John 19:18-24

19:18 There they ¹  crucified ²  him along with two others, ³  one on each side, with Jesus in the middle. 19:19 Pilate also had a notice ⁴  written and fastened to the cross, ⁵  which read: ⁶  “Jesus the Nazarene, the king of the Jews.” 19:20 Thus many of the Jewish residents of Jerusalem ⁷  read this notice, ⁸  because the place where Jesus was crucified was near the city, and the notice was written in Aramaic, ⁹  Latin, and Greek. 19:21 Then the chief priests of the Jews ¹⁰  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 ¹¹  Jesus, they took his clothes and made four shares, one for each soldier, ¹²  and the tunic ¹³  remained. (Now the tunic ¹⁴  was seamless, woven from top to bottom as a single piece.) ¹⁵  19:24 So the soldiers said to one another, “Let’s not tear it, but throw dice ¹⁶  to see who will get it.” ¹⁷  This took place ¹⁸  to fulfill the scripture that says, “They divided my garments among them, and for my clothing they threw dice.” ¹⁹  So the soldiers did these things.

[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.”

[19:19]  ⁴ tn Or “an inscription.”

[19:19]  ⁵ 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]  ⁶ tn Grk “Now it was written.”

[19:20]  ⁷ 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]  ⁸ tn Or “this inscription.”

[19:20]  ⁹ tn Grk “in Hebrew.”

[19:21]  ¹⁰ 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]  ¹³ sn See the note on Crucify in 19:6.

[19:23]  ¹⁴ 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]  ¹⁵ 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]  ¹⁶ 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]  ¹⁷ sn This is a parenthetical note by the author.

[19:24]  ¹⁶ tn Grk “but choose by lot” (probably by using marked pebbles or broken pieces of pottery). A modern equivalent, “throw dice,” was chosen here because of its association with gambling.

[19:24]  ¹⁷ tn Grk “to see whose it will be.”

[19:24]  ¹⁸ tn The words “This took place” are not in the Greek text but are implied.

[19:24]  ¹⁹ tn Grk “cast lots.” See the note on “throw dice” earlier in the verse.