Section 18:28–19:16a
Pilate investigated Jesus and decided that he should die
This section tells how the soldiers took Jesus to the Roman governor, Pilate. Pilate questioned Jesus to find out why the Jews wanted him to punish Jesus with death. He could find no reason to do that. But the Jewish leaders there insisted that Pilate crucify him. Finally, Pilate agreed that Jesus could be crucified.
Here are other possible section headings:
Pilate questioned the Jews and Jesus and sent Jesus to be crucified
-or-
Pilate investigated Jesus and decided that he could be punished with death
-or-
Jesus’ trial and judgment before Pilate
This section can be divided into seven smaller pieces, where each piece is a separate event. Jews often arranged written materials to include seven related pieces, where the first and last pieces relate, and the second and sixth relate, and the third and fifth relate. Then the middle piece, the fourth, stands alone and is emphasized. That happens in this section as well. Here is a chart showing the seven pieces of this section and how they relate:
18:28–32: Outside the house; Jews ask for Jesus’ death
18:33–38a: Inside the house; Pilate asks Jesus if he is King of the Jews
18:38b–40: Outside the house; Pilate says, “I find no case against him.”
19:1–3: The soldiers beat Jesus with a whip and pretend that he is the king of the Jews
19:4–8: Outside the house; Pilate says, “I find no case against him.”
19:8–11: Inside the house; Pilate asks Jesus where he came from
19:12–16a: Outside the house; Pilate allows Jews to crucify Jesus
The middle piece, 19:1–3, is different from all the other pieces. Pilate is only mentioned and is not an important person in this event. That is different from all the other pieces. This middle piece therefore is emphasized. The only ones who seem to worship Jesus in the whole section do so in this middle piece. However, they only pretend to worship and are very cruel as they mock Jesus.
In your translation, you may want to find ways to emphasize 19:1–3. Also, try to translate this section in ways that make it possible to see the connections between the pieces.
Paragraph 18:28–32
This paragraph begins the second part of Jesus’ trial. (The second part, with Jesus before Caiaphas, is only mentioned in John. John does not say anything about what happened there.) The narrative moves from Peter back to Jesus.
The Sanhedrin, the Jewish council with the most authority, could try minor offenses, particularly those involving Jewish religious law and customs. However, it could not punish anyone with death on a cross. Only the Roman government had that authority. So the Jewish authorities took Jesus to the Roman governor to ask him to condemn Jesus to die on a cross.
18:28a
Then: This conjunction indicates that the narrative is changing back from what happened to Peter to what happened to Jesus. See the General Comment on 18:28a–c for another way to introduce this action and paragraph.
they led Jesus away from Caiaphas: The pronoun they refers to the Jewish authorities in general. It was probably some Jewish guards and authorities who led Jesus away from the high priest’s house. For example:
Then the Jewish leaders took Jesus from Caiaphas (New International Version)
-or-
Jesus was taken from Caiaphas’ house to the governor’s palace. The Jews wouldn’t go into the palace. (God’s Word)
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Then he was taken to the headquarters of the Roman governor. His accusers didn’t go inside… (New Living Translation (2004))
led Jesus away: The verb led…away refers to leading Jesus away as a prisoner.
from Caiaphas: This phrase indicates that they all left Caiaphas’ house. See how you referred to Caiaphas in 18:24.
18:28b
into the Praetorium: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates literally as the Praetorium refers to the official house of the Roman governor. This was the house where the governor stayed when he was in Jerusalem. It included the offices of the Roman government, including the courtroom for trying criminals. Here are ways to translate this phrase:
the palace of the Roman governor (New International Version)
-or-
the governor’s headquarters (Revised English Bible)
-or-
the headquarters of the Roman governor (New Living Translation (2004))
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the building where the Roman governor stayed (Contemporary English Version)
18:28c
By now it was early morning: This sentence indicates the time setting of the next part of the story. It was probably around sunrise. This is background or parenthetical information. The NET Bible puts this sentence in parentheses. You may want to indicate that this sentence is parenthetical in a way that is natural in your language. Or you can follow the General Comment on 18:28a–c just below.
General Comment on 18:28a–c
In many languages it is more natural to rearrange 18:28a–c, and begin the new event with the new time. For example:
28c Early in the morning 28a Jesus was taken from Caiaphas’ house 28b to the governor’s palace. (Good News Translation)
-or-
28c It was early in the morning 28a when Jesus was taken from Caiaphas 28b to the building where the Roman governor stayed. (Contemporary English Version)
18:28d–f
This sentence continues with more background or parenthetical information. 18:28d indicates that Jesus’ accusers did not enter the governor’s house, and 18:28e–f explains why they did not enter. There were two connected reasons, one negative and one positive. The Jews wanted to avoid being defiled (ritually unclean) (negative) and so be able to celebrate the Passover feast (positive). In English there are many possible ways to indicate these connections. For example:
They did not go into the Praetorium themselves to avoid becoming defiled and unable to eat the Passover. (New Jerusalem Bible)
-or-
The Jews would not go into the palace. They did not want to become unclean, because they wanted to eat the Passover meal.
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His accusers didn’t go inside because it would defile them, and they wouldn’t be allowed to celebrate the Passover. (New Living Translation (2004))
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They would not go inside the palace, because they did not want to make themselves unclean; they wanted to eat the Passover meal. (New Century Version)
Indicate the connections in this sentence in a way that is natural in your language. See the following notes for further examples of positive and negative verbs.
18:28d
and: The Greek conjunction that the Berean Standard Bible translates as and connects this clause to the previous clause. Some English versions do not translate the conjunction and begin a new sentence here. Connect this clause with the previous clause in a natural way in your language.
the Jews did not enter the Praetorium: This clause implies a contrast between where Jesus’ accusers went and where Jesus went (18:28a). Jesus’ Jewish accusers did not go with Jesus inside the headquarters of the Roman governor.
the Jews: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as the Jews is the pronoun “they,” which refers back to the men who had brought Jesus as a prisoner from Caiaphas. They were his accusers. You may need to make this explicit. For example:
His accusers (New Living Translation (2004))
Some translations, like the New Revised Standard Version, indicate the contrast between Jesus and his accusers by adding the word “themselves.” That emphasizes the subject “they,” which the Greek also does. You may emphasize the contrasting subject if that is natural in your language.
In many languages it may be natural here to supply the implied information that Jesus’ accusers were Jewish, like the Berean Standard Bible does. This information helps explain why they acted as they did.
did not enter: In some languages it may be natural to translate this negative verb phrase with a positive one. For example:
stayed outside (Revised English Bible)
-or-
waited outside (Contemporary English Version)
18:28e
to avoid being defiled: The Greek phrase that the Berean Standard Bible translates as to avoid being defiled is more literally “so that they would not be defiled (made unclean).” Jews became defiled if they ate certain foods or touched a dead body, etc. Then they would not be able to worship God or celebrate Passover for a certain amount of time. This phrase indicates negative purpose: the Jews remained outside the governor’s house to avoid becoming ritually defiled. If they had gone inside, they would have become ritually defiled. Here are other ways to translate this negative purpose:
because they did not want to make themselves unclean (New Century Version)
-or-
wanting to keep from being made unclean
In some languages it may be natural to translate this as a positive clause. For example:
for they wanted to keep themselves ritually clean (Good News Translation)
In some languages it may be natural to translate this as a separate clause. For example:
They didn’t want to become unclean. (God’s Word)
-or-
because it would defile them (New Living Translation (2004))
-or-
Any of them who had gone inside would have become unclean (Contemporary English Version)
being defiled: This term refers to a state in which one was not allowed to attend a religious activity. In Jewish thought, one must be ritually clean or pure before he could come into God’s presence. Therefore, if someone were defiled (impure or unclean) he could not approach God. See also Unclean, Defiled, Impure, Uncleanness, sense B.3.a in Key Biblical Terms
Jewish teaching (but not the Old Testament) said that Gentile (non-Jewish) homes were ritually unclean or impure. (See Acts 10:28.) So Jews who entered Gentile homes became defiled. They were therefore not allowed to join in public religious ceremonies such as the Passover.
For the idea of ritual impurity, see Leviticus 11:24–26 and Mark 7:1–23. This idea had nothing to do with being physically dirty. Translate this idea in a way that will help your readers understand that it does not refer to literal, physical dirt. For example:
ceremonial uncleanness (New International Version)
In some languages it may be natural to translate this abstract noun with a verb or adjective. For example:
be defiled (English Standard Version)
-or-
they wanted to keep themselves ritually clean (Good News Translation)
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become unclean (God’s Word)
18:28f
and unable to eat the Passover: This clause indicates the second reason why Jesus’ Jewish accusers did not enter the governor’s headquarters. They wanted to be able to continue take part in the Jewish Passover festival, which lasted a week. Jewish customs said that if a Jew went into a house of a Gentile he would be ritually “unclean.” Then he would not be allowed to join any religious activity or eat with other Jews until the next day.
So the two reasons for not entering the governor’s headquarters were connected. If a Jew was ritually defiled, he could not eat the Passover with the Jewish community. Translate this second, connected purpose in a way that is natural in your language. For example:
they wanted to be able to eat the Passover (New International Version)
-or-
but could eat the Passover meal (NET Bible)
-or-
because they wanted to eat the Passover meal
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in order to be able to eat the Passover meal (Good News Translation)
eat the Passover: This phrase refers to eating a meal at night as part of the annual Passover festival. (Jesus and his disciples celebrated the first Passover night the evening before, but the celebration lasted a week.) It celebrated the night when God passed over the homes of the ancestors of the Jews, who were slaves in Egypt. For the story of the Passover see Exodus chapters 11–12. Also see the note on Passover in John 2:13a and how you translated it there and in 6:4, 11:55, and 13:1. Here are some ways to translate Passover :
meal to celebrate freedom from being slaves
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Death-Passed-Over-Us festival
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