John 19:6

19:6 When the chief priests and their officers saw him, they shouted out, “Crucify ¹  him! Crucify him!” ²  Pilate said, ³  “You take him and crucify him! ⁴  Certainly ⁵  I find no reason for an accusation ⁶  against him!”

John 19:16

19:16 Then Pilate ⁷  handed him over ⁸  to them to be crucified.

The Crucifixion

So they took Jesus,

John 19:18

19:18 There they ⁹  crucified ¹⁰  him along with two others, ¹¹  one on each side, with Jesus in the middle.

John 19:15

19:15 Then they ¹²  shouted out, “Away with him! Away with him! ¹³  Crucify ¹⁴  him!” Pilate asked, ¹⁵  “Shall I crucify your king?” The high priests replied, “We have no king except Caesar!”

John 19:10

19:10 So Pilate said, ¹⁶  “Do you refuse to speak to me? Don’t you know I have the authority ¹⁷  to release you, and to crucify you?” ¹⁸ 

John 19:41

19:41 Now at the place where Jesus ¹⁹  was crucified ²⁰  there was a garden, ²¹  and in the garden ²²  was a new tomb where no one had yet been buried. ²³ 

John 19:20

19:20 Thus many of the Jewish residents of Jerusalem ²⁴  read this notice, ²⁵  because the place where Jesus was crucified was near the city, and the notice was written in Aramaic, ²⁶  Latin, and Greek.

John 19:23

19:23 Now when the soldiers crucified ²⁷  Jesus, they took his clothes and made four shares, one for each soldier, ²⁸  and the tunic ²⁹  remained. (Now the tunic ³⁰  was seamless, woven from top to bottom as a single piece.) ³¹ 

[19:6]  ¹ 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 b.c.) called it “a cruel and disgusting penalty” (Against Verres 2.5.63-66 §§163-70); Josephus (J. W. 7.6.4 [7.203]) called it the worst of deaths.

[19:6]  ² tn The word “him” is not in the Greek text. Direct objects were often omitted in Greek when clear from context.

[19:6]  ³ tn Grk “said to them.” The words “to them” are not translated because they are unnecessary in contemporary English style.

[19:6]  ⁴ 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]  ⁵ tn On this use of γάρ (gar) used in exclamations and strong affirmations, see BDAG 190 s.v. γάρ 3.

[19:6]  ⁶ tn Or “find no basis for an accusation”; Grk “find no cause.”

[19:16]  ⁷ tn Grk “Then he”; the referent (Pilate) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[19:16]  ⁸ tn Or “delivered him over.”

[19:18]  ¹³ 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]  ¹⁴ sn See the note on Crucify in 19:6.

[19:18]  ¹⁵ tn Grk “and with him two others.”

[19:15]  ¹⁹ tn Grk “Then these.”

[19:15]  ²⁰ 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]  ²¹ sn See the note on Crucify in 19:6.

[19:15]  ²² tn Grk “Pilate said to them.” The words “to them” are not translated because it is clear in English who Pilate is addressing.

[19:10]  ²⁵ tn Grk “said to him.” The words “to him” are not translated because they are unnecessary in contemporary English style.

[19:10]  ²⁶ tn Or “the power.”

[19:10]  ²⁷ tn Grk “know that I have the authority to release you and the authority to crucify you.” Repetition of “the authority” is unnecessarily redundant English style.

[19:41]  ³¹ tn Grk “he”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[19:41]  ³² sn See the note on Crucify in 19:6.

[19:41]  ³³ tn Or “an orchard.”

[19:41]  ³⁴ tn Or “orchard.”

[19:41]  ³⁵ tn Grk “been placed.”

[19:20]  ³⁷ 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]  ³⁸ tn Or “this inscription.”

[19:20]  ³⁹ tn Grk “in Hebrew.”

[19:23]  ⁴³ sn See the note on Crucify in 19:6.

[19:23]  ⁴⁴ 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]  ⁴⁵ 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]  ⁴⁶ 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]  ⁴⁷ sn This is a parenthetical note by the author.