English · ASV

John 19

Listen to this chapter
0:00 0:00

Jesus Scourged and Mocked 1–10

1
Then Pilate therefore took Jesus, and scourged him. ​
2
And the soldiers platted a crown of thorns, and put it on his head, and arrayed him in a purple garment; ​
3
and they came unto him, and said, Hail, King of the Jews! and they struck him with their hands.
4
And Pilate went out again, and saith unto them, Behold, I bring him out to you, that ye may know that I find no crime in him.
5
Jesus therefore came out, wearing the crown of thorns and the purple garment. And Pilate saith unto them, Behold, the man! ​
6
When therefore the chief priests and the officers saw him, they cried out, saying, Crucify him, crucify him! Pilate saith unto them, Take him yourselves, and crucify him: for I find no crime in him.
7
The Jews answered him, We have a law, and by that law he ought to die, because he made himself the Son of God. ​
8
When Pilate therefore heard this saying, he was the more afraid; ​
9
and he entered into the Prætorium again, and saith unto Jesus, Whence art thou? But Jesus gave him no answer.
10
Pilate therefore saith unto him, Speakest thou not unto me? knowest thou not that I have power to release thee, and have power to crucify thee?

Jesus Affirms Divine Authority 11–16

11
Jesus answered him, Thou wouldest have no power against me, except it were given thee from above: therefore he that delivered me unto thee hath greater sin. ​
12
Upon this Pilate sought to release him: but the Jews cried out, saying, If thou release this man, thou art not Cæsar’s friend: every one that maketh himself a king speaketh against Cæsar. ​
13
When 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. ​
14
Now it was the Preparation of the passover: it was about the sixth hour. And he saith unto the Jews, Behold, your King! ​
15
They therefore cried out, Away with him, away with him, crucify him! Pilate saith unto them, Shall I crucify your King? The chief priests answered, We have no king but Cæsar. ​
16
Then therefore he delivered him unto them to be crucified.

The Crucifixion 17–27

17
They took Jesus therefore: and he went out, bearing the cross for himself, unto the place called The place of a skull, which is called in Hebrew Golgotha: ​
18
where they crucified him, and with him two others, on either side one, and Jesus in the midst.
19
And Pilate wrote a title also, and put it on the cross. And there was written, JESUS OF NAZARETH, THE KING OF THE JEWS. ​
20
This title therefore read many of the Jews, for the place where Jesus was crucified was nigh to the city; and it was written in Hebrew, and in Latin, and in Greek. ​
21
The chief priests of the Jews therefore said to Pilate, Write not, The King of the Jews; but, that he said, I am King of the Jews.
22
Pilate answered, What I have written I have written. ​
23
The soldiers therefore, when they had crucified Jesus, took his garments and made four parts, to every soldier a part; and also the coat: now the coat was without seam, woven from the top throughout. ​
24
They said therefore one to another, Let us not rend it, but cast lots for it, whose it shall be: that the scripture might be fulfilled, which saith, They parted my garments among them, And upon my vesture did they cast lots. ​
25
These things therefore the soldiers did. But there were standing by the cross of Jesus his mother, and his mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene.
26
When Jesus therefore saw his mother, and the disciple standing by whom he loved, he saith unto his mother, Woman, behold, thy son! ​
27
Then saith he to the disciple, Behold, thy mother! And from that hour the disciple took her unto his own home.

Death of Jesus: 'It is Finished' 28–30

28
After this Jesus, knowing that all things are now finished, that the scripture might be accomplished, saith, I thirst. ​
29
There was set there a vessel full of vinegar: so they put a sponge full of the vinegar upon hyssop, and brought it to his mouth.
30
When Jesus therefore had received the vinegar, he said, It is finished: and he bowed his head, and gave up his spirit. ​

The Piercing and Scriptural Fulfillment 31–37

31
The Jews therefore, because it was the Preparation, that the bodies should not remain on the cross upon the sabbath (for the day of that sabbath was a high day), asked of Pilate that their legs might be broken, and that they might be taken away. ​
32
The soldiers therefore came, and brake the legs of the first, and of the other that was crucified with him:
33
but when they came to Jesus, and saw that he was dead already, they brake not his legs:
34
howbeit one of the soldiers with a spear pierced his side, and straightway there came out blood and water. ​
35
And he that hath seen hath borne witness, and his witness is true: and he knoweth that he saith true, that ye also may believe. ​
36
For these things came to pass, that the scripture might be fulfilled, A bone of him shall not be broken. ​
37
And again another scripture saith, They shall look on him whom they pierced. ​

Burial of Jesus 38–42

38
And after these things Joseph of Arimathæa, being a disciple of Jesus, but secretly for fear of the Jews, asked of Pilate that he might take away the body of Jesus: and Pilate gave him leave. He came therefore, and took away his body. ​
39
And there came also Nicodemus, he who at the first came to him by night, bringing a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about a hundred pounds. ​
40
So they took the body of Jesus, and bound it in linen cloths with the spices, as the custom of the Jews is to bury. ​
41
Now in the place where he was crucified there was a garden; and in the garden a new tomb wherein was never man yet laid.
42
There then because of the Jews’ Preparation (for the tomb was nigh at hand) they laid Jesus.

Bible text: American Standard Version (1901) · Public domain

Study Notes for John 19

Verse 1

scourged him — Mastigoo, to flog, the verb of Christ's own forecast that he would be delivered 'to the Gentiles to mock, and to scourge, and to crucify him' (Matt 20:19). It comes before the sentence (v.16), after Pilate's 'I find in him no fault at all' (John 18:38). Isaiah has, 'I gave my back to the smiters' (Isa 50:6).

Verse 2

a crown of thorns — Stephanos is a wreath, the crown of a victor or ruler; the soldiers 'platted' (pleko, braided) it from akantha, thorn. The robe is 'purple' here and in Mark 15:17, 'scarlet' in Matt 27:28. The mockery is spoken in v.3: 'Hail, King of the Jews!'

Verse 5

Behold the man! — Ide ho anthropos. The same ide is Pilate's word in vv.4 and 14 and John the Baptist's in 'Behold the Lamb of God' (John 1:29). The nearest Old Testament words are Zechariah's, 'Behold the man whose name is The BRANCH' (Zech 6:12). He comes out in 'the crown of thorns, and the purple robe'.

Verse 7

by our law he ought to die — The law is Lev 24:16: 'he that blasphemeth the name of the LORD, he shall surely be put to death'. Before Pilate the charge had been kingship (John 18:33–37); this is the question the high priest put, 'whether thou be the Christ, the Son of God' (Matt 26:63), and the earlier cause of John 5:18, 'making himself equal with God'.

Verse 8

the more afraid — Phobeo with mallon, 'more': he was already uneasy after 'My kingdom is not of this world' (John 18:36) and his own verdict, 'no fault' (18:38), and after his wife's message about 'that just man' (Matt 27:19). 'That saying' is 'the Son of God' (v.7); his next question is 'Whence art thou?' (v.9).

Verse 11

from above — Anothen, the word also of the coat 'woven from the top' (v.23). Authority (exousia) is 'given' (didomi): 'there is no power but of God' (Rom 13:1), and 'the most High ruleth in the kingdom of men' (Dan 4:17). 'He that delivered me' (paradidomi) recalls Pilate's words, 'the chief priests have delivered thee unto me' (John 18:35).

Verse 12

not Caesar's friend — 'Speaketh against Caesar' is antilego, to speak against. The charge returns to the first accusation brought to Pilate, 'saying that he himself is Christ a King' (Luke 23:2). Pilate had 'sought' (zeteo) to release him; the threat now falls on Pilate's own standing before Caesar.

Verse 13

the Pavement, … Gabbatha — Lithostrotos is a stone-paved floor; 'in the Hebrew' (Hebraisti, the Jewish tongue) the place is Gabbatha, a knoll or raised place. The 'judgment seat' is the bema, the tribunal where the governor sat (Matt 27:19), the word Paul uses of 'the judgment seat of Christ' (Rom 14:10).

Verse 14

the preparation of the passover — Paraskeue, the day of preparation, which Mark explains as 'the day before the sabbath' (Mark 15:42); here it falls in Passover week (cf. v.31). Paul writes, 'Christ our passover is sacrificed for us' (1 Cor 5:7). 'Behold your King!' is Pilate's third ide (vv.4, 5, 14).

Verse 15

We have no king but Caesar — This is said by the chief priests (archiereis) of Israel, whose Scripture says, 'the LORD is our king; he will save us' (Isa 33:22). When Israel first asked for a king the LORD said, 'they have rejected me, that I should not reign over them' (1 Sam 8:7). 'Away with him' is aron, from airo, to take away (cf. Luke 23:18).

Verse 17

bearing his cross — Bastazo, to carry. The other Gospels add that Simon, a Cyrenian, was made to bear it 'after Jesus' (Luke 23:26). 'Golgotha' is the Hebrew-tongue name of 'a place of a skull' (Matt 27:33); Luke's 'Calvary' is kranion, skull. The place was 'nigh to the city' (v.20), and he 'suffered without the gate' (Heb 13:12).

Verse 19

JESUS OF NAZARETH THE KING OF THE JEWS — Titlos, 'title', occurs only here and in v.20. John alone has 'OF NAZARETH' (cf. Matt 27:37; Mark 15:26; Luke 23:38). Pilate wrote it himself, and its last words repeat his question in John 18:33, 'Art thou the King of the Jews?'

Verse 20

written in Hebrew, and Greek, and Latin — It is written in three languages for a place 'nigh to the city', so that 'many of the Jews' read it. Luke gives the same three in another order, 'Greek, and Latin, and Hebrew' (Luke 23:38). 'In Hebrew' is Hebraisti, the word that names 'Gabbatha' (v.13) and 'Golgotha' (v.17).

Verse 22

What I have written I have written — The verb is the Greek perfect, gegrapha, twice: what stands written, stands. It answers the chief priests' request in v.21, 'Write not, The King of the Jews; but that he said, I am King of the Jews.' The words remain as Pilate set them.

Verse 23

without seam, woven from the top — The chiton, the coat, is set apart from the 'garments' (himatia) divided into four shares: the garments are parted and the coat is cast for, as Ps 22:18 says (v.24). Arrhaphos, 'without seam', occurs only here; 'from the top' is anothen, the word of 'from above' in v.11.

Verse 24

cast lots for it — The scripture is Ps 22:18, 'They part my garments among them, and cast lots upon my vesture': two lines, and the soldiers do both, dividing the garments (v.23) and drawing lots for the coat. 'Rend' is schizo, to split. John adds, 'These things therefore the soldiers did.'

Verse 26

Woman, behold thy son! — 'Woman' is the address of John 2:4, 'mine hour is not yet come'; at the cross the hour has come (John 17:1). 'The disciple … whom he loved' is the one who 'testifieth of these things, and wrote these things' (John 21:24). Verse 27 gives the second half: 'Behold thy mother!'

Verse 28

I thirst — Said 'that the scripture might be fulfilled' (teleioo, to bring to completion), when 'all things were now accomplished' (teleo, the verb of 'It is finished' in v.30). The scripture is Ps 69:21, 'in my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink'; v.29 records the vinegar.

Verse 30

It is finished — Tetelestai, from teleo, the verb of 'accomplished' in v.28; he had said, 'I have finished the work which thou gavest me to do' (John 17:4). 'Gave up the ghost' is literally 'delivered up the spirit' (paradidomi), the verb of 'delivered' in vv.11 and 16: others delivered him; he delivered up his spirit.

Verse 31

should not remain upon the cross on the sabbath day — The concern rests on Deut 21:23: 'His body shall not remain all night upon the tree'; Joshua did the same at Ai (Josh 8:29). 'High day' is megale, 'great': the sabbath fell in Passover week (v.14). Verse 33 shows what was done instead.

Verse 34

pierced his side — Nusso, to prick or pierce, found only here in the New Testament. Zechariah joins the piercing and a cleansing: 'they shall look upon me whom they have pierced' (Zech 12:10), and 'a fountain opened … for sin and for uncleanness' (Zech 13:1). First John says Christ 'came by water and blood' (1 John 5:6).

Verse 35

he that saw it bare record — Martureo and marturia, the language of testimony; 'true' is alethes. The same words return at the end of the book: 'we know that his testimony is true' (John 21:24). 'That ye might believe' states the purpose of the book: 'these are written, that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ' (John 20:31).

Verse 36

A bone of him shall not be broken — The words stand close to the Passover rule, 'neither shall ye break a bone thereof' (Ex 12:46; Num 9:12), and to Ps 34:20, 'He keepeth all his bones: not one of them is broken.' The soldiers 'brake not his legs' because he was already dead (v.33).

Verse 37

They shall look on him whom they pierced — The words are Zech 12:10, where the LORD says, 'they shall look upon me whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for him'. Ekkenteo, 'pierce', occurs only here and in Rev 1:7, 'they also which pierced him'.

Verse 38

Joseph of Arimathaea — He was a disciple 'secretly for fear of the Jews' (krupto, hidden). Matthew calls him 'a rich man' (Matt 27:57), as Isaiah says the Servant was 'with the rich in his death' (Isa 53:9); Mark adds that he 'went in boldly unto Pilate' (Mark 15:43).

Verse 39

Nicodemus — He who 'came to Jesus by night' (John 3:2) had spoken for him in the council (John 7:50–51). 'Pound' is litra, found only here and in John 12:3, Mary's 'pound of ointment'. 'Myrrh, and aloes' are named together in Ps 45:8: 'All thy garments smell of myrrh, and aloes, and cassia.'

Verse 40

as the manner of the Jews is to bury — Entaphiazo, to prepare for burial, occurs only here and in Matt 26:12, where the ointment poured on him is 'for my burial'. 'Linen clothes' is othonia, the word of the clothes seen lying in the tomb in John 20:5–7. The spices are those brought by Nicodemus (v.39).