John 19:19-20

19:19 Pilate also had a notice ¹  written and fastened to the cross, ²  which read: ³  “Jesus the Nazarene, the king of the Jews.” 19:20 Thus many of the Jewish residents of Jerusalem ⁴  read this notice, ⁵  because the place where Jesus was crucified was near the city, and the notice was written in Aramaic, ⁶  Latin, and Greek.

[19:19]  ¹ tn Or “an inscription.”

[19:19]  ² 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]  ³ tn Grk “Now it was written.”

[19:20]  ⁴ 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]  ⁵ tn Or “this inscription.”

[19:20]  ⁶ tn Grk “in Hebrew.”