Luke 23:6-16

Jesus Brought Before Herod

23:6 Now when Pilate heard this, he asked whether the man was a Galilean. 23:7 When ¹  he learned that he was from Herod’s jurisdiction, ²  he sent him over to Herod, ³  who also happened to be in Jerusalem ⁴  at that time. 23:8 When ⁵  Herod saw Jesus, he was very glad, for he had long desired to see him, because he had heard about him and was hoping to see him perform ⁶  some miraculous sign. ⁷  23:9 So ⁸  Herod ⁹  questioned him at considerable length; Jesus ¹⁰  gave him no answer. 23:10 The chief priests and the experts in the law ¹¹  were there, vehemently accusing him. ¹²  23:11 Even Herod with his soldiers treated him with contempt and mocked him. Then, ¹³  dressing him in elegant clothes, ¹⁴  Herod ¹⁵  sent him back to Pilate. 23:12 That very day Herod and Pilate became friends with each other, ¹⁶  for prior to this they had been enemies. ¹⁷ 

Jesus Brought Before the Crowd

23:13 Then ¹⁸  Pilate called together the chief priests, the ¹⁹  rulers, and the people, 23:14 and said to them, “You brought me this man as one who was misleading ²⁰  the people. When I examined him before you, I ²¹  did not find this man guilty ²²  of anything you accused him of doing. 23:15 Neither did Herod, for he sent him back to us. Look, he has done nothing ²³  deserving death. ²⁴  23:16 I will therefore have him flogged ²⁵  and release him.”

[23:7]  ¹ tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

[23:7]  ² sn Learning that Jesus was from Galilee and therefore part of Herod’s jurisdiction, Pilate decided to rid himself of the problem by sending him to Herod.

[23:7]  ³ sn Herod was Herod Antipas, son of Herod the Great. See the note on Herod in 3:1.

[23:7]  ⁴ sn Herod would probably have come to Jerusalem for the feast, although his father was only half Jewish (Josephus, Ant. 14.15.2 [14.403]). Josephus does mention Herod’s presence in Jerusalem during a feast (Ant. 18.5.3 [18.122]).

[23:8]  ¹ tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated.

[23:8]  ² tn Grk “to see some sign performed by him.” Here the passive construction has been translated as an active one in keeping with contemporary English style.

[23:8]  ³ sn Herod, hoping to see him perform some miraculous sign, seems to have treated Jesus as a curiosity (cf. 9:7-9).

[23:9]  ¹ tn Here δέ (de) has been translated as “so” to indicate the implied result of the previous statements in the narrative about Herod’s desire to see Jesus.

[23:9]  ² tn Grk “he”; the referent (Herod) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[23:9]  ³ tn Grk “he”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[23:10]  ¹ tn Or “and the scribes.” See the note on the phrase “experts in the law” in 5:21.

[23:10]  ² sn Luke portrays the Jewish leadership as driving events toward the cross by vehemently accusing Jesus.

[23:11]  ¹ tn This is a continuation of the previous Greek sentence, but because of its length and complexity, a new sentence was started here in the translation by supplying “then” to indicate the sequence of events.

[23:11]  ² sn This mockery involved putting elegant royal clothes on Jesus, either white or purple (the colors of royalty). This was no doubt a mockery of Jesus’ claim to be a king.

[23:11]  ³ tn Grk “he”; the referent (Herod) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[23:12]  ¹ sn Herod and Pilate became friends with each other. It may be that Pilate’s change of heart was related to the death of his superior, Sejanus, who had a reputation for being anti-Jewish. To please his superior, Pilate may have ruled the Jews with insensitivity. Concerning Sejanus, see Philo, Embassy 24 (160-61) and Flaccus 1 (1).

[23:12]  ² tn Grk “at enmity with each other.”

[23:13]  ¹ tn Here δέ (de) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the narrative.

[23:13]  ² tn Grk “and the,” but καί (kai) has not been translated since English normally uses a coordinating conjunction only between the last two elements in a series of three or more.

[23:14]  ¹ tn This term also appears in v. 2.

[23:14]  ² tn Grk “behold, I” A transitional use of ἰδού (idou) has not been translated here.

[23:14]  ³ tn Grk “nothing did I find in this man by way of cause.” The reference to “nothing” is emphatic.

[23:15]  ¹ sn With the statement “he has done nothing,” Pilate makes another claim that Jesus is innocent of any crime worthy of death.

[23:15]  ² tn Grk “nothing deserving death has been done by him.” The passive construction has been translated as an active one in keeping with contemporary English style.

[23:16]  ¹ tn Or “scourged” (BDAG 749 s.v. παιδεύω 2.b.γ). This refers to a whipping Pilate ordered in an attempt to convince Jesus not to disturb the peace. It has been translated “flogged” to distinguish it from the more severe verberatio.