Discovery BoxJohn 19:4
Context19:4 Again Pilate went out and said to the Jewish leaders, 1 “Look, I am bringing him out to you, so that you may know that I find no reason for an accusation 2 against him.”
John 19:6
Context19:6 When the chief priests and their officers saw him, they shouted out, “Crucify 3 him! Crucify him!” 4 Pilate said, 5 “You take him and crucify him! 6 Certainly 7 I find no reason for an accusation 8 against him!”
John 19:21-22
Context19:21 Then the chief priests of the Jews 9 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.”
[19:4] 1 tn Grk “to them.” The words “the Jewish leaders” are supplied from John 18:38 for clarity.
[19:4] 2 tn Or “find no basis for an accusation”; Grk “find no cause.”
[19:6] 3 sn Crucifixion was the cruelest form of punishment practiced by the Romans. Roman citizens could not normally undergo it. It was reserved for the worst crimes, like treason and evasion of due process in a capital case. The Roman statesman and orator Cicero (106-43
[19:6] 4 tn The word “him” is not in the Greek text. Direct objects were often omitted in Greek when clear from context.
[19:6] 5 tn Grk “said to them.” The words “to them” are not translated because they are unnecessary in contemporary English style.
[19:6] 6 sn How are Pilate’s words “You take him and crucify him” to be understood? Was he offering a serious alternative to the priests who wanted Jesus crucified? Was he offering them an exception to the statement in 18:31 that the Jewish authorities did not have the power to carry out a death penalty? Although a few scholars have suggested that the situation was at this point so far out of Pilate’s control that he really was telling the high priests they could go ahead and crucify a man he had found to be innocent, this seems unlikely. It is far more likely that Pilate’s statement should be understood as one of frustration and perhaps sarcasm. This seems to be supported by the context, for the Jewish authorities make no attempt at this point to seize Jesus and crucify him. Rather they continue to pester Pilate to order the crucifixion.
[19:6] 7 tn On this use of γάρ (gar) used in exclamations and strong affirmations, see BDAG 190 s.v. γάρ 3.
[19:6] 8 tn Or “find no basis for an accusation”; Grk “find no cause.”
[19:21] 9 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.”
