John 19
1 So, Pilate took Jesus and had him flogged severely.a 2 After weavingb a crown from thorns, the soldiers put it on his head and wrapped him in a purplec cloak.d 3 They began to come up to him repeatedly and say, “Hello,e King of the Judeans!” and hit him in the face.
4 Pilate went outside again and said to them, “Look, I’m bringing him outside to you so you can understand I find nothing incriminating in connection with him.” 5 Then Jesus came outside, wearing the thorny crown and the purple cloak. “Here’s the person!”f Pilateg said to them.
6 When the lead priests and attendants saw him, they shouted, “Crucify him! Crucify him!”h
“Take him,” said Pilate, “And crucify him yourselves! I find nothing incriminating in connection with him.”
7 “We have a law,”i the Judean authorities responded, “And based on the law,j he should die because he made himself out to be the Son of God!”k
8 When Pilate heard what they were saying,l he became even more afraid,m 9 and he went back into the Roman headquarters and said to Jesus, “Where are you from?” Jesus didn’t give him an answer. 10 Then Pilate said to him, “Are you not speaking to me? Don’t you understand that I have the authorityn to set you free and the authority to crucify you!”
11 “You wouldn’t have authority over me at all if it weren’t given to you from higher up,”o replied Jesus.
12 From then on, Pilate tried to set him free, but the Judean authorities shouted, “If you set this person free, you are no friend of Caesar! Everyone who makes themselves out to be a king contradicts Caesar!”
13 Having heard the things they were saying,p Pilate brought Jesus outside and sat on the judgment seat at the place called “The Stone Pavement” (Gabbatha in Aramaic).q 14 It was the day of preparation for Passover,r and it was about midday.s
“Here is your king!” he said to the Judean authorities.
15 Then they shouted, “Take him away! Take him away! Crucify him!”
“Should I crucify your king?” Pilate said to them.
“We have no king except Caesar,” answered the lead priests.
16 So then, he handed him over to themt so he could be crucified. They received Jesus, 17 and while carrying his own cross, he went out to the place called “The Place of the Skull” (which, in Aramaic, is said, Golgotha).u 18 They crucified him there, along with two others, one on each side with Jesus in the middle. 19 Pilate also had a title written and attached on the cross, which read, “Jesus the Nazarene, the king of the Judeans,” 20 so many Judeans read that title since the place where Jesus was crucified was near the city, and it was written in Aramaic,v Latin, and Greek.
21 “Don’t write, ‘The king of the Judeans,’” the lead priests of the Judeans said to Pilate, “But that he said, ‘I am king of the Judeans.’”
22 “I have written what I have written,” replied Pilate.
23 When the soldiers crucified Jesus, they took his clothes and made four parts, a part for each soldier, plus the tunic. The tunic was seamless, woven from the top down through the whole thing. 24 So, they said to each other, “Let’s not tear it apart. Instead, let’s cast lotsw for whose it will be. The result was that the scripture was lived out that says, “They divided my clothes among themselves, and they cast lots for my clothing.”x Then the soldiers actually did these things.
25 Standing near Jesus’ cross were his mother, his mother’s sister, Miriam the wife of Clopas, and Miriam the Tower.y 26 When Jesus saw his mother and the student whom he loved standing there, he said to his mother, “Ma’am,z here is your son.”aa 27 Next, he said to the student, “Here is your mother.” And from that time on, the student received her into their own family.bb
28 With this, Jesus, who understood that everything had nowcc been completed, said, “I’m thirsty,” which completed the scripture.dd 29 A jar full of sour wineee was there, so after putting a sponge soaked with the sour wine on a length of hyssop, they lifted it to his mouth.
30 After he received the sour wine, Jesus said, “It has been completed,” and lowering his head, he gave over the Life-breath.
31 Then, because it was the day of preparation,ff which meant the bodies should not stay on the crosses on Shabbat—that Shabbat was an especially important day—the Judean authorities asked Pilate for their legs to be broken and the bodies to be removed. 32 So the soldiers came and did so, breaking the legs first of the one and then of the other person who had been crucified with him. 33 But when they came to Jesus, they saw that he was already dead, so they did not break his legs. 34 Instead, one of the soldiers stabbed the side of his bodygg with his spear, and immediately, blood and water came out.
35 The one who saw it has told about it so that you could trust too. He knows that what he says is true, and his report is trustworthy. 36 You see, these things happened which gave a fuller meaninghh to the scriptures: “Not a bone of itii will be broken.”jj 37 Additionally, a different scripture says, “They will look at the one whom they have stabbed.”kk
38 After these things, Joseph of Arimathea, who was a student of Jesus but had hidden it because of fear of the Judean authorities, asked Pilate to be able to remove Jesus’ body. Pilate gave him permission, so he came and removed his body. 39 Nicodemus came too, the one who first came to Jesusll at night, carrying about 75 pounds of a mixture of myrrh and aloe.mm 40 They took Jesus’ body and wrapped it in strips of linen with the perfumes, as is the burial custom for Jews. 41 At the place where he was crucified was a garden, and a new tomb was in the garden where no one had been buried.nn 42 So, because it was the day of preparation for the Jews, they buried Jesus there since the tomb was nearby.
FOOTNOTES:
a The whips used for this type of sentence had sharp fragments attached to the end. This type of flogging was reserved for people sentenced to crucifixion and often resulted in death before reaching the cross. It is the Greek word equivalent for what was called verberatio in Latin.
b Or ‘braiding’
c Purple was an expensive color of dye, so only wealthy people could afford clothing that color. It was also the official color of Caesar’s family.
d Or ‘outer garment.’ It is not a specific word, and could have been a cloak, tunic, or mantle, any item of clothing that covers the upper body.
e Traditionally, ‘hail’ here, but this word is the standard greeting directed toward anyone, chaire, and it literally means, ‘rejoice.’ Many translations translate it as ‘greetings’ in other places, but truly, it is used the same way English speakers use ‘hello.’
f Literally, ‘look, the person’
g Literally, ‘he’
h Literally, ‘Crucify, crucify’
i Or ‘we have Torah’
j Possibly a reference to Leviticus 24:16
k “The Son of God” was a nickname for the emperor, a title taken on originally by Augustus Caesar, the son of Julius Caesar who was worshiped as divine, and was then used by each subsequent Caesar.
l Literally, ‘heard this logos.’ See note in John 1:1
m Literally, ‘he became more afraid.’ This is the first time it explicitly describes him as afraid, but all his behavior up to this point has shown he is anxious about what’s happening and trying to pass off responsibility for any decisions about what to do with Jesus. Somehow, making the wrong move already seemed dangerous. Now, Jesus was accused of claiming to be Caesar, or to be setting himself up as a rival to Caesar, and Pilate gets scared.
n Or ‘permission’
o Or ‘above’
p Literally, ‘heard these logos (plural).” See note in John 1:1
q The Greek word means ‘Hebrew’ but the actual language Gabbatha is from is Aramaic, which was very closely related to Hebrew and was what was spoken at that time by the Hebrew people.
r The day before Shabbat was called the ‘day of preparation’ It seems also to be used of the day before a feast day.
s Literally, ‘the sixth hour’ with the time starting at dawn.
t Who is referred to here is not clear. It seems to be the lead priests, but they do not have the authority to carry out an execution, and it would be the job of soldiers to carry it out regardless of who gave the orders. Most likely, it is referring to the Roman soldiers.
u The Greek word means ‘Hebrew’ but the actual language Golgotha is from is Aramaic, which was very closely related to Hebrew and was what was spoken at that time by the Hebrew people.
v Literally, ‘Hebrew,’ but the language we call Hebrew was not the primary language spoken by the Hebrew people at that time. Aramaic was the language spoken by the Hebrew people and is the language of the several phrases referred to in this document as being ‘Hebrew.’
w Literally ‘obtain/assign by lots.’ The custom was to make a mark or write a name on small items, then toss them on the ground or put them in a container and shake it to see which one fell out, and whoever’s piece landed face up or was the one to fall out would win. It’s like drawing names from a hat.
x Quotation of Psalm 22:18. Traditionally, when a single verse was quoted, the intent was to understand that the whole context was important. They did not have verse or chapter numbers, so they referenced a section by quoting part of it. The whole of Psalm 22 is important in understanding Jesus and the crucifixion.
y Traditionally, ‘Magdalene.’ Magdalene means ‘tower’ in Aramaic. It has traditionally been thought to mean ‘from Magdala,’ but the town now known as Magdala was not called that at the time.
z Literally, the word means ‘woman.’ However, addressing a woman as ‘woman’ in our culture is considered rude, an attempt to put her in her place, especially when done by a man. In Jesus’ culture, it was done as a respectful way to address someone.
aa Literally, “look, your son.’ While it seems likely that this refers to a male, it is not made clear who it refers to, and some theories suggest it could be a woman. The word huios (‘son’) could be used here and still refer to a woman. The poetic nature of this statement, that Jesus intends this person to fill the role he is leaving empty by dying is significant. This person is replacing Miriam’s son, becoming what Jesus was to her. Additionally, the Greek word teknon means ‘child.’ English speakers use ‘child’ even when referring to adult offspring, but that is not the case with most other languages. Spanish, for example, has a word for children niños which can be masculine when singular and either masculine or mixed when plural, but it only refers to non-adults. The Spanish word hijos means ‘children’ in the sense of offspring and would be translated as ‘son’ if it were about a boy or group of only boys, but it would also be applicable to a mixed group of boys and girls who were the person’s offspring. The same can be true of Greek.
bb It just says ‘his own’ without specifying what. Many translations say ‘his own home.’ The fact that it is plural makes me thing it means members of his family, but it’s a guess and doesn’t change the meaning much.
cc Or ‘already’
dd Probably a reference to Psalm 2215 or possibly to Psalm 69:21
ee This word refers to a mixture of cheap vinegar wine and water which was a standard drink of soldiers and enslaved people and was probably there for the soldiers to drink.
ff This day seems to be the day before Passover as well as the day before Shabbat, making it especially important to treat it seriously to prepare the community that day for the following sacred day.
gg This word, pleura, means ‘side of the body’ and is the same word used in the Greek translation of Genesis 2:22 where God
hh Traditionally, ‘fulfilled’
ii This form of autou can mean either ‘of him’ or ‘of it.’ Here it is applied to Jesus, but in the Greek translation of the verse from Exodus being referenced, it was about the Passover lamb, so ‘it’ would be the appropriate English translation in that context.
jj Quotation of Exodus 12:46, connecting Jesus with the Passover lamb
kk Quotation of Zechariah 12:10. To understand how it applies to Jesus, the whole context of Zechariah 10-12 is necessary. It discusses God as shepherd in contrast with the worthless shepherds who devour their own sheep in chapters 10 and 11, then goes on to have God showing compassion and strengthening Jerusalem and Judah in the context of being oppressed by other nations. The light Jerusalem provides to the nations includes the compassion God gives to the inhabitants so that they look at the ‘sheep’ they have pierced and mourn for it. In the Zechariah context, the sheep represents the people oppressed by corrupt leaders. It is extended here to Jesus who is one of the people of Israel being oppressed by corrupt leaders as well as being connected with the Passover lamb of Exodus.
ll Literally, ‘him’
mm Both myrrh and the kind of aloe being referred to here were perfumes used for embalming.
nn Literally ‘placed’ since bodies in tombs are not buried in the sense of covered with dirt.