John 19

John 19:17-18,25-26 on Papyrus 121 (3rd century)

The original text was written in Koine Greek. This chapter is divided into 42 verses.

The events recorded in this chapter took place in Jerusalem.

Swedish-based commentator René Kieffer divides this chapter into two sections:

• Verses 1-16a deal with Jesus' trial before Pilate, and are continuous with the events reported in the latter part of chapter 18
• Verses 16b-42 deal with his crucifixion, death and burial.

He further divides the first section into four parts: verses 1-3 (humiliation before Pilate), verses 4-7 (Pilate come out of his headquarters with the mocked royal Jesus), verses 8-11 (Jesus' dialogue with Pilate) and verses 12-16a (the "decisive scene" determining Jesus' fate). Kieffer goes on to divide the second section into three parts: a narrative in verses 16b-30 leading to the death of Jesus, a theological commentary in verses 31-37, and a narrative concerning Jesus' burial in verses 38-42.[6]

Then Jesus came out, wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe. And Pilate said to them, "Behold the Man!"[14]

"Behold the Man": Ecce homo in Vulgate Latin; in the original Greek: Ἴδε ὁ ἄνθρωπος, (Ide ho anthrōpos). Meyer reflects that the words are "short [but] significant".[8]

Therefore, when the chief priests and officers saw Him, they cried out, saying, "Crucify Him, crucify Him!" Pilate said to them, "You take Him and crucify Him, for I find no fault in Him".[15]

• "Crucify Him, crucify Him!": The words of the chief priests and officers in the Received Text are Greek: σταύρωσον, σταύρωσον, staurōson, staurōson,[16] meaning "crucify! crucify!", with the word "him" being implied or added in English texts. The Jews did not possess the right of execution, nor was crucifixion a Jewish form of capital punishment.[8]
• "No fault": or no crime (Revised Standard Version).[17]

The Jews answered him, "We have a law, and according to our law He ought to die, because He made Himself the Son of God."[18]

Critical texts refer to "the law", κατὰ τὸν νόμον (kata ton nomon), but the Textus Receptus reads "according to our law".[19] Alfred Plummer, in the Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges, argues that "our" is not original.[20]

Leviticus 24:16 ("the law") states:

And whoever blasphemes the name of the Lord shall surely be put to death. All the congregation shall certainly stone him, the stranger as well as him who is born in the land. When he blasphemes the name of the Lord, he shall be put to death.

Pilate was bound by Roman precedent to pay respect to the law of subject nationalities.[20]

[Pilate] went again into the Praetorium, and said to Jesus, "Where are You from?" But Jesus gave him no answer.[21]

A second private examination by Pilate.[9][20]

The acronym INRI ("Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews" in Latin) written in three languages (as in John 19:20) on the cross, Ellwangen Abbey, Germany.

Now Pilate wrote a title and put it on the cross. And the writing was:

JESUS OF NAZARETH, THE KING OF THE JEWS.[22]

Then many of the Jews read this title, for the place where Jesus was crucified was near the city; and it was written in Hebrew, Greek, and Latin.[23]

Therefore the chief priests of the Jews said to Pilate, "Do not write, 'The King of the Jews,' but, 'He said, "I am the King of the Jews."'"[24]

Pilate answered, "What I have written, I have written."[25]

Then the soldiers, when they had crucified Jesus, took His garments and made four parts, to each soldier a part, and also the tunic.

Now the tunic was without seam, woven from the top in one piece.[26]

They said therefore among themselves, "Let us not tear it, but cast lots for it, whose it shall be,"

that the Scripture might be fulfilled which says:

"They divided My garments among them,

And for My clothing they cast lots."

Therefore the soldiers did these things.[27]

Citing: Psalm 22:18

Now there stood by the cross of Jesus

His mother,

and His mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and

Mary Magdalene.[28]

When Jesus therefore saw His mother, and the disciple whom He loved standing by,

He said to His mother,

"Woman, behold your son!"[29]

Then He said to the disciple,

“Behold your mother!”

And from that hour that disciple took her to his own home.[30]

"That hour" may indicate that "they did not wait at the cross to see the end and the disciple took her to his own home"; εἰς τὰ ἴδια, see John 1:11, John 16:32. Mary would live with John and his natural mother, Salome, who is also Mary's sister.[31]

After this, Jesus, knowing that all things were now accomplished, that the Scripture might be fulfilled, said,

“I thirst!”[32]

Referring to: Psalm 69:21

Now a vessel full of sour wine was sitting there; and they filled a sponge with sour wine,

put it on hyssop, and put it to His mouth.[33]

• Referring to: Psalm 69:21
• Cross reference: Matthew 27:34; Mark 15:23; Luke 23:36

So when Jesus had received the sour wine, He said,

“It is finished!”

And bowing His head, He gave up His spirit.[34]

Therefore, because it was the Preparation Day, that the bodies should not remain on the cross on the Sabbath (for that Sabbath was a high day), the Jews asked Pilate that their legs might be broken, and that they might be taken away.[35]

Preparation Day was the day before the Passover.[36] Verse 42 refers to this day as "the Jews' Preparation Day". Plummer suggests that "the addition of 'the Jews' may point to the time when there was already a Christian ‘preparation-day'".[20]

And again another Scripture says, "They shall look on Him whom they pierced".[37]

This is the last of a series of texts, commencing from John 13:18: "that the Scripture may be fulfilled, 'He who eats bread with Me has lifted up his heel against Me',[38] in which the evangelist confirms that the events of the passion fulfill the Old Testament scriptures. The quoted passage is Zechariah 12:10b, "then they will look on Me whom they pierced", with the word "me" changed to "him". Lutheran commentator Johann Bengel argues that John quotes this passage "for the sake of its allusion to the piercing [not for that to the looking]".[39]

And Nicodemus, who at first came to Jesus by night, also came, bringing a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about a hundred pounds.[40]

Bengel notes that Nicodemus, who had shown his faith in dialogue with Jesus in chapter 3, here "manifested [it] by an altogether distinguished work of love".[39]

Then took they the body of Jesus, and wound it in linen clothes with the spices, as the manner of the Jews is to bury.[41]

• Burial of Jesus
• Crucifixion of Jesus
• Jerusalem
• Jesus Christ
• "Jesus, King of the Jews"
• Joseph of Arimathea
• Longinus
• Nazareth
• Nicodemus
• Pontius Pilate
• Sabbath
• Stephaton
• Related Bible parts: Exodus 12, Numbers 9, Psalm 22, Psalm 34, Psalm 69, Zechariah 12, Matthew 2, Matthew 27, Mark 15, Luke 23, John 3, John 18

• Kirkpatrick, A. F. (1901). The Book of Psalms: with Introduction and Notes. The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges. Vol. Book IV and V: Psalms XC-CL. Cambridge: At the University Press. Retrieved February 28, 2019.

• John 19 King James Bible - Wikisource
• English Translation with Parallel Latin Vulgate Archived 2020-09-26 at the Wayback Machine
• Online Bible at GospelHall.org (ESV, KJV, Darby, American Standard Version, Bible in Basic English)
• Multiple bible versions at Bible Gateway (NKJV, NIV, NRSV etc.)