The Pulpit Commentary — John — Volume 2 — Section 415

Ver. 19.-The evo.ngelist turns to nn event times in this Gospel and twice in the of whloh tho synoptiste say little, nnd quietly Revelo.tion, and nowhere else in the New attribute to the Jews themselves. John, Testament. Codex B reads 'P.,µ.a.'i,n, first. from the speoie.l access whioh he had to ThA Latin form of the trilingual inscription informlltion about the high priest and the may very _naturally ho.ve been placed at oourt of Pi la to, Bllys, Now Pile.ta wrote a title the top. 'l.·he reference to this pecnlio.rity ~ (tho Latin teohnioe.l word -rl-r/1.ov is used of the inscription as nlso given by Luke, in in proforence to the Greek word d1wypa.<f>~, T. R., is there omitted by Ti"schendorf (8th "superscription"), and he put it, by the edit.), Tregelles, Westcott o.nd Hort, and h1mcls of his own soldiers, on the orose. We R.T., M'Clelle.n, and others; it looks as if 01mnot tmnslo.to l-ypa.,j,• o.s a pluperfect, and the reading had been borrowed from John, or thereforo it becomes probo.ble tho.t o.fter the rather from the spurious 'Acts of Pilate,' proceEsion he.d gono howling and cursing with which it verbally agrees. The procla- e.wo.y to Golgotha., he had had the -rl-r/1.ov mation of Christ's royalty to the three greo.t prepared. And there was written upon divisions of the civilized world is a providen- the po.rchment, or the tablet, in letters a.II tial fact of supreme interest. 'fhousands of oould read, JESUS Oli' NAZARETH TllE Jews would carry the news of the mysterious KING OF THE JEWS, thus Pilato resolved "title" to for-off places, and ponder it in to sting these murderous J ewe to the lo.at their homes. This was part of the prepar.,- point of exo.spere.tion, in ho.rmony with the tion ma.de by Divine providence for an- che.ro.cter given him by Philo-Judmus; but nouncing to the whole world the kingdom of perhaps this motive wo.s also stimulated bJ J esns Christ. Since the cross from the very another-though he sought to punish their first thus beco.me a throne, and the Cruci- pride with scorn e.nd scoff at their hypocri- fixion an insto.llation into the kingdom, we tical cho.rge, he may have ho.d some strange learn thence the meaning of the Christian irresistible conviction that there was reality principle, "If we suffer with him, we shall in the royal supremacy of this marvellous also reign with him." Deing, who throughout was conspicuously Ver. 21.-Then ea.id the chief priests of triumphant in his po.tient dignity. He seems the Jews to Pilate. They must have lrnnied muttering to himself, "Let him be Chief of be.ck to him with petulant redentment of hia mo.lefnctors, but he is and will be King of intentional scorn. Observe the very UllllMUal the Jews nevertheless, o.nd I do not ignore phro.se, "the chie! priests of the Jew~," a.a the memories of either Do.vid or Solomon, though the priesthood felt the connection Zerubbo.bcl, Hyrco.nus, or ldumme.n Herod." between the pl"iesthood and kingship of the 'l'he title differs slightly in ite phro.se in the theocratic people, and it gn.vti additiona.l four evo.ngelists, yet they all preserve lite- sting to the sarcastic reproe.ch involved in ratini the central fact of the change, "the I.he inscription. Write not, The King of the King of the Jew8." John alone mentions the J'ews; but that he said, I am King of the circumstance, which may explain the minute Jews. They resented the association of differences (so Gresawell, 'Diss.,' xlii.), viz. the theocratio or Messianic symbol with that it was written in three languages, (a) the the spil'itual Being whom they had con- vernacular, or "Hebrew;" (b) the official, or demued. Ho.d they not already declared " Latin; " ( o) the speech generally under- that they had no king but Cresar? Doubt- stood by all strangers, or " Greek." The lesa he said, " I llill the King of the Jews;" minute differences may be represented by he made the claim, not in a se= whicll Matthew using the Hebrew, Mark the Lntin, could be rationa.lly entertained in a Roman and Luke and John the Greek, the latter court, b11t in the true Messianic and pro- simply adding the personnl name of the phetic sense. The priests knew perfectly crucified. Whether this hypothesis explain- well that because Jesus ho.d altogether ing the "this is" of Matthew, the "Rex refused, Heir of David though he was, to Judaiorum" of Mark, the "this" of Luke, entertain the Kingship in the only sense in and the fuller statement of John, which gives which thoy desireJ. to proclaim it, they had who.t we.a contained in one of the fongue.ges, rebellell ago.inst him a.nu rejecteJ. hia claims. be verified 01· not, it ~hould be observed that For Pilate to have given any colour to tile the four evangelists agree a.a to the verbatim purely spiritual prerogative of their Victim form of the a.l-r!a., John more e.bundo.ntly roused their remonstrance, but that it might supplementing the information by record- be treated as identification of the uation:i.J. ing the full -rlT/1.os. Even Strauss does not cause with a convicted and crucified felon rogo.rd these differences as discrepancies. exasperated them. Ver. 20.-This title therefore many of the Ver. 22.-Pilate answered, What I have .Jews read: for the plaoe where .Jesus was written I have written. And he curtly oruoifted was nigh unto the aity; and it was dismissed them. Pile.to 110 longer dreadcJ. written in Hebrow, in Roman (Le.tin), and their making his apparent favour to J edll3 in Greek. The word 'E/3pa.1cr-ri occurs four into a OOmJ.llaint to the elllvcror, auJ. htl  428 TllE GOSPEL AOOORDING TO ST. JOHN. [ott. xrt. 1-42.