Luke 23

Luke 23:14-26 from a Gospel Book (folio 160v; British Library, MS Add. 11848) written in Carolingian minuscule

The original text was written in Koine Greek. This chapter is divided into 56 verses.

And the whole multitude of them arose, and led him unto Pilate.[5]

"The whole multitude of them" (Greek: απαν το πληθος, hapan to plēthos) may also be translated as "the whole assembly",[6] or "the whole Council".[7] Luke uses το πληθος (rather than το ὄχλος, to ochlos) to signify a multitude in number.[8] They led Jesus to Pontius Pilate, the provincial governor (prefect) of Judaea.

Christ before Pilate, Mihály Munkácsy, 1881

Then Pilate asked him, “Are you the king of the Jews?”

He answered, “You say so.” (NRSV)[9]

Cross reference: Matthew 27:11; Mark 15:2; John 18:37

But they were the more fierce, saying, “He stirs up the people, teaching throughout all Judea, beginning from Galilee to this place.”[10]

Traditionally, "throughout all Judea" has been rendered as "throughout all Jewry".[11] F. W. Farrar suggests that these words imply a "Judean ministry" which the synoptic gospels do not narrate,[8] as the only journey of Jesus in Judea which is recorded is that from Jericho to Jerusalem. On the other hand, Judea has "sometimes been the name of the whole land, including apparently parts beyond the Jordan", see Josephus, Antiquities of the Jews, XII, 4.11,[12] which term would therefore include the area of Perea east of the Jordan River. Matthew, Mark and John all refer to Jesus' stay in Perea, and Lucan scholars generally assume that the route Jesus followed from Galilee to Jerusalem passed through this region.[13]

[Pilate] said to them, "You have brought this Man to me, as one who misleads the people. And indeed, having examined Him in your presence, I have found no fault in this Man concerning those things of which you accuse Him."[14]

Luke's version of the trial scene "emphasizes Pilate's reluctance to act against Jesus".[15]

Then he said to them the third time, "Why, what evil has He done? I have found no reason for death in Him. I will therefore chastise Him and let Him go."[16]

This "third time" of declaring Jesus' innocence follows the previous declarations in verses 4 and 14-15.[15]

So Pilate gave sentence that it should be as they requested.[17]

This verse reads ο δε πιλατος επεκρινεν γενεσθαι το αιτημα αυτων in the Textus Receptus, matching the opening words of Mark 15:15, ο δε πιλατος ("so Pilate ..."), but the sentence begins καὶ Πιλᾶτος ... ("and Pilate ...") in critical texts such as Westcott-Hort.[18] Pilate's "official decision" [19] was to comply with the request of the crowd. The word ἐπέκρινεν (epekrinen, "pronounced sentence") is specific to Luke,[20] although it also appears in the apocryphal 2 Maccabees 4:47, where innocent men are condemned to death.[21][8]

The Latin text of Luke 23:47-24:1 on Codex Bezae (Cambridge University Library MS. Nn.2.41;~ AD 400).

Blessed are the barren, and the wombs that never bore and the breasts which never gave suck.[22]

The prophet Hosea spoke in similar language, when recognising that the disobedience of the Israelites required God's punishment, but calling for some mitigation:

Give them, O Lord —

what will you give?

Give them a miscarrying womb

and dry breasts.[23]

The Crucifixion (1622) by Simon Vouet; Church of Jesus, Genoa

One of the two thieves who die with Jesus reviles him, the other is saved by faith.[24]

Now it was about the sixth hour, and there was darkness over all the earth until the ninth hour.[25]

Like Mark 15:33–34, Luke records three hours of darkness, which signify "the awesomeness of what is taking place".[15]

And when Jesus had cried out with a loud voice, He said, “Father, ‘into Your hands I commit My spirit.’ ” Having said this, He breathed His last.[26]

Jesus' crying "with a loud voice" is not, as in Mark 15:34, one of desolation (why have you forsaken me?), but of "secure confidence". Jesus quotes Psalm 31:5, rather than Psalm 22:1 which appears in Mark's gospel.[15]

And the whole crowd who came together to that sight, seeing what had been done, beat their breasts and returned.[27]

William Robertson Nicoll understands the phrase "the things that had happened" (Greek: τὰ γενόμενα, tà genómena) "comprehensively, including the crucifixion and all its accompaniments".[28] Albert Barnes refers to "the earthquake, the darkness, and the sufferings of Jesus" as the "things which were done".[29] The earthquake is only recorded in Matthew's Gospel, but the third century historian Sextus Julius Africanus also refers to an earthquake on or around the day of the crucifixion.[30]

And all his acquaintance, and the women that followed him from Galilee, stood afar off, beholding these things.[31]

"The women" that followed Jesus from Galilee (also in Luke 23:55) were "Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother of James, and the other women with them" according to Luke 24:10.[32] Matthew 27:55 lists "Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James and Joseph, and the mother of the sons of Zebedee", whereas Mark 15:40 names "Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James the little and Joses, and Salome".[33]

And the women who had come with Him from Galilee followed after, and they observed the tomb and how His body was laid.[34]

According to Luke 24:10, "the women" (also in Luke 23:49) were "Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother of James, and the other women with them".[32] Matthew 27:61 lists "Mary Magdalene, and the other Mary", whereas Mark 15:47 names "Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of Joses".[33]

• Burial of Jesus
• Crucifixion of Jesus
• Holy Week
• Jerusalem
• Ministry of Jesus
• Pontius Pilate
• Stephaton
• Related Bible parts: Psalm 22, Psalm 69, Jeremiah 15, Matthew 27, Mark 15, Luke 24, John 18, John 19

• Bauckham, Richard (2017). Jesus and the Eyewitnesses (2nd ed.). Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing. ISBN 9780802874313.
• 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.

• Luke 23 King James Bible - Wikisource
• English Translation with Parallel Latin Vulgate Archived 2019-06-17 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.)