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This Chapter Verse Commentaries:
NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: Joh_19:13-16
13Therefore when Pilate 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 day of preparation for the Passover; it was about the sixth hour. And he said to the Jews, "Behold, your King!" 15So they 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 he then handed Him over to them to be crucified.
Joh_19:13 "when Pilate heard these words, he brought Jesus out, and sat down on the judgment seat" The text is ambiguous as to who sits on the judgement bench. Both the Williams and Goodspeed translations assert that it was Jesus, Himself, placed there in a mocking way as the King of the Jews. However, the context implies Pilate, who was about to pass judgement.
NASB, NKJV,
NJB "called The Pavement but in Hebrew, Gabbatha"
NRSV "called the Stone Pavement, or in Hebrew Gabbatha"
TEV "called 'The Stone Pavement' (in Hebrew the name is 'Gabbatha')"
The use of Hebrew/Aramaic words with their definitions show that John's target audience for his Gospel was Gentiles (cf. Joh_19:17). This stone pavement was the site of Roman legal pronouncements. The Aramaic term Gabbatha means "raised stones" or "elevated place."
Joh_19:14 "it was the day of preparation for the Passover" There is an obvious discrepancy between the dating of the Synoptic Gospels and the dating of John. In the Synoptics, Jesus observed the Passover meal with the disciples before His arrest (cf. Mar_15:42), but in John the meal took place on Preparation Day before the Feast. See full note at Joh_18:28.
▣ "it was about the sixth hour" The chronology of Jesus' trial before Pilate and His crucifixion is:
Joh_19:14
Joh_15:25
Mat_27:45
Mar_15:33
Luk_23:44
Mat_27:46
Mar_15:34
1. they are the same. John used Roman time, counting from 12:00 a.m. (cf. Gleason L. Archer, Encyclopedia of Bible Difficulties, p. 364), and the Synoptics use Jewish time, counting from 6:00 a.m.
2. John is asserting a later time for Jesus' crucifixion which would be another example of the differences between the Synoptics and John
It seems from Joh_1:39; Joh_4:6 that he uses Jewish time and not Roman time (cf. M. R. Vincent, Word Studies, Vol. 1, p. 403).
The time designations may be symbolic in all the Gospels for they relate to
1. time of daily sacrifices in the Temple (9 a.m. and 3 p.m. cf. Act_2:15; Act_3:1)
2. just after noon was the traditional time to kill the Passover Lamb on the afternoon of Nisan 14
The Bible, being an ancient eastern book, does not focus on chronology, as do modern western historical accounts.
▣ "Behold, your King" As Joh_19:5 may be an allusion to Zec_6:12, this phrase may be an allusion to Zec_9:9 (see F. F. Bruce, Answers to Questions, p. 72).
Joh_19:14 The first sentence is another editorial comment.
Joh_19:15 "Away with Him, away with Him, crucify Him!'" This phrase has three aorist active imperatives. The root word "to crucify" meant "to raise" or "to exalt"; this may be one of John's double entendres (cf. Joh_3:14; Joh_8:28; Joh_12:32).
▣ "The chief priests answered, 'We have no king but Caesar'" The irony is stunning. These Jewish leaders were guilty of blasphemy, the very charge of which they accused Jesus. In the OT only God is King of His people (cf. 1 Samuel 8).
Joh_19:16 "them" In Mat_27:26-27 and Mar_15:15-16 the pronoun refers to the Roman soldiers. In John the inference may be that Pilate handed Jesus over to the wishes of the Jewish leaders and the mob.