19:21a

So the chief priests of the Jews said to Pilate: The conjunction So indicates the result of many Jews reading the notice. The Jewish chief priests were unhappy that Pilate told the soldiers to write that Jesus was their king. So they objected (complained) to Pilate. Some translations do not include of the Jews because it is understood that the chief priests were Jews. For example:

Therefore the leading priests complained to Pilate, saying
-or-
Then the leading priests objected and said to Pilate (New Living Translation (2004))

the chief priests of the Jews: This phrase refers to the leading or most important priests of the Jews. See how you translated this phrase in 19:15.

Do not write, ‘The King of the Jews,’: Pilate had in fact already written the sign. The chief priests criticized the sign that he had already made. They wanted him to remove this notice and replace it. Indicate this meaning in a way that is natural in your language. For example:

You should not have written, ‘The King of the Jews’
-or-
Change it from ‘The King of the Jews’ (New Living Translation (2004))
-or-
Why did you write, “the King of the Jews”?

In some languages it may be natural to translate this clause with the notice as the subject of the clause. For example:

The/Your (sing.) notice should not say, “the King of the Jews.”

See the General Comment on 19:21a–b for suggestions on how to translate the words of the notice using indirect speech.

19:21b

but only: The conjunction that the Berean Standard Bible translates as but here connects a negative statement (19:21a) to a positive statement (19:21b). This kind of sentence emphasizes the positive statement. Languages have different ways to indicate this type of emphasis. Here are some ways to show the emphasis:

• Use the conjunction but as in the Berean Standard Bible.

Don’t write, ‘The King of the Jews.’ But write, ‘This man said, “I am the King of the Jews.” ’ (New Century Version)

• Use a conjunction other than but. This is a common way in English to show this type of emphasis. For example:

Don’t write, ‘The king of the Jews!’ Instead, write, ‘He said that he is the king of the Jews.’ (God’s Word)
-or-
What you (sing.) should have written, it is not ‘King of the Jews’ but rather ‘This-one said he was King of the Jews.’ ” (Kankanaey Back Translation)

• Do not use a conjunction. For example:

Change it from ‘The King of the Jews’ to ‘He said, I am King of the Jews.’ (New Living Translation (2004))
-or-
Why did you write that he is King of the Jews? You should have written, ‘He claimed to be King of the Jews.’ (Contemporary English Version)

• Change the order of the clauses. For example:

Say, ‘This man said that he was King of the Jews,’ not just ‘The King of the Jews.’

You should translate this emphasis in the way that is most natural in your language.

that He said, ‘I am the King of the Jews.’: This clause is the statement that the chief priests wanted Pilate to put on the notice. By adding the words He said, it would imply that the words were not true. (The word “claimed” does the same thing: “He claimed/said that he was the King of the Jews, but he is not.”) This clause includes a quotation inside a quotation, inside the quotation of the priests’ words. See the General Comment on 19:21a–b for other ways to translate the whole statement of the chief priests. There are two ways to translate the words that they wanted on the notice:

• Use a direct quotation. For example:

‘This man said, I am king of the Jews.’ (NET Bible)

• Use an indirect quotation. For example:

that this man claimed to be king of the Jews (New International Version)

that He said: The chief priests referred to Jesus in a way that did not show respect. It also showed that they did not believe him. In some languages it may be natural to imply this. For example:

This man claimed
-or-
This person pretended to be

I am the King of the Jews: This was not something Jesus ever actually said. However, you should translate it literally, and translate King of the Jews as you did in 19:19b.

General Comment on 19:21a–b

The chief priests quoted what they wanted the sign to say, which quoted what they accused Jesus of saying. In some languages it is more natural to translate one or both of the inside quotations as indirect speech. For example:

So the chief priests went to Pilate and said, “Why did you write that he is King of the Jews? You should have written, ‘He claimed to be King of the Jews.’ ” (Contemporary English Version)
-or-
So the chief priests went to Pilate and said, “You should not write that Jesus is the King of the Jews. Instead, you should write that he said that he was the King of the Jews.”

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