Luke 23:18-23

23:18 But they all shouted out together, ¹  “Take this man ²  away! Release Barabbas for us!” 23:19 (This ³  was a man who had been thrown into prison for an insurrection ⁴  started in the city, and for murder.) ⁵  23:20 Pilate addressed them once again because he wanted ⁶  to release Jesus. 23:21 But they kept on shouting, ⁷  “Crucify, crucify ⁸  him!” 23:22 A third time he said to them, “Why? What wrong has he done? I have found him guilty ⁹  of no crime deserving death. ¹⁰  I will therefore flog ¹¹  him and release him.” 23:23 But they were insistent, ¹²  demanding with loud shouts that he be crucified. And their shouts prevailed.

[23:18]  ¹ tn Grk “together, saying.” The participle λέγοντες (legontes) is redundant and has not been translated here.

[23:18]  ² tn Grk “this one.” The reference to Jesus as “this man” is pejorative in this context.

[23:19]  ³ tn Grk “who” (a continuation of the previous sentence).

[23:19]  ⁴ sn Ironically, what Jesus was alleged to have done, started an insurrection, this man really did.

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

[23:20]  ⁵ sn The account pictures a battle of wills – the people versus Pilate. Pilate is consistently portrayed in Luke’s account as wanting to release Jesus because he believed him to be innocent.

[23:21]  ⁷ tn Grk “shouting, saying.” The participle λέγοντες (legontes) is redundant and has not been translated here.

[23:21]  ⁸ tn This double present imperative is emphatic.

[23:22]  ⁹ tn Grk “no cause of death I found in him.”

[23:22]  ¹⁰ sn The refrain of innocence comes once again. Pilate tried to bring some sense of justice, believing Jesus had committed no crime deserving death.

[23:22]  ¹¹ tn Or “scourge” (BDAG 749 s.v. παιδεύω 2.b.γ). See the note on “flogged” in v. 16.

[23:23]  ¹¹ tn Though a different Greek term is used here (BDAG 373 s.v. ἐπίκειμαι), this remark is like 23:5.