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Commentary Index | Return to PrayerRequest.com | DownloadCambridge Greek Testament for Schools and Colleges - John 19:19 - 19:19
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19. καὶ τίτλον. A title also: the meaning of the καί is not clear; perhaps it looks back to Joh 19:16, or to μέσον τ. Ἰησοῦν, as being Pilate’s doing: he placed Jesus between two criminals, and also insulted the Jews by a mocking inscription. Τίτλος is titulus Graecized. It was common to put on the cross the name and crime of the person executed, after making him carry the inscription round his neck to the place of execution. S. Matthew (Mat 27:37) has τ. αἰτίαν αὐτοῦ, S. Mark (Mar 15:26) ἡ ἐπιγραφὴ τ. αἰτίας αὐτοῦ, S. Luke (Luk 23:38) ἐπιγραφή. For ἦν γεγραμ., there was written, see on Joh 2:17. The title is given differently in all four Gospels, and possibly varied in the three languages. Its object was to insult the Jews, not Jesus: all variations contain the offensive words “The King of the Jews.”