John 19:1-22
Amplified Bible
The Crown of Thorns
19 So then Pilate took Jesus and had Him [a]scourged (flogged, whipped). 2 And the soldiers twisted together a crown of thorns and put it on His head, and put a purple robe around Him;(A) 3 and they kept coming up to Him, saying [mockingly], “Hail, King of the Jews [Good health! Peace! Long life to you, King of the Jews]!” And they slapped Him in the face.(B) 4 Then Pilate came out again and said to them, “Look, I am bringing Him out to you so that you may know that I find no guilt in Him [no crime, no cause for an accusation].” 5 So Jesus came out, wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe, and Pilate said to them, “Look! The Man!” 6 When the chief priests and officers saw Him, they shouted, “Crucify [Him]! Crucify [Him]!” Pilate said to them, “Take Him yourselves and crucify Him, for I find no guilt in Him [no crime, no cause for an accusation].”(C) 7 The Jews answered him, “We have a law [regarding blasphemy], and according to that law He should die, because He made Himself out to be the Son of God.”(D)
8 So when Pilate heard this said, he was [even] more [b]alarmed and afraid. 9 He went into the Praetorium again and said to Jesus, “Where are You from?” But Jesus did not answer him.(E) 10 So Pilate said to Him, “You do not speak to me? Do You not know that I have authority to release You, and I have authority to crucify You?” 11 Jesus answered, “You would have no authority over Me at all if it had not been given to you from above. For this reason the sin and guilt of the [c]one who handed Me over to you is greater [than your own].” 12 As a result of this, Pilate kept making efforts to release Him, but the Jews kept screaming, “[d]If you release this Man, you are no friend of Caesar! Anyone who makes himself out [to be] a king opposes Caesar [and rebels against the emperor]!”
13 When Pilate heard this, he brought Jesus out, and sat down on the judgment seat at a place called [e]The Pavement, but in [f]Hebrew, Gabbatha. 14 Now it was the day of Preparation for the [g]Passover [week], and it was about the sixth hour. He said to the Jews, “Look, your King!” 15 But they shouted, “Away with Him, away with Him, crucify Him!” Pilate said to them, “Shall I crucify your King?” The chief priests answered, “We have no king but Caesar!”
The Crucifixion
16 Then he handed Him over to them to be crucified.
17 So they took Jesus, and He went out, [h]bearing His own cross, to the place called [i]the Place of the Skull, which is called in Hebrew, Golgotha.(F) 18 There they crucified Him, and with Him two others, one on either side, and Jesus between them.(G) 19 Pilate also wrote an inscription [on a placard] and put it on the cross. And it was written: “JESUS THE NAZARENE, THE KING OF THE JEWS.”(H) 20 And many of the Jews read this inscription, for the place where Jesus was crucified was near the city; and it was written in Hebrew, in Latin, and in Greek. 21 Then the chief priests of the Jews said to Pilate, “Do not write, ‘The King of the Jews’; but, ‘He said, “I am King of the Jews.”’” 22 Pilate replied, “What I have written I have written [and it remains written].”
Read full chapterFootnotes
- John 19:1 Because Pilate viewed Jesus as innocent, he may have ordered the beating expecting that the Jews would consider it adequate punishment and consent to Jesus’ release. Scourging was a horrific, brutal form of punishment. The glass and metal of the whip tore the body apart, exposing the vital organs. Men frequently died of the scourging.
- John 19:8 As a Roman pagan, Pilate would have been superstitious and may have feared that Jesus actually had some sort of magical or divine power.
- John 19:11 This may refer to Judas Iscariot, but Caiaphas may be the more likely one since he was directly responsible for Jesus’ going before Pilate.
- John 19:12 This put political pressure on Pilate. The Jews indicated if Pilate released Jesus they would inform Rome and Pilate’s career would be in jeopardy.
- John 19:13 Gr The Lithostrotos, i.e. the Mosaic Pavement, the Stone Platform.
- John 19:13 I.e. Jewish Aramaic.
- John 19:14 See note 18:28.
- John 19:17 The vertical post remained permanently in the ground. Jesus carried the cross beam.
- John 19:17 Latin: Calvarius or Calvary; Aram: Golgotha; Greek: Kranion.
Copyright © 2015 by The Lockman Foundation, La Habra, CA 90631. All rights reserved.