18:30a–b

“If He were not a criminal,” they replied, “we would not have handed Him over to you.”: In this sentence, Jesus’ accusers did not answer Pilate’s question directly. Instead, they implied that that they had handed Jesus over to the Roman authorities because he was a criminal. See the General Comment on 18:30a–b for ways to rearrange the information in their answer.

The form of this answer uses a condition that the Jews believed was false. They believed that Jesus was a criminal, even though he was not, and that is why they brought him to Pilate. In some languages it is more natural to express this idea with direct positive statements. For example:

They answered, “He is a criminal! That’s why we brought him to you.” (Contemporary English Version)
-or-
They answered, “⌊You can be sure that⌋ he is a criminal because we brought him to you.”

18:30a

If He were not a criminal: This is a condition that the speakers implied was not true. They implied that Jesus was actually a criminal, even though he was not.

If: This connector introduces a condition that the speakers believed was not true.

He: This phrase refers to Jesus.

a criminal: The Greek phrase that the Berean Standard Bible translates as a criminal is more literally “one doing evil” or “he who commits a crime.” Translate this phrase in a way that is natural in your language in a court setting, For example:

If he had not committed a crime
-or-
If this man were not doing evil (English Standard Version)
-or-
If this Man were not an evildoer (New American Standard Bible)

they replied: The pronoun they refers to the high priest and the council members who were accusing Jesus. They spoke to the Roman governor

18:30b

we would not have handed Him over to you: This clause tells what would have happened if the Jews believed that the condition in 18:30a was fulfilled. But because the accusers believed that Jesus was a criminal, they did hand him over to Pilate.

we: This pronoun is exclusive and refers to the Jewish religious leaders who were accusing Jesus but not to Pilate.

have handed Him over to you: The Greek phrase that the Berean Standard Bible has translated as handed…over to you means “have put/given into your power/control.” It was used in a legal sense of giving a prisoner to the authorities for them to guard. See how you translated this expression in Matthew 10:19, 27:18 and Mark 13:11. In this context it indicates that Jesus’ accusers had brought Jesus to the Roman governor to be judged and condemned. Here is another way to translate this phrase:

brought him to you (New Century Version)

you: This pronoun is singular and refers to Pilate.

General Comment on 18:30a–b

In some languages it is more natural to place 18:30b before 18:30a. For example:

30b We brought him to you ⌊to judge⌋ 30a because he has done evil things.
-or-
We would not have brought him to you if he had not committed a crime. (Good News Translation)
-or-
We only turned/handed him over to you because he is a criminal.
-or-
The only reason we brought him to you is because he committed a crime.

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