate as saying that close friendship with Sejanus “was in every case a powerful recommendation to the Emperor’s friendship.” Thus it is possible that Pilate held this honor. Therefore it appears that the Jewish authorities were putting a good deal of psychological pressure on Pilate to convict Jesus. They had, in effect, finally specified the charge against Jesus as treason: “Everyone who makes himself to be king opposes Caesar.” If Pilate now failed to convict Jesus the Jewish authorities could complain to Rome that Pilate had released a traitor. This possibility carried more weight with Pilate than might at first be evident: (1) Pilate’s record as governor was not entirely above reproach; (2) Tiberius, who lived away from Rome as a virtual recluse on the island of Capri, was known for his suspicious nature, especially toward rivals or those who posed a political threat; and (3) worst of all, Pilate’s patron in Rome, Sejanus, had recently come under suspicion of plotting to seize the imperial succession for himself. Sejanus was deposed in October of a.d. 31. It may have been to Sejanus that Pilate owed his appointment in Judea. Pilate was now in a very delicate position. The Jewish authorities may have known something of this and deliberately used it as leverage against him. Whether or not they knew just how potent their veiled threat was, it had the desired effect. Pilate went directly to the judgment seat to pronounce his judgment.

[19:12]  ⁹ tn Grk “who makes himself out to be a king.”

[19:13]  ⁷ tn Or “the judge’s seat.”

[19:13]  ⁸ 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 a.d. 135, however.

[19:13]  ⁹ tn Grk “in Hebrew.”

[19:13]  ¹⁰ sn This is a parenthetical note by the author.

[19:14]  ¹⁰ 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).

[19:14]  ¹¹ tn Grk “about the sixth hour.”

[19:14]  ¹² sn This is a parenthetical note by the author.

[19:14]  ¹³ 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.

[19:14]  ¹⁴ 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.

[19:15]  ¹³ tn Grk “Then these.”

[19:15]  ¹⁴ tn The words “with him” (twice) are not in the Greek text. Direct objects were often omitted in Greek when clear from the context.

[19:15]  ¹⁵ sn See the note on Crucify in 19:6.

[19:15]  ¹⁶ tn Grk “Pilate said to them.” The words “to them” are not translated because it is clear in English who Pilate is addressing.

[19:16]  ¹⁶ tn Grk “Then he”; the referent (Pilate) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[19:16]  ¹⁷ tn Or “delivered him over.”

[19:17]  ¹⁹ tn Or “carrying the cross by himself.”

[19:17]  ²⁰ 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).

[19:17]  ²¹ tn Grk “in Hebrew.”

[19:17]  ²² sn This is a parenthetical note by the author.

[19:18]  ²² 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.

[19:18]  ²³ sn See the note on Crucify in 19:6.

[19:18]  ²⁴ tn Grk “and with him two others.”

[19:19]  ²⁵ tn Or “an inscription.”

[19:19]  ²⁶ 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.

[19:19]  ²⁷ tn Grk “Now it was written.”

[19:20]  ²⁸ tn Grk “the Jews.” Here the phrase refers to the residents of Jerusalem in general. See also the note on the phrase Jewish religious leaders” in v. 7.

[19:20]  ²⁹ tn Or “this inscription.”

[19:20]  ³⁰ tn Grk “in Hebrew.”

[19:21]  ³¹ tn Or “the Jewish chief priests.” Nowhere else in the Fourth Gospel are the two expressions οἱ ἀρχιερεῖς τῶν ᾿Ιουδαίων (Joi arcierei" twn Ioudaiwn) combined. Earlier in 19:15 the chief priests were simply referred to as οἱ ἀρχιερεῖς. It seems likely that this is another example of Johannine irony, to be seen in contrast to the inscription on the cross which read ὁ βασιλεὺς τῶν ᾿Ιουδαίων (Jo basileu" twn Ioudaiwn). For this reason the phrase has been translated “the chief priests of the Jews” (which preserves in the translation the connection with “King of the Jews”) rather than “the Jewish chief priests.”

[19:23]  ³⁴ sn See the note on Crucify in 19:6.

[19:23]  ³⁵ sn Four shares, one for each soldier. The Gospel of John is the only one to specify the number of soldiers involved in the crucifixion. This was a quaternion, a squad of four soldiers. It was accepted Roman practice for the soldiers who performed a crucifixion to divide the possessions of the person executed among themselves.

[19:23]  ³⁶ tn Or “shirt” (a long garment worn under the cloak next to the skin). The name for this garment (χιτών, citwn) presents some difficulty in translation. Most modern readers would not understand what a ‘tunic’ was any more than they would be familiar with a ‘chiton.’ On the other hand, attempts to find a modern equivalent are also a problem: “Shirt” conveys the idea of a much shorter garment that covers only the upper body, and “undergarment” (given the styles of modern underwear) is more misleading still. “Tunic” was therefore employed, but with a note to explain its nature.

[19:23]  ³⁷ tn Or “shirt” (a long garment worn under the cloak next to the skin). See the note on the same word earlier in this verse.

[19:23]  ³⁸ sn This is a parenthetical note by the author.