Online Resource Library
Commentary Index | Return to PrayerRequest.com | DownloadBob Utley You Can Understand the Bible - John 19:17 - 19:22
(Show All Books | Show All Chapters)
This Chapter Verse Commentaries:
NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: Joh_19:17-22
17They took Jesus, therefore, and He went out, bearing His own cross, to the place called the Place of a Skull, which is called in Hebrew, Golgotha. 18There they crucified Him, and with Him two other men, one on either side, and Jesus in between. 19Pilate also wrote an inscription and put it on the cross. It was written, "Jesus the Nazarene, the King of the Jews." 20Therefore many of the Jews read this inscription, for the place where Jesus was crucified was near the city; and it was written in Hebrew, Latin and in Greek. 21So the chief priests of the Jews were saying to Pilate, "Do not write, 'The King of the Jews'; but that He said, 'I am King of the Jews.'" 22Pilate answered, "What I have written I have written."
Joh_19:17 " bearing His own cross" The shape of the cross in first century Palestine is uncertain; it could have been a capital T, a small t, or an X. Sometimes several prisoners were crucified on one scaffolding. Whatever the shape the condemned prisoner, who had just been scourged, had to carry part of the wooden apparatus to the crucifixion site (cf. Mat_27:32; Mar_15:21; Luk_14:27; Luk_23:26).
▣ "the Place of a Skull, which is called in Hebrew, Golgotha" The exact meaning of this phrase is uncertain. The Hebrew/Aramaic term did not refer to a hill that looked like a full skull, but to a low bald hill situated on a major thoroughfare into Jerusalem. The Romans crucified as a deterrent to rebellion. Modern archaeology is uncertain as to the exact location of the ancient walls of the city. Jesus was killed outside the city's wall in a well known public place of executions!
Joh_19:18 "There they crucified Him" None of the Gospels goes into the physical details of Roman crucifixion. The Romans learned it from the Carthaginians, who learned it from the Persians. Even the exact shape of the cross is uncertain. We know, however, that it was a brutal, lingering death! It had been developed to keep a person alive and in pain for several days. Death usually occurred by asphyxiation. It was meant to be a deterrent to rebellion against Rome.
▣ "two other men" This fulfilled the prophecy of Isa_53:9, recorded in Mat_27:38; Mar_15:27; and Luk_23:33.
Joh_19:19 "Pilate also wrote an inscription" Pilate may have hand-written this title (titlon) which someone else wrote on a wooden placard. Matthew calls it "the charge" (aitian, cf. Mat_27:37), while Mark and Luke call it the inscription (epigraphç, cf. Mar_15:26; Luk_23:38).
Joh_19:20 "and it was written in Hebrew, Latin, and in Greek" "Hebrew" refers to Aramaic (cf. Joh_5:2; Joh_19:13; Joh_19:17; Joh_20:16; Josephus, Antiq. 2.13.1). It is interesting to note the variety among the Gospels as to the exact wording of the charge placed over Jesus' head on the cross.
1. Mat_27:37 - "This is Jesus, the King of the Jews"
2. Mar_15:26 - "The King of the Jews"
3. Luk_23:38 - "This is the King of the Jews"
4. Joh_19:19 - "Jesus, the Nazarene, the King of the Jews"
Each one is different, but basically the same. This is true of most of the variety of historical detail among the Gospels. Each writer recorded his memories in slightly different ways, but they are still the same eye witness accounts.
Pilate meant to irritate the Jewish leaders by putting the very title they feared on Jesus' cross (cf. Joh_19:21-22).
Joh_19:22 "What I have written , I have written" These are two perfect tense verbs which emphasize the completion and finality of what had been written.