John 19:13-16 sits inside this longer paragraph.
13When Pilate therefore heard these words, he brought Jesus out and sat down on the judgment seat at a place called “The Pavement”, but in Hebrew, “Gabbatha.” 14Now it was the Preparation Day of the Passover, at about the sixth hour. He said to the Jews, “Behold, your King!”
15They cried out, “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!”
16So then he delivered him to them to be crucified. So they took Jesus and led him away. 17He went out, bearing his cross, to the place called “The Place of a Skull”, which is called in Hebrew, “Golgotha”, 18where they crucified him, and with him two others, on either side one, and Jesus in the middle. 19Pilate wrote a title also, and put it on the cross. There was written, “JESUS OF NAZARETH, THE KING OF THE JEWS.” 20Therefore many of the Jews read this title, for the place where Jesus was crucified was near the city; and it was written in Hebrew, in Latin, and in Greek. 21The chief priests of the Jews therefore said to Pilate, “Don’t write, ‘The King of the Jews,’ but, ‘he said, “I am King of the Jews.” ’ ”
John Calvin 1540 · Public Domain On vv13–16 13. And sat down on the judgment-seat. Hence we…
13. And sat down on the judgment-seat. Hence we see what conflicting opinions passed through the mind of Pilate, as if he had been a stage-player who was acting two characters. He ascends the judgment-seat, in order to pronounce sentence of death on Christ solemnly, and in the customary form; and yet he declares openly, that he does so reluctantly and against his conscience. When he calls Christ king, he speaks ironically, meaning that it was a trivial charge which the Jews brought against him; or rather, for the purpose of allaying their fury, he warns them, that it would bring disgrace on the whole nation, if a report were spread abroad, that a person of that nation had been condemned to die for aspiring to kingly power.
In the place which is called the Stone-pavement, but in the Hebrew, Gabbatha. When the Evangelist says, that גבתא (Gabbatha) was the name of the place in Hebrew he means the Chaldaic or Syriac language, which was then in common use; for in Hebrew, גבה(Gabach) means to be lofty. It was proper, therefore, that Christ should be condemned from a lofty place, that he, coming from heaven as the supreme Judge, may acquit us at the last day.
John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.
Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain On vv13, 16 Gabbatha signifieth an high place, as judgment seats are.
Gabbatha signifieth an high place, as judgment seats are.
Pilate condemneth himself first, with the same mouth wherewith he afterward condemneth Christ.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain On vv13–16 13 When Pilate therefore heard that saying, he brought…
13 When Pilate therefore heard that saying, he brought Jesus forth, and sat down in the judgment seat in a place that is called the Pavement, but in the Hebrew, Gabbatha.
Ver. 13. When Pilate therefore heard that saying] That saying, and the base fear of being shent by Caesar, makes him warp and go against his conscience. But should not judges be men of courage? Should not the standard be of steel? the chief posts in the house be heart of oak? Solomon’s tribunal was under propped with lions, to show what metal a magistrate should be made of. It is a mercy to have judges, modo audeant quae sentiunt, saith the orator, so they dare do their consciences. (Cic. pro Milone.)
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain On vv13–16 That saying, that if he let Jesus go he…
That saying, that if he let Jesus go he was not Caesar’s friend. Pilate was a man that loved the honour that was from men more than the honour and praise which is from God; he was more afraid of losing his place than his soul, and could no longer resist the temptation he was under.
He brought Jesus forth, and sat down in a place called the Pavement, because it was paved with stone, but in the Hebrew, (mixed with the Syriac), Gabbatha, that is, a high place; for it was their manner to have their judgment seats higher than other parts of the room where they were.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
William Burkitt 1703 · Public Domain On v14 Observe here, how careful the Holy Ghost is to…
Observe here, how careful the Holy Ghost is to record and set down the time when Pilate gave sentence against Christ.
In general, it was on the day of the preparation for the passover; that is, the day immediately before it, when they prepared everything needful for the solemnization: and, in particular, it was about the sixth hour of that day.
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St. Mark calls it the third hour, St. John the sixth; but this is easily reconciled thus: the Jews divided the day into four quarters, which they called hours; the first was called the third hour, which answers to our ninth; the second, called the sixth hour, answering to our twelfth: the third, called the ninth hour, answering our three in the afternoon: the fourth, called the twelfth hour, which was the time of their retirement from labour, and beginning of the first night watch.
Now the whole time from the third hour to the sixth, that is, from nine to twelve, was called the third hour; and the whole intervening time from the sixth to the ninth, that is from twelve to three, is called the sixth hour; and so of the rest.
Now when St. John says, it was about the sixth hour when Christ was condemned by Pilate, and led away to be crucified, and St. Mark says it was the third hour, we are to understand, that St. Mark takes in the whole time of the third hour, from nine to twelve: and St. John saying it was about the sixth hour, implies that it was near twelve; so that between the hours of nine and twelve our Lord was sentenced, and led away to his cross; about twelve, fastened to his cross, upon which he hung till the ninth hour, that is, till about three in the afternoon; during which time there was such an eclipse of the sun, as did occasion darkness over all the earth.
Learn hence, the great love and condescension of Christ, in stooping so low, to have his sufferings lengthened out upon our accounts, to expiate our guilt, which deserveth eternal sufferings: that he might, by his example, warn us to prepare for trials of long continuance, and sanctify a state of continual affliction to us. Behold the Son of God harassed all night before he suffered, hurried from place to place, posted backward and forward, from Pilate to Herod, and from Herod to Pilate, wearied, scourged, buffeted, crowned with thorns, at last nailed to his cross, and hanging thereupon from about twelve to three, in exquisite torture of body, and under the sense of his Father’s wrath in his soul.
O Lord! thy kindness towards us in matchless an inimitable; never was love like thine.
William Burkitt's Expository Notes on the New Testament (1700–1703) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Henry 1710 · Public Domain On v16 We have here sentence of death passed upon our…
We have here sentence of death passed upon our Lord Jesus, and execution done soon after. A mighty struggle Pilate had had within him between his convictions and his corruptions; but at length his convictions yielded, and his corruptions prevailed, the fear of man having a greater power over him than the fear of God.
I. Pilate gave judgment against Christ, and signed the warrant for his execution, Joh 19:16. We may see here, 1. How Pilate sinned against his conscience: he had again and again pronounced him innocent, and yet at last condemned him as guilty. Pilate, since he came to be governor, had in many instances disobliged and exasperated the Jewish nation; for he was a man of a haughty and implacable spirit, and extremely wedded to his humour. He had seized upon the Corban, and spent it upon a water-work; he had brought into Jerusalem shields stamped with Caesar's image, which was very provoking to the Jews; he had sacrificed the lives of many to his resolutions herein. Fearing therefore that he should be complained of for these and other insolences, he was willing to gratify the Jews. Now this makes the matter much worse. If he had been of an easy, soft, and pliable disposition, his yielding to so strong a stream had been the more excusable; but for a man that was so wilful in other things, and of so fierce a resolution, to be overcome in a thing of this nature, shows him to be a bad man indeed, that could better bear the wronging of his conscience than the crossing of his humour. 2. How he endeavoured to transfer the guilt upon the Jews. He delivered him not to his own officers (as usual), but to the prosecutors, the chief priests and elders; so excusing the wrong to his own conscience with this, that it was but a permissive condemnation, and that he did not put Christ to death, but only connived at those that did it. 3. How Christ was made sin for us. We deserved to have been condemned, but Christ was condemned for us, that to us there might be no condemnation. God was now entering into judgment with his Son, that he might not enter into judgment with his servants.
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II. Judgment was no sooner given than with all possible expedition the prosecutors, having gained their point, resolved to lose not time lest Pilate should change his mind, and order a reprieve (those are enemies to our souls, the worst of enemies, that hurry us to sin, and then leave us no room to undo what we have done amiss), and also lest there should be an uproar among the people, and they should find a greater number against them than they had with so much artifice got to be for them. It were well if we would be thus expeditious in that which is good, and not stay for more difficulties.
1. They immediately hurried away the prisoner. The chief priests greedily flew upon the prey which they had been long waiting for; now it is drawn into their net. Or they, that is, the soldiers who were to attend the execution, they took him and led him away, not to the place whence he came, and thence to the place of execution, as is usual with us, but directly to the place of execution. Both the priests and the soldiers joined in leading him away. Now was the Son of man delivered into the hands of men, wicked and unreasonable men. By the law of Moses (and in appeals by our law) the prosecutors were to be the executioners, Deu 17:7. And the priests here were proud of the office. His being led away does not suppose him to have made any opposition, but the scripture must be fulfilled, he was led as a sheep to the slaughter, Act 8:32. We deserved to have been led forth with the workers of iniquity as criminals to execution, Psa 125:5. But he was led forth for us, that we might escape.
2. To add to his misery, they obliged him as long as he was able, to carry his cross (Joh 19:17), according to the custom among the Romans; hence Furcifer was among them a name of reproach. Their crosses did not stand up constantly, as our gibbets do in the places of execution, because the malefactor was nailed to the cross as it lay along upon the ground, and then it was lifted up, and fastened in the earth, and removed when the execution was over, and commonly buried with the body; so that every one that was crucified had a cross of his own. Now Christ's carrying his cross may be considered, (1.) As a part of his sufferings; he endured the cross literally. It was a long and thick piece of timber that was necessary for such a use, and some think it was neither seasoned nor hewn. The blessed body of the Lord Jesus was tender, and unaccustomed to such burdens; it had now lately been harassed and tired out; his shoulders were sore with the stripes they had given him; every jog of the cross would renew his smart, and be apt to strike the thorns he was crowned with into his head; yet all this he patiently underwent, and it was but the beginning of sorrows. (2.) As answering the type which went before him; Isaac, when he was to be offered, carried the wood on which he was to be bound and with which he was to be burned. (3.) As very significant of his undertaking, the Father having laid upon him the iniquity of us all (Isa 53:6), and he having to take away sin by bearing it in his own body upon the tree, Pe1 2:24. He had said in effect, On me be the curse; for he was made a curse for us, and therefore on him was the cross. (4.) As very instructive to us. Our Master hereby taught all his disciples to take up their cross, and follow him. Whatever cross he calls us out to bear at any time, we must remember that he bore the cross first, and, by bearing it for us, bears it off from us in great measure, for thus he hath made his yoke easy, and his burden light. He bore that end of the cross that had the curse upon it; this was the heavy end; and hence all that are his are enabled to call their afflictions for him light, and but for a moment.
3. They brought him to the place of execution: He went forth, not dragged against his will, but voluntary in his sufferings. He went forth out of the city, for he was crucified without the gate, Heb 13:12. And, to put the greater infamy upon his sufferings, he was brought to the common place of execution, as one in all points numbered among the transgressors, a place called Golgotha, the place of a skull, where they threw dead men's skulls and bones, or where the heads of beheaded malefactors were left, - a place ceremonially unclean; there Christ suffered, because he was made sin for us, that he might purge our consciences from dead works, and the pollution of them. If one would take notice of the traditions of the elders, there are two which are mentioned by many of the ancient writers concerning this place: - (1.) That Adam was buried here, and that this was the place of his skull, and they observe that where death triumphed over the first Adam there the second Adam triumphed over him. Gerhard quotes for this tradition Origen, Cyprian, Epiphanius, Austin, Jerome, and others. (2.) That this was that mountain in the land of Moriah on which Abraham offered up Isaac, and the ram was a ransom for Isaac.
4. There they crucified him, and the other malefactors with him (Joh 19:18): There they crucified him. Observe (1.) What death Christ died; the death of the cross, a bloody, painful, shameful death, a cursed death. He was nailed to the cross, as a sacrifice bound to the altar, as a Saviour fixed for his undertaking; his ear nailed to God's door-post, to serve him for ever. He was lifted up as the brazen serpent, hung between heaven and earth because we were unworthy of either, and abandoned by both. His hands were stretched out to invite and embrace us; he hung upon the tree some hours, dying gradually in the full use of reason and speech, that he might actually resign himself a sacrifice. (2.) In what company he died: Two others with him. Probably these would not have been executed at that time, but at the request of the chief priests, to add to the disgrace of our Lord Jesus, which might be the reason why one of them reviled him, because their death was hastened for his sake. Had they taken two of his disciples, and crucified them with him, it had been an honour to him; but, if such as they had been partakers with him in suffering, it would have looked as if they had been undertakers with him in satisfaction. Therefore it was ordered that his fellow-sufferers should be the worst of sinners, that he might bear our reproach, and that the merit might appear to be his only. This exposed him much to the people's contempt and hatred, who are apt to judge of persons by the lump, and are not curious in distinguishing, and would conclude him not only malefactor because he was yoked with malefactors, but the worst of the three because put in the midst. But thus the scripture was fulfilled, He was numbered among the transgressors. He did not die at the altar among the sacrifices, nor mingle his blood with that of bulls and goats; but he died among the criminals, and mingled his blood with theirs who were sacrificed to public justice.
And now let us pause awhile, and with an eye of faith look upon Jesus. Was ever sorrow like unto his sorrow? See him who was clothed with glory stripped of it all, and clothed with shame - him who was the praise of angels made a reproach of men - him who had been with eternal delight and joy in the bosom of his Father now in the extremities of pain and agony. See him bleeding, see him struggling, see him dying, see him and love him, love him and live to him, and study what we shall render.
Matthew Henry's Commentary on the Whole Bible (1708–1710) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain On vv13–16 When Pilate therefore heard that saying,.... Of the Jews,…
When Pilate therefore heard that saying,.... Of the Jews, that a freeing of Jesus would show an unfriendliness to Caesar; and gave very broad hints that they would accuse him to Caesar of treachery and unfaithfulness, in letting go a man, that made pretensions to be a king in his territories; and knowing well the jealousies and suspicions of Tiberius, and fearing lest it would turn to his own disrepute and disadvantage, immediately
he brought Jesus forth out of the judgment hall, the place where he had been examined in; not to declare his innocence, nor to move their pity, nor to release him, but to pass sentence on him.
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And he sat down in the judgment seat: for that purpose. He had sat but little all this while, but was continually going in and out to examine Jesus, and converse with the Jews; but he now takes his place, and sits down as a judge, in order to give the finishing stroke to this affair; and where he sat down, was
in the place that is called the pavement, but in the Hebrew, Gabbatha. This place, in the Greek tongue, was called "Lithostrotos"; or "the pavement of stones", as the Syriac version renders it: it is thought to be the room "Gazith", in which the sanhedrim sat in the temple when they tried capital causes (t); and it was so called, because it was paved with smooth, square, hewn stones:
"it was in the north part; half of it was holy, and half of it common; and it had two doors, one for that part which was holy, and another for that which was common; and in that half which was common the sanhedrim sat (u).''
So that into this part of it, and by this door, Pilate, though a Gentile, might enter. This place, in the language of the Jews, who at this time spoke Syriac, was "Gabbatha", front its height, as it should seem; though the Syriac and Persic versions read "Gaphiphtha", which signifies a fence, or an enclosure. Mention is made in the Talmud (w) of the upper "Gab" in the mountain of the house; but whether the same with this "Gabbaths", and whether this is the same with the chamber "Gazith", is not certain. The Septuagint use the same word as John here does, and call by the same name the pavement of the temple on which the Israelites felt and worshipped God, Ch2 7:3.
(t) Gloss. in T. Bab. Avoda Zara, fol. 8. 2. (u) T. Bab. Yoma, fol. 25. 1. Maimon. Hilch. Beth Habbechira, c. 5. sect. 17. Bartenora in Misn. Middot, c. 5. sect. 3. (w) T. Bab. Sabbat, fol. 115. 1.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain On vv13–14 Pilate sat down on the judgment seat - Which…
Pilate sat down on the judgment seat - Which was then without the palace, in a place called, in Greek, the pavement, on account of a beautiful piece of Mosaic work, with which the floor was adorned: but in Hebrew, Gabbatha - Or the high place, because it stood on an eminence, so that the judge sitting on his throne might be seen and heard by a considerable number of people.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain On vv13–16 Verse 13. The Pavement] λιθοστρωτον, literally, a stone pavement:…
Verse 13. The Pavement] λιθοστρωτον, literally, a stone pavement: probably it was that place in the open court where the chair of justice was set, for the prefects of provinces always held their courts of justice in the open air, and which was paved with stones of various colours, like that of Ahasuerus, Es 1:6, of red, blue, white, and black marble; what we still term Mosaic work, or something in imitation of it; such as the Roman pavements frequently dug up in this and other countries, where the Romans have had military stations.
Gabbatha.] That is, an elevated place; from גבה gabah, high, raised up; and it is very likely that the judgment seat was considerably elevated in the court, and that the governor went up to it by steps; and perhaps these very steps were what was called the Pavement. John does not say that Lithostroton, or the Pavement, is the meaning of the word Gabbatha; but that the place was called so in the Hebrew. The place was probably called Lithostroton, or the Pavement: the seat of judgment, Gabbatha, the raised or elevated place.
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In several MSS. and versions, the scribes not understanding the Hebrew word, wrote it variously, Gabbatha, Gabatha, Kapphatha, Kappata, Gennetha, Gennaesa, and Gennesar. Lightfoot conjectures that the pavement here means the room Gazith in the temple, in which the grand council, called the Sanhedrin, held their meetings.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain On vv13, 16 Joh 19:13-15. When Pilate heard that saying, he brought…
Joh 19:13-15. When Pilate heard that saying, he brought Jesus forth — Brought him out of the palace a second time; and sat down in the judgment-seat — On the tribunal which was then erected without the palace; in a place that was called, in Greek, λιθοστρωτον, the Pavement — So called on account of a beautiful piece of Mosaic work, with which the floor was adorned; but in the Hebrew, Gabbatha — Or, the high place, because it stood on an eminence; so that the judge, being seated there, might be heard and seen by a considerable number of people. And it was the preparation of the passover — Or, of the paschal sabbath. The word παρασκευη, [here rendered preparation,] in the New Testament, denotes always, in my opinion, says Dr. Campbell, “the day before the sabbath, and not the day which preceded any other festival, unless that festival fell on the sabbath. My reasons for this opinion are, 1st, This explanation coincides exactly with the definition which Mark gives of that word, (Mar 15:42,) It was the preparation, that is, the eve of the sabbath. 2d, The word occurs six times in the New Testament, and, in all these places, confessedly means the sixth day of the week, answering to our Friday, and consequently the day before the Jewish sabbath, or Saturday. 3d, The preparation of all things necessary the day before the sabbath was expressly commanded in the law, Exo 16:5; Exo 16:23. There was nothing analogous to this enjoined in preparation for the other feasts.” And about the sixth hour — Or rather, the third hour: for as there is no reason to think that John computed time in a manner different from that used by the other evangelists; “as six o’clock, (according to the Roman computation,) or soon after sunrise, must have been much too early for all the events to have occurred that morning which preceded our Lord’s crucifixion; as Mark has expressly mentioned the third hour, or nine o’clock, for the time of that event, to which the accounts of the other evangelists accord; and as the sixth hour, or noon, (according to the Jewish computation,) would be too late to agree with the parallel scriptures; so it seems the most easy way of solving the difficulty, to suppose that [ζ] sixth, instead of [γ] third, was inserted by some of the early transcribers of this gospel. The mistake would be very easily fallen into; and in a few places it is necessary to allow that something of this kind has happened. Indeed some manuscripts read the third hour.” — Scott. See this point more fully explained and defended in the note on Mar 15:25. And he saith unto the Jews — Who were present in vast numbers; Behold your king — Pointing to Jesus as he now appeared in the mock pomp of royalty, wearing the purple robe and crown of thorns, and with his hands manacled. It seems he spoke thus, either in ridicule of the national expectation, or, which is more probable, to show the Jews how vain the fears were which they pretended to entertain about the emperor’s authority in Judea, the person who was the occasion of them, showing, in the whole of his deportment, a temper of mind no ways consonant to the ambition which they branded him with. But they cried out — With indignation and disdain; Away with him, &c. — See on Luk 23:18-25. Pilate saith, shall I crucify your king? — According to most commentators, Pilate said this, mocking him. But it is more agreeable to his general behaviour in this affair to suppose, that he spoke it with a view to move the populace, who he knew had once held Jesus in great esteem as the Messiah. For John tells us (Joh 19:12,) that he now sought to release him. The chief priests answered, We have no king but Cesar — “In this reply they publicly renounced their hope of a Messiah, which the whole economy of their religion had been calculated to cherish: and likewise they acknowledged publicly their subjection to the Romans; and by so doing condemned themselves when they afterward rebelled.”
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain On vv13, 14, 16 Judgment-seat - The tribunal or place of pronouncing sentence.…
Judgment-seat - The tribunal or place of pronouncing sentence. He came here to deliver him, in due form of law, into the hands of the Jews.
Pavement - This was an area or room of the judgment hall whose floor was made of small square stones of various colors. This was common in palaces and houses of wealth and splendor. See the notes at Mat 9:2.
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Gabbatha - This word is not elsewhere used. It comes from a word signifying to be elevated. The name given to the place by the Hebrews was conferred from its being the place of the tribunal, as an elevated place.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain On v14 The Parasceve of the Pasch; that is, the day…
The Parasceve of the Pasch; that is, the day before the paschal sabbath. The eve of every sabbath was called the Parasceve, or day of preparation. But this was the eve of a high sabbath, viz. that which fell in the paschal week. (Challoner) --- It was about the sixth hour when they crucified him. St. Mark, in his gospel, says, it was at the third hour that Jesus was crucified. These two evangelists are easily reconciled, if we consider that according to the custom of the Jews, all that took place between the third hour and the sixth hour of their day, was said to have happened in the third hour: their days being divided into four parts of three hours each, in the same manner as the nights were into four watches, of three hours each. St. Mark, therefore, might say very well, that the crucifixion of our Saviour took place in the third hour: though it might have been towards the conclusion of this general division of the day: whilst St. John, with a reason equally as good, says that it happened about the sixth hour. (John Nicolaus, in his marginal notes on St. Thomas Aquinas’ Aurea Catena.)
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain On vv14–16 It was the preparation--that is, the day before the…
It was the preparation--that is, the day before the Jewish sabbath.
and about the sixth hour--The true reading here is probably, "the third hour"--or nine A.M.--which agrees best with the whole series of events, as well as with the other Evangelists.
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he saith to the Jews, Behold your King!--Having now made up his mind to yield to them, he takes a sort of quiet revenge on them by this irony, which he knew would sting them. This only reawakens their cry to despatch Him.
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain On vv13–15 13. Heard that saying—Jesus, again, must die that another…
13. Heard that saying—Jesus, again, must die that another may not die. A just man though he is, Pilate will shed his blood for his own safety. The Jew conquers the Roman; the subject rules the ruler. The Gentile is compelled by the Jew to be the executioner of the Saviour of mankind.
He brought Jesus forth—Though the examination might be in part in private, yet the sentence must be pronounced in public. Jesus, therefore, is led into the fore court, and Pilate takes his place upon the judgment seat.
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Called the Pavement—This was a platform of Mosaic, ornamented and tessellated, on which the judgment throne was made to stand.
Gabbatha—Signifies an elevation. John gives the Hebrew as well as the Greek name of the platform, to indicate that Pilate pronounced judgment solemnly, not from a level, but from the high judicial seat. So truly official a matter was this pavement that we are told by Seutonius, in his life of Cesar, that that general, wherever he marched, had the fitted marble conveyed with him, in order to lay the platform, whenever he encamped, at his pretorium or headquarters.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain On vv13–16 13. that saying] The better reading gives, these words.…
13. that saying] The better reading gives, these words. Pilate’s mind seems to be made up at once.
brought Jesus forth] Sentence must be pronounced in public. Thus we find that Pilate, in giving judgment about the standards, which had been brought into Jerusalem, has his tribunal in the great circus at Caesarea, and Florus erects his in front of the palace (Josephus, B. J. ii. ix. 3, xiv. 8).
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sat down] The Greek verb (kathizo) may be either transitive, as in 1Co_6:4; Eph_1:20, or intransitive, as in Mat_19:28; Mat_25:31. If it is transitive here, the meaning will be, ‘placed him on a seat,’ as an illustration of his mocking exclamation, ‘Behold your King!’—i.e. ‘There He sits enthroned! But [Joh_8:2;] Joh_12:14; Rev_3:21; Rev_20:4, the only places where S. John uses the word, and Act_12:21; Act_25:6; Act_25:17, where we have the same phrase as here, are against the transitive meaning in this place.
in the judgment seat] In the true text there is no article, which may mean that it was not the usual Bema but a temporary one. Every where else in N.T. ‘judgment seat’ has the definite article.
Pavement] Literally, stone-paved. Josephus (Ant. v. Joh_19:2) says that the Temple-mount, on part of which the fortress of Antonia stood, was covered with a tesselated pavement.
in the Hebrew, Gabbatha] Omit ‘the,’ as in Joh_19:20, and see on Joh_20:16. It was, we may conclude “from its having a Hebrew name, a fixed spot, and not the portable mosaic work which Roman generals sometimes carried about with them.” S. p. 250. The fact that there was a fixed pavement supports this view; but Gabbatha (= Gab Baitha) means ‘the ridge of the House’ i.e. ‘the Temple-mound,’ and refers to the shape of the ground (like a back), not to the pavement upon it.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain On vv13–16 (13) When Pilate therefore heard that saying.—Better . .…
(13) When Pilate therefore heard that saying.—Better . . . these sayings—i.e., the two sayings of the previous verse.
He brought Jesus forth ., .—Comp. Joh_19:9. He hesitates no longer about the course to be taken. His own position and life may be in danger, and he prepares, therefore, to pronounce the final sentence, which must necessarily be done from the public judgment seat outside the palace. (Comp. Mat_27:19.)
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The Pavement, but in the Hebrew, Gabbatha.—Both these words occur here only, and are instances of the writer’s minute knowledge of the localities in Jerusalem. It may have been better to have preserved the Greek name (Lithostrôton), as well as that by which the place was known in the Hebrew (Syro-Chaldaic) of the time. The word literally means “stone-paved,” and was the Greek name for the tesselated “pavement” of marble and coloured stones with which from the time of Sylla the Romans delighted to adorn the Prætorium. The Chaldee word means “an elevated place,” so that the one name was given to it from its form, and the other from the material of which it was made. Suetonius (Life, chap. 46) tells us that Julius Cæsar carried about with him such pieces of marble and stone, but the mention of the “place” bears the impression that it was a fixture in front of the Prætorium at Jerusalem, in which the Bema was placed; or it may have been a portion of the northern court of the sanctuary to which Pilate came out, if we identify the Prætorium with the tower Antonia. (Comp. Note on Mat_27:27.) Josephus mentions that the whole of the Temple mountain was paved with this kind of Mosaic work (Ant v. 5. 2. Caspari, Chron. Geogr., Introd., Eng. Trans., p. 225).
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain On vv13–15 When Pilate therefore heard these words, or, sayings his…
When Pilate therefore heard these words, or, sayings his fear of Tiberius became greater than his fear of Christ; his anxiety for himself predominated over his desire for justice and fair play. He found he had gone too far. Some commentators and harmonists here introduce the "hand-washing"; (see above, Joh_18:40) but such a proceeding at this moment, when he was straightening up his back for the last act of injustice, would have roused fresh and dangerous charges against his personal honor. He brought Jesus out from the Praetorium to a place in view of the peoples and sat down (not, as some say, caused Jesus, in mockery, to take his place upon the judgment-seat ( kayizw has the transitive sense in 1Co_6:4 and Eph_1:20, but not in John; and undoubtedly it has the intransitive sense, not only in John, but in Act_25:6, Act_25:17. Moreover, the mockery was the act of the soldiery and of Herod"s men of war, not of Pilate). It is remarkable, as Dr. James Drummond (Theological Review, 1877) points out, that Justin Martyr ("Apol.," 1:35) apparently refers to this supposed transitive usage of kayizw in this very connection by John, by the words, Diasurontev autoyison epi bhmatov kai eipon krinon hmin . It is reasonable inference that Justin read John"s Gospel, and supposed him to give transitive force to the verb (see Dr. Salmon, "Introduction to New Testament," p. 89, note). Upon the judgment-seat in a place called liyostryton , the tessellated Pavement equivalent to "stone-joining in which Romans delighted from thedays of Sulla; a decoration which Julius Caesar carried about with him (Suet., "Vit.," 46.) for purposes of judgmentbut in the Hebrew, Oabbatha. This was probably an elevated and fixed platform overlooking the temple-courts, or joining the Castle of Antonia with the temple. Its etymology is atybiAbG, the ridge of the house or temple. Ewald has endeavored to find in the word the root Bq, Aramaic for "insert," modified into, and then to suppose that we have here an exact equivalent to liyostrwton ; but where this word occurs in the LXX it is the equivalent of the Hebrew pxr, Son_3:10. The liyostrwton was possibly some elevated seat reached by a flight of stairs, and in the open air, not the bema within the Praetorium, where the more private conversations took place.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Biblical Illustrator 1887 · Public Domain On vv13–16 When Pilate therefore heard that
Joh_19:13
When Pilate therefore heard that
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The down grade
Pilates time for playing with the situation is gone; now the situation plays with him.
First he said, not asked, What is truth? Now his frightened heart, to which the emperors favour is the supreme law of life, says, What is justice? (J. P. Lange, D. D.)
A place that is called the pavement, but in the Hebrew, Gahbatha.--Both these words occur here only, and are instances of the writers minute knowledge of the localities in Jerusalem. It may have been better to have preserved the Greek name (Lithost-roton), as well as that by which the place was known in the Hebrew (Syro-Chaldaic), of the time. The word literally means stonepaved, and was the Greek name for the tesselated pavement of marble and coloured stones with which, from the time of Sylla, the Romans delighted to adorn the Praetorium. The Chaldic word means an elevated place, so that the one name was given to it from its form, and the other from the material of which it was made. Suetonius tells us that Julius Caesar carried about with him such pieces of marble and stone, but the mention of the place bears the impression that it was a fixture in front of the Praetorium at Jerusalem, in which the Bema was placed; or it may have been a portion of the northern court of the sanctuary to which Pilate came out, if we identify the Praetorium with the tower Antonia (cf. Mat_27:27)
. Josephus mentions that the whole of the Temple mountain was paved with this kind of mosaic work. (Archdeacon Watkins.)
The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
William B. Godbey 1900 · Public Domain On v16 Mat 27:31-34; Mar 15:20-23; Luk 23:26-33; Joh 19:16-17. “And…
CHAPTER 27.
JESUS LED TO CALVARY
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Mat 27:31-34; Mar 15:20-23; Luk 23:26-33; Joh 19:16-17. “And they took Jesus, and led Him away, carrying His cross.” Mark: “And when they mocked Him, they divested Him of His purple robe, and put on Him His own raiment, and led Him away, that they may crucify Him.” You see the crown of thorns was not taken off but remained on His brow throughout His crucifixion. “They compel Simon, a certain Cyrenian along with them, having come from the country, the father of Alexander and Rufus, that he may bear His cross.” As the city of Cyrene stood on the northern shore of Africa, there is at least a probability that this was a stout, muscular colored man, who enjoyed the honor of carrying the cross, which proved too much for the fainting Jesus after a night of sleepless harassment and terrible suffering, attended by the loss of much blood.
Luk 23:27-32. “And a great crowd of people followed Him, and of women, who continued to weep and bewail Him. And Jesus, turning to them, said, Daughters of Jerusalem, weep not over Me, but weep for yourselves, and your children. For, behold, the days are coming in which they will say, Blessed are the barren, and the wombs which did not bring forth, and the breasts which did not nurse. Then they will begin to say to the mountains, Fall on us; and to the hills, Cover us.” These words of our Savior describe the horrific sufferings which came on those people forty years from that date, the Roman wars lasting five years, and resulting in the destruction of Jerusalem, the death of a million, the slavery of another million, the exile of the little remnant, and the annihilation of the Jewish polity. All this He saw in vivid panorama before His eyes — mountains of the dead, rivers of blood, and the desolation of the city and the land.
“Because if they do these things in the green tree, what may be done in the dry?” This statement is metaphoric; e. g., If, while Mercy’s door is wide open, the Holy Ghost wooing, Jesus and His apostles and evangelists preaching, and everything prosperous and auspicious, they reject and crucify Him who came from heaven to save them, killing their own Christ for whom they had waited two thousand years, what will they do when the Holy Ghost has retreated away, and God has turned them over to hardness of heart and reprobacy of mind, to believe lies and be condemned? Thus the green tree emblematizes the mercy and grace abounding in the days of Jesus; and the dry, the horrific spiritual dearth coming on the land because they insulted God, slew His Son, and outraged the Holy Ghost.
“And there were also two others, malefactors, being led, along with Him to be put to death.” Mat 27:33-34 : “And having come into the place called Golgotha, which is denominated the place of a skull, they gave Him vinegar mingled with gall to drink; and tasting it, He did not wish to drink.” This was a soporific potion, conducive to the lulling of the nerves to insensibility and the obtundification of the feeling, so as to mitigate the awful severity of the pain, somewhat corresponding with the modern chloroform. You see that Jesus declined to drink it, preferring to enjoy the clear and unclouded exercise of His intellect and the full acumen of His nerves. So when physicians want you to take chloroform, or some kind of a nervous sedative, which might probably render you unconscious of your suffering, you have the example of Jesus declining all artificial relief when passing through the terrible ordeal of crucifixion, enjoying the normal exercise of nerves and brain. Calvary is not far from Pilate’s judgment-hall, the ascension beginning in the city about one square from the hall, and continuing really to the summit of Calvary, passing northward through the Damascus Gate, then turning somewhat eastward, the mountain being one of the peaks of Bezetha, and within the angle formed by the road to Jericho, leading east, and the way to Damascus leading north, as the Romans were in the habit of crucifying their criminals in the most public and conspicuous places, so as to present the greatest possible terror to evildoers. Heb 13:12, locates it “without the gate.” Calvary is Greek, and means “skull,” because the hill has the shape of a human skull. When I first came to Jerusalem, with nothing but the Scripture for my guide, I recognized Calvary before any one pointed it out to me.
William B. Godbey, Commentary on the New Testament (1896–1900) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
F. W. Grant 1903 · Public Domain On v16 Section 1. (Joh 19:16-30.)
Section 1. (Joh 19:16-30.)
Obedience perfected.
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The first section shows us then His obedience unto death completed. John’s presentation of all this is unique, both in what he gives and in what he omits. Details are little dwelt upon: a few points are brought into prominence, every one of which has its manifest bearing upon the general presentation. The simplicity and depth that everywhere pervade the Gospel are nowhere more conspicuous than they are here.
1. First, He comes, bearing His cross, to Golgotha, the place of a skull, -the place of the kingdom of death. This is plainly what the world is because of sin, -death being the stamp of the government of God upon it. For this the Lord sought it: here His love to men brought Him; only He could lift this burden from them, and for this He must come Himself under it. Those two others whom we well know, to whom death is clearly such a penalty, are on either side of Him, and He in the midst. Penalty it is He is taking; Himself on the division line between the saved and the unsaved, the Transformer of death into that which effects the transition from penalty to Paradise.
2. He comes thus into death as King, -"King of the Jews," indeed, but which in its full rendering implies so much. It faces the Jew, the Greek, the Roman, affirming to each in his own language, with a positiveness which His enemies vainly strive to set aside, a meaning for each one. Here is indeed God’s King, -King in death as in life, -here in a peculiar way affirmed; His Cross henceforth to be the very sign of His power, the sceptre under which they bow, in adoring homage.
3. Now we see what indeed recalls the burnt-offering. This was flayed, that all beneath might be exposed, and its perfection seen. So now they strip the Lord, and expose Him. Here, in this Gospel alone, His seamless robe is spoken of, in figure that robe of righteousness which in Him was indeed seamless, but which now human hands have stripped from off Him, giving Him the malefactor’s place instead. But how fully is He displayed by it in a righteousness which glorifies the righteousness of God itself, by penalty owned and taken in grace for others! It is not relaxed or modified, as many would teach, but taken in its full intensity of suffering; which alone would maintain the perfect righteousness of it. But thus He has a righteousness acquired as Man, which as Man He needs not. It is not His personal obedience in life, but in stooping to that which, because of His righteous life, could be no due of His. Thus it remains for the lot (which refers the whole disposal of it to the Lord) to decide whose it shall be. God has decided that it shall belong to the man of faith; and so the best robe in the Father’s house is reserved for the returning prodigal; keeping nearer to what is before us here, let us say, to those who pierced His hands and feet, or drove the spear into His blessed side.
4. Amid it all, He has still the human tenderness which shows unchanged the Man Christ Jesus. His mother, standing by His cross, He commends to the care of His beloved disciple, the spiritual link being more than the natural, even while the natural is being recognized. Here, with one exception in the first chapter of Acts, we part with Mary; she is not mentioned in the after-books. In all the doctrine of the epistles she has no place. Blessed among women as she is surely by her connection with the human nature of our Lord, the entire silence of Scripture as to her in that fulness of Christian truth which it was the office of the Spirit of truth to communicate is the decisive overthrow of the whole Babel-structure of Mariolatry which Romanism has built up upon a mere sand-foundation. She remains for us in the word of God, a simple woman rejoicing in God her Saviour, -a stone in the temple to His praise, and with no temple of her own. To use the grace of the Redeemer in taking flesh among us by her means to exalt the mother to the dishonor of Christ her Lord is truly a refined wickedness worthy of the arch-deceiver of mankind.
5. We find now the divine end reached, and as it only could be, by the divine way; the Lord Himself here declares the perfect accomplishment of all that Scripture has foretold, save one thing only, and in death, as in life, Scripture is for Him the authoritative word of the living God. As in the temptation He had refused to minister to His own need, apart from that by every word of which, He declared, man lives, so now, on the same principle, He makes known that need, not that it might be ministered to, but that Scripture might be fulfilled. He does not Himself fulfil it; God can be trusted to take care for that; but He gives utterance to the distress which will as uttered occasion the fulfilment. The terrible thirst of crucifixion is upon Him; but that is not enough to force the parched lips to speech; but it is written, "In My thirst they gave Me vinegar to drink:" this opens them. He will show Himself, as ever, in active obedience to the will of God, which He came to accomplish. He simply says, "I thirst:" and by the unsympathetic hands of those around His cross, the vinegar is tendered, and the prophecy fulfilled.
All is finished: and His own lips declare it. The very smallness, apparently, of this last matter cared for is absolute proof that no scripture whatever could be left as of no importance. The entire body of Old Testament prophecy is confirmed and certified with all the weight of Christ’s authority. He had said before, "Scripture cannot be broken:" and we know exactly what for Him was "Scripture." Here, amid the intense sufferings of the cross, we see how completely He owned and was guided by it. That will of God which He came to do was here marked out for Him. The Law was in His heart; and in the very replacing of the Old Testament sacrifices by His one supreme sacrifice, (of which the psalm referred to speaks,) every part of this was honored and upheld. The Antitype necessarily confirmed the type He was displacing, and we have seen this in all the detail given us in the Gospels.
It is to His sacrificial work that the Lord undoubtedly has reference here. All scripture as to Himself was certainly not yet fulfilled; but the work of propitiation was accomplished, His words, of course, anticipating (as we have seen to be so much the character of the Gospel of John) the death which was now just before Him. The cup of wrath was, in fact, already drained, as the comparison of Mark and Luke fully assures us. The awful cry of forsaken sorrow which we find in the former has been already exchanged for the cry of "Father," with which the enjoyment of all that this endeared relationship implies has returned also. Death remains yet, before full atonement is completed; for death and judgment are the double penalty upon man. Death, however, is governmental, not the necessary expression of divine holiness as against sin. Men may, therefore, die in the full favor of God; while the wrath of God would be impossible to be felt by one enjoying it. Death and the cup of wrath were both taken by the Lord; the latter first, -death following to complete the work; and thus now, at the moment of death, the Victor’s cry, "It is finished." (See Introduction pp. 26-28.)
So He delivers up His spirit to the Father. We do not find Him, as in Luke, actually saying, "Father;" and this would seem more suited an utterance in the Gospel of the Manhood, than here, where (though not exclusively) the Only-begotten is set before us. Yet it is, as we know, to the Father that He commends it. Here He does not commend it, but delivers it up; He has power over it, as mere man has not; and the expression is stronger in this respect than that in Matthew, where the proper rendering is that "He dismissed" it. The expression in each Gospel is in the most perfect accordance with the character of each.
F. W. Grant, The Numerical Bible (4th ed., 1903) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
C. I. Scofield 1917 · Public Domain On vv14, 16 sixth hour
sixth hour
(See Scofield "Mar 15:25").
The Scofield Reference Bible (1917 edition), notes by C. I. Scofield — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Paul E. Kretzmann 1924 · Public Domain On v16 The Crucifixion.
The Crucifixion.
v. 16. And they took Jesus, and led Him away.
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v. 17. And He, bearing His cross, went forth into a place called the place of a skull, which is called in the Hebrew Golgotha;
v. 18. where they crucified Him, and two other with Him, on either side one, and Jesus in the midst.
v. 19. And Pilate wrote a title, and put it on the cross. And the writing was, Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews.
v. 20. This title then read many of the Jews; for the place where Jesus was crucified was nigh to the city; and it was written in Hebrew and Greek and Latin.
v. 21. Then said the chief priests of the Jews to Pilate, Write not, The King of the Jews; but that He said, I am the King of the Jews.
v. 22. Pilate answered, What I have written I have written.
John omits the account of the insults and cruelties which the soldiers inflicted upon Christ. See Mat 27:26-30; Mar 15:16-19. Death by crucifixion was the sentence, the most shameful death known to the Romans, one meted out only to criminals of the worst type. The execution of the sentence was in the hands of the soldiers, who carried it out according to custom, adding such little indignities and cruelties as they might devise on the spur of the moment. They took Jesus along with them, leading Him away from the praetorium. And He was bearing His cross, loaded down with the heavy log that must have hurt the lacerated back most cruelly. Of the relief afforded by the meeting with Simon of Cyrene, John says nothing, since this fact was known from the other gospels. In this way the procession reached a place which, after its shape, was called Calvary, the place of the skull, or, in the Aramaic form of the Hebrew language, Golgotha. Its exact location has never been determined in spite of the many claims that such has been the case. And it is best so, since even now the various denominations that have representatives at the Holy City are in the habit of fighting almost pitched battles over the supposed holy places. There on Calvary the soldiers then crucified Jesus, fastening Him to the cross-arms of the tree of curse and shame by driving nails through His hands and feet. The crucifixion and the torture of being suspended by His own flesh caused excruciating agony. And here the shame and disgrace was intensified and emphasized by the fact that Jesus was placed between two malefactors, men who were guilty of criminal acts and had deserved the penalty of death. Thus Jesus became a malefactor, took the place of the malefactors of the whole world. What we had become guilty of by our sins and transgressions: the greatest shame, curse, and damnation, all this was laid upon Him, in order that we might be free. "Thus Christ was crucified and hanged to the cross as the greatest thief, scoundrel, rebel, and murderer ever seen in the world, and the innocent Lamb, Christ, must bear and pay strange debts; for it is in our interest. Our sins they arc that lie upon His neck; we are such sinners, thieves, scoundrels, rebels, and murderers. For though we are not so coarse in our actions, yet such is our state before God. But here Christ comes in our stead, and bears our sins, and pays them, in order that we might receive help. For if we believe in Him, not only we that avoid the outward, coarse sins will be saved through Christ, but also those that fall into coarse, outward sins are saved, if they truly repent and believe in Christ. " After Jesus had been crucified, there was some difficulty and discussion concerning the superscription. For Pilate had chosen the version: Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews, as containing the chief accusation against the Lord. Incidentally, this was a form of revenge on the part of Pilate, who regarded Jesus as a harmless fool, and wanted the Jews to feel that such a man was the proper king for them. The leaders of the Jews felt the sting of the words all the more since so many people went’ by the place of crucifixion, Calvary being near to the city’s gates. The fact also that the superscription had been composed by Pilate in the three languages that were in use in Palestine, in Hebrew-Aramaic, which was spoken by the common people, in Greek, which was the language of commerce, and in Latin, which was the language of court and camp, did much to make the matter contained in the words known. The chief priests of the Jews therefore remonstrated with Pilate with the object of having the reading changed to some form which would throw the blame on Jesus, that He had made the claim of being the King of the Jews. As it read, the superscription sounded as though the claim were admitted. But Pilate, with a firmness which would have stood him In good stead a few hours before, a firmness which was here reinforced by obstinacy and stubbornness, absolutely declined to make any change. But in all these things the hand of God must be discerned. It was God’s dispensation to have this very title placed over the head of Jesus. This Jesus of Nazareth who was crucified by the Jews is in truth the King of the Jews in the best sense of the word, the Messiah of Israel. This Messiah was to bring salvation to all the people of the entire world, whose chief languages were here used. By the torture of His cross and by His bitter death Jesus has atoned fully for the transgressions of the world. And this fact should be made known to all nations on earth, that they might place their trust in their Substitute that died on Calvary.
Paul E. Kretzmann, Popular Commentary of the Bible (1921–1924) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On v14 Connecting Statement:
Connecting Statement:
Some time has passed and it is now the sixth hour, as Pilate orders his soldiers to crucify Jesus.
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Now
This word marks a break in the story line so that John can provide information about the upcoming Passover and the time of day. (See: Background Information)
the sixth hour
"about noontime"
Pilate said to the Jews
Here "Jews" is a synecdoche that refers to the Jewish leaders who opposed Jesus. AT: "Pilate said to the Jewish leaders" (See: Synecdoche)
Should I crucify your King?
Here "I" is a synecdoche that refers to Pilate's soldiers who will actually perform the crucifixion. AT: "Do you really want me to tell my soldiers to nail your king to a cross?" (See: Synecdoche)
Then Pilate gave Jesus over to them to be crucified
Here Pilate gives the order for his soldiers to crucify Jesus. You can translate this in an active form. AT: "So Pilate ordered his soldiers to crucify Jesus" (See: Assumed Knowledge and Implicit Information and Active or Passive)
translationWords
Passover
Pilate
Jew
king
crucify
chief priests
Jesus
Caesar
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On vv13–16 19:13 Pilate took the governor’s judgment seat (Greek bēma,…
19:13 Pilate took the governor’s judgment seat (Greek bēma, cp. Acts 25:6, “seat in court”) to render his verdict. • The Stone Pavement was the platform holding the judgment seat; from there Pilate now spoke with the authority of his office.
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.