Section 19:31–37
A soldier put a spear in Jesus’ side
This section tells how the soldiers saw that Jesus was dead. The Jewish leaders did not want to leave the bodies of the three men on the crosses after sunset. The Sabbath started at sunset and this was a special Sabbath, so the bodies should be buried before then. So they asked Pilate to order his soldiers to break the men’s legs to make them die more quickly.
The soldiers broke the legs of the other two men. However, they saw that Jesus was already dead, so they did not have to break his legs. Instead a soldier pierced his side with a spear and blood and water flowed out. Those events fulfilled Old Testament scripture.
Here are other possible titles for this section:
The soldiers do not break Jesus’ legs
-or-
The soldiers confirm that Jesus was dead
-or-
Evidence that Jesus died
19:31a–e
19:31 is long and complex, and includes a great deal of implicit information about Jewish customs. For a suggestion of a way to rearrange this verse, see the General Comment following 19:31e.
In some languages it may be natural to translate this as two or more sentences. For example:
It was the day of preparation, and the Jewish leaders didn’t want the bodies hanging there the next day, which was the Sabbath (and a very special Sabbath, because it was the Passover). So they asked Pilate to hasten their deaths by ordering that their legs be broken. Then their bodies could be taken down. (New Living Translation (2004))
-or-
Since it was Friday and the next day was an especially important day of worship, the Jews didn’t want the bodies to stay on the crosses. So they asked Pilate to have the men’s legs broken and their bodies removed. (God’s Word)
-or-
It was the day that the Jews prepared for the Sabbath, their day of worship. And the next day was a very important Sabbath. So the Jewish leaders did not want the bodies to stay on the crosses after the Sabbath ⌊began at sunset⌋ . So they asked Pilate ⌊to order the soldiers⌋ to break the men’s legs and remove their bodies.
19:31a
The Greek begins this verse with a connector that means “because.” It indicates that this clause is the cause of the following clause. The Jews did not want Jesus’ body left on the cross because it was the day before the Sabbath. For example:
because it was the day of preparation (NET Bible)
the day of Preparation: This phrase refers to Friday. This was the day that the Jews prepared for the Sabbath, their day of rest. Because the Jewish day began at sunset, the Sabbath would begin at sunset on Friday. See how you translated this phrase in 19:14. For example:
Friday (God’s Word)
-or-
Friday, the day of preparation ⌊for the Sabbath⌋
-or-
the day when ⌊the Jewish people⌋ prepared ⌊for their holy/rest day⌋
19:31b
and the next day was a High Sabbath: The next day was one of the most important Sabbaths of the year because it was during Passover week. All Sabbaths were considered holy, set apart to show honor, but this one particularly deserved honor. Here are some other ways to translate this clause:
and the next day was an especially important day of worship (God’s Word)
-or-
and the next day was to be a special Sabbath (New International Version)
-or-
the coming Sabbath was especially holy (Good News Translation)
and: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as and is more literally “because.” It introduces an additional, greater reason why the Jewish leaders did not want the bodies left on the crosses. Not only was the next day a Sabbath, but it was also a special Sabbath.
a High Sabbath: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as High means “great” or “important.” It was important because it came during Passover week. Use a word or phrase that indicates a religious holiday is particularly important. For example:
that sabbath was a day of great solemnity (New Revised Standard Version)
-or-
for that Sabbath was an especially important one (NET Bible)
-or-
a special Sabbath (New International Version)
-or-
a very special Sabbath, because it was Passover week (New Living Translation (2004))
-or-
the coming Sabbath was especially holy (Good News Translation)
19:31c
In order that the bodies would not remain on the cross during the Sabbath: The Jewish leaders wanted the crucified men to die on Friday so that they could take them off the crosses before the Sabbath began. In Jewish thinking, the Sabbath day begin at sunset on Friday evening.
Here are some other ways to translate 19:31b:
the Jews did not want the bodies to stay on the cross on the Sabbath day, (New Century Version)
-or-
the Jews wanted to avoid the bodies being left on the crosses over the Sabbath (Phillips’ New Testament in Modern English)
-or-
the Jewish leaders didn’t want the bodies hanging there the next day, which was the Sabbath (New Living Translation (2004))
the bodies would not remain on the cross: The Greek verb that the Berean Standard Bible translates literally as remain indicates that the Jews did not want the bodies to remain hanging on the crosses during the Sabbath. For example:
the bodies to stay on the cross (New Century Version)
on the cross: There were three crosses, with one man on each cross. In some languages it may be natural to make that clear. For example:
on the crosses (Good News Translation)
the Sabbath: The Jewish Sabbath was Saturday. It was their day of rest and worship. It began at sunset the evening before, Friday evening, and lasted until sunset on Saturday. See how you translated the word Sabbath in John 5:9–10.
19:31d
the Jews asked Pilate to have the legs broken: People who were crucified needed to push up on the nails that held their legs to be able to breathe. If soldiers broke their legs, they could not push up on the nails to breathe, so then they died quickly. The Jewish leaders wanted Pilate to order the soldiers to break the crucified men’s legs. That way the bodies could be taken down before sunset, when the Sabbath day began. In some languages it may be natural to make explicit that they broke their legs in order to hasten (hurry) their death. For example:
So they asked Pilate to hasten their deaths by ordering that their legs be broken. (New Living Translation (2004))
the Jews asked Pilate: The Romans usually left people on the cross until they died. Sometimes that took two or three days. So the Jews asked Pilate to tell the soldiers to break the crucified men’s legs. If they did that, the men would die quickly.
the Jews: This phrase here refers to the leaders of the Jews. For example:
the Jewish authorities (Good News Translation)
-or-
the Jewish leaders (NET Bible)
to have the legs broken: The Jewish leaders wanted Pilate to command the soldiers to break the legs of the dying men. Roman soldiers broke legs by hitting the lower part of the legs with a heavy iron mallet (large hammer or club). So use the term in your language that would include breaking something by hitting it. Here are other ways to translate this phrase:
to allow them to break the legs of the men who had been crucified (Good News Translation)
-or-
to order that the legs of the men be broken (New Century Version)
to have the legs broken: The Greek phrase that the Berean Standard Bible translates as to have the legs broken is “that their legs might be broken,” which is passive. It does not indicate who would break the men’s legs, but it implies that it was the soldiers. The English word have indicates that the Jewish leaders asked Pilate to order his soldiers to do this. There are at least two ways to translate this verb:
• Use a passive verb. For example:
that their legs might be broken (English Standard Version)
-or-
ordering that their legs be broken (New Living Translation (2004))
• Use an active verb. For example:
to break the men’s legs (Contemporary English Version)
-or-
to order the soldiers to break the men’s legs
the legs: Use a term that includes the knees and lower part of the legs.
19:31e
and the bodies removed: This phrase indicates the second thing that the Jewish leaders asked Pilate. They asked Pilate to order the bodies removed from the crosses. Where the soldiers would remove the men’s bodies from is implied. In some languages you may need to make that information explicit. For example:
and remove their bodies ⌊from the crosses⌋
-or-
and take their bodies down ⌊from there⌋
The Greek verb that the Berean Standard Bible translates as removed here is passive. It is not stated who would remove the bodies. Perhaps they expected the soldiers to do it, but perhaps not, so it is good to leave this ambiguous. There are at least two ways to translate this verb:
• Use a passive verb. For example:
and the bodies taken away (New Jerusalem Bible)
• Use an active verb. For example:
and take their bodies down (Contemporary English Version)
the bodies: In many languages there is a special word for the body of a dead person. You may want to use a term like that here. For example:
the corpses
General Comment on 19:31d–e
In some languages it may be natural to translate the request of the Jewish leaders using direct speech. For example:
The Jewish leaders said to Pilate, “Please allow the legs of the men to be broken and their bodies removed from their crosses.”
General Comment on 19:31 a-e
In some languages it is more natural to rearrange this verse so that 19:31d–e comes before 19:31a–c. For example:
31d Then the Jewish authorities asked Pilate to allow them to break the legs of the men who had been crucified, 31e and to take the bodies down from the crosses. 31a They requested this because it was Friday, 31b and they did not want the bodies to stay on the crosses on the Sabbath, 31c since the coming Sabbath was especially holy. (Good News Translation)
© 2020 by SIL International®
Made available under the terms of a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License (CC BY-SA) creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0.
All Scripture quotations in this publication, unless otherwise indicated, are from The Holy Bible, Berean Standard Bible.
BSB is produced in cooperation with Bible Hub, Discovery Bible, OpenBible.com, and the Berean Bible Translation Committee.