John 19:18

19:18 There they ¹  crucified ²  him along with two others, ³  one on each side, with Jesus in the middle.

John 19:23

19:23 Now when the soldiers crucified ⁴  Jesus, they took his clothes and made four shares, one for each soldier, ⁵  and the tunic ⁶  remained. (Now the tunic ⁷  was seamless, woven from top to bottom as a single piece.) ⁸ 

[19:18]  ¹ 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]  ² sn See the note on Crucify in 19:6.

[19:18]  ³ tn Grk “and with him two others.”

[19:23]  ⁴ sn See the note on Crucify in 19:6.

[19:23]  ⁵ 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]  ⁶ 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]  ⁷ 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]  ⁸ sn This is a parenthetical note by the author.