John 19 is the nineteenth chapter of the Gospel of John in the New Testament of the Christian Bible. The book containing this chapter is anonymous, but early Christian tradition uniformly affirmed that John composed this Gospel. This chapter records the events on the day of the crucifixion of Jesus, until his burial.

Text

The original text was written in Koine Greek. This chapter is divided into 42 verses.

Textual witnesses

Some early manuscripts containing the text of this chapter are:

Old Testament references

New Testament references

Places

The events recorded in this chapter took place in Jerusalem.

Structure

Swedish-based commentator René Kieffer divides this chapter into two sections: He further divides the first section into four parts: verses 1-3 (humiliation before Pilate), verses 4-7 (Pilate coming out of his headquarters with the mocked royal Jesus), verses 8-11 (Jesus' dialogue with Pilate) and verses 12-16a (the "decisive scene" determining Jesus' fate). Kieffer goes on to divide the second section into three parts: a narrative in verses 16b-30 leading to the death of Jesus, a theological commentary in verses 31-37, and a narrative concerning Jesus' burial in verses 38-42.

Verses 1-3: Jesus' humiliation before Pilate

Verse 1

Heinrich Meyer notes that Pilate "caused the scourging to be carried out", but this would have been done by his soldiers. The action was "inflicted without sentence [or] legality". According to Scottish Free Church minister William Nicoll, the scourging was meant as a compromise by Pilate, undertaken "in the ill-judged hope that this minor punishment might satisfy the Jews". Pilate stated three times (in John 18:39, 19:4 and 19:6) that he found no fault in Jesus.

Verse 2

Again, Meyer notes that this contumelious action of the soldiers was undertaken under Pilate's watch.

Verse 3

In the New Century Version, "they came to him many times and said ...". This additional wording reflects the insertion ἤρχοντο πρὸς αὐτὸν (ērchonto pros auton) in many early texts, but which was missing in the Textus Receptus. Karl Lachmann, Constantin von Tischendorf, Meyer and Westcott and Hort all adopt the additional wording. Cross references:, ; ;.

Verse 5

"Behold the Man": Ecce homo in Vulgate Latin; in the original, (Ide ho anthrōpos). Meyer reflects that the words are "short [but] significant".

Verse 6

Verse 7

Critical texts refer to "the law", κατὰ τὸν νόμον (kata ton nomon), but the Textus Receptus reads "according to our law". Alfred Plummer, in the Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges, argues that "our" is not original. ("the law") states: Pilate was bound by Roman precedent to pay respect to the law of subject nationalities.

Verse 9

A second private examination by Pilate.

Verse 19

Verse 19 in Greek

Textus Receptus/Majority Text: Transliteration:

Verse 19 in Latin

Biblia Sacra Vulgata:

Verse 20

Verse 21

Verse 22

Verse 22 in Greek

Textus Receptus/Majority Text: Transliteration:

Verse 22 in Latin

Biblia Sacra Vulgata:

Verse 23

Verse 24

The Greek λαγχάνειν (lagchanein) is properly translated not as "to cast lots", but "to obtain by lot". In this action, John sees a fulfilment of Psalm 22:18, the Septuagint version of which is quoted here.

Verse 25

Verse 26

Verse 27

"That hour" may indicate that "they did not wait at the cross to see the end and the disciple took her to his own home"; εἰς τὰ ἴδια, see,. Mary would live with John and his natural mother, Salome, who is also Mary's sister.

Verse 28

Referring to:

Verse 29

Verse 30

Verse 30 in Greek

Textus Receptus/Majority Text: Transliteration:

Verse 30 in Latin

Biblia Sacra Vulgata:

Verse 31

Preparation Day was the day before the Passover. Verse 42 refers to this day as "the Jews' Preparation Day". Plummer suggests that "the addition of 'the Jews' may point to the time when there was already a Christian ‘preparation-day'".

Verse 37

This is the last of a series of texts, commencing from John 13:18: "that the Scripture may be fulfilled, 'He who eats bread with Me has lifted up his heel against Me', in which the evangelist confirms that the events of the passion fulfill the Old Testament scriptures. The quoted passage is b, "then they will look on Me whom they pierced", with the word "me" changed to "him". Lutheran commentator Johann Bengel argues that John quotes this passage "for the sake of its allusion to the piercing [not for that to the looking]".

Verse 39

Bengel notes that Nicodemus, who had shown his faith in dialogue with Jesus in chapter 3, here "manifested [it] by an altogether distinguished work of love".

Verse 40