They kept saying, “Hail, King of the Jews!” and they kept slapping him.
Parallel Translations
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They kept saying, “Hail, King of the Jews!” and they kept slapping him.
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and sayd: hayll kynge of the Iewes: and they smote him on the face.
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And saide, Haile, King of the Iewes. And they smote him with their roddes.
Cross-references (6)
Passages linked to John 19:3 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- Matthew 27:29 They braided a crown of thorns and put it on his head, and a reed in his right hand; and they kneeled down before him, and mocked him, saying, “Hail, King of the Jews!”
- Matthew 26:49 Immediately he came to Jesus, and said, “Hail, Rabbi!” and kissed him.
- Luke 1:28 Having come in, the angel said to her, “Rejoice, you highly favored one! The Lord is with you. Blessed are you among women!”
- John 18:33 Pilate therefore entered again into the Praetorium, called Jesus, and said to him, “Are you the King of the Jews?”
- John 19:19-22 Pilate wrote a title also, and put it on the cross. There was written, “JESUS OF NAZARETH, THE KING OF THE JEWS.” Therefore 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. The 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.” ’ ” Pilate answered, “What I have written, I have written.”
- John 18:22 When he had said this, one of the officers standing by slapped Jesus with his hand, saying, “Do you answer the high priest like that?”
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this verse (8 sources)
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John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain 3 And said, Hail, King of the Jews! and…
3 And said, Hail, King of the Jews! and they smote him with their hands.
Ver. 3. And said, Hail, King of the Jews] They scoff at him, as a ridiculous and stage player king, whom therefore they clothed with purple, which was a colour affected by the emperors and nobility of Rome; as Herod, for like cause clothed him in white, εν εσθητι λαμπρα, a colour much worn by the nobility of the Jews, Jas 2:2.
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And they smote him with their hands] So do hypocrites still by their unchristian practice when they bend the knee to Christ with ludibrious devotion. They have the voice of Jacob, but the hands of Esau. Their words are God’s, their deeds the devil’s, as John Capocius told Pope Innocent III, preaching peace and sowing discord. Verba tua Dei plane sunt, facta vero diaboli videntur. Your words are clearly from God, truly your deeds seem to be of the devil.
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 They mocked him when they said, Hail, King of…
They mocked him when they said, Hail, King of the Jews! But yet spake a great truth, though not in their sense. The other evangelists speak of more indignities offered him: See Poole on "Mar 15:19".
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain And said, hail, King of the Jews!.... Some copies…
And said, hail, King of the Jews!.... Some copies before this clause read, "and they came unto him"; and so read the Vulgate Latin, Arabic, Coptic, and Ethiopic versions; that is, they came and prostrated themselves before him; bowed the knee unto him, and addressed him in a mock way, as if he was an earthly monarch just come to his crown, and whom they wished long to live; thus mocking at his kingly office, and despising him under that character, as many do now: some will not have him to reign over them, but reject him as King; and others, though in words they own him to be King, yet disregard his commands, and act no better part than these scoffing soldiers did:
and they smote him with their hands: upon his cheeks, as the Syriac version reads it. These, and many other affronts they gave him; in all which they were indulged by Pilate, and was a pleasing scene to the wicked Jews, whose relentless hearts were not in the least moved hereby, though Pilate hoped they would; and which was his view in allowing the soldiers to use such incivilities and indecencies to him.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain And said, Hail, King of the Jews!--doing Him derisive…
And said, Hail, King of the Jews!--doing Him derisive homage, in the form used on approaching the emperors. "And they spit upon Him, and took the reed and smote Him on the head" (Mat 27:30). The best comment on these affecting details is to cover the face.
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain 3. And said] The best authorities add a graphic…
3. And said] The best authorities add a graphic touch not given by the Synoptists; and they kept coming unto Him and saying. We see each soldier coming up in turn to offer his mock homage.
Hail, King of the Jews] Like the Procurator, they mock the Jews as well as their Victim.
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smote him with their hands] Literally, gave Him blows, but whether with a rod, as the root of the word implies, or with the hand, as is more probable, we are uncertain (see on Joh_18:22). The old Latin version adds in faciem.
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 (3) And said, Hail, King of the Jews.—The reading…
(3) And said, Hail, King of the Jews.—The reading of the better MSS. is, and they kept coming to Him and saying . . . It is a description of the mock reverence which they paid Him. They kept drawing near and bowing before Him. (Comp. Mat_27:29.)
They smote him with their hands.—Comp. Note on Joh_18:22.
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(3) That St. John is not careful to give the time more than roughly “about the sixth hour.” The hours of that day may well be confused, for their sorrow would have made minutes seem as hours, and the sun, which on other days marked the hours, was on that day itself darkened. St. Matthew is equally uncertain at what exact time there was the cry with a loud voice (Mat_27:46), and St. Luke does not give the exact time when the darkness commenced (Luk_23:44).
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 They kept oncoming to him, and saying to him,…
They kept oncoming to him, and saying to him, in sportive mockery of his supposed Kingship, and utter scorn of the nation whose Messianic hope they derided, Hail, King of the Jews! They did a sham obeisance to him, having elected him, as Roman guards often did, an "imperator" on the field of battle. The offerings which they presented to him were not the kiss of homage, but rapismata . They kept on offering him blows on the face, strokes with the hand or with rods. (cf. Joh_18:22, note) Hengstenberg, recalling here (Mat_27:29) that they put a reed in his hand, symbol of a scepter, supposes that he refused to hold it, in consequence of which they took it from him, and smote him with it. The awful indignity was a wondrous prophecy. Nay, from that very hour he began to reign. That crown of thorns has been more lasting than any royal diadem. Those cruel insults have been the title-deeds of his imperial sway, by which he has mastered the nations. He was wounded, bruised, for the iniquities of us all. The representatives of the outside world thus share expressly in the shame and ban by which the Hebrew theocracy is crushed, and the prince of this world is judged. "They know not what they do;" but Jew and Roman are guilty before God.
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 Hall, King of the Jews!
Joh_19:3
Hall, King of the Jews!
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The mock homage
These words were spoken in contemptuous imitation of the words addressed to a Roman Emperor, on his assuming imperial power: Hail, Emperor! It was as much as saying, Thou a King indeed! Thou and Thy kingdom are alike contemptible.
(Bp. Ryle.)
It was the kingdom of the Jews itself that the soldiers laughed at. They regarded Jesus as the representative of the Messianic hope of the Jews. They would turn to ridicule these royal hopes, which were known widely in the heathen world, more especially as they aspired to the dominion of the whole earth. (Hengstenburg.)
The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.