19:6a

As soon as the chief priests and officers saw Him: The Jewish religious leaders and their security guards looked at Jesus as Pilate had told them to. This clause indicates that their response to Pilate in 19:6b was a result of their seeing Jesus. When they saw Jesus, they rejected him.

the chief priests: This phrase refers to the leading priests of the Jews. See how you translated this phrase in 7:32 and 18:3.

and officers: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as officers refers to the temple guards under the chief priests’ control. See how you translated this word in 18:3.

saw Him: The pronoun Him here refers to Jesus, not Pilate. Check that your readers understand this. You may need to make this explicit. For example:

saw Jesus (New Century Version)

19:6b

they shouted: Use a term that refers to the way a crowd shouts its demands. For example:

they said with a loud cry

Crucify Him! Crucify Him!: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as Crucify Him is just the verb “crucify.” The Berean Standard Bible makes explicit the implied object with the pronoun Him, referring to Jesus, as is natural in English. You may need to make the object explicit too.

Crucify: This word means to kill someone by nailing him to a cross. See Matthew 20:19, Mark 15:13, and Luke 23:21. It is repeated for emphasis. In some languages it may be natural to indicate the emphasis in a different way. For example:

We demand that you crucify him!

Some languages do not have a word for Crucify. If your language is like that, here are other ways to translate this word:

Nail him to a cross! Nail him to a cross! (Contemporary English Version)
-or-
Kill! Kill! Put him on a cross!

This was the usual way that the Romans executed (punished with death) criminals. Two large wooden beams were attached to each other to form a cross. Roman soldiers nailed or tied a criminal to a cross, then stood it up. (Jesus was nailed to the cross.) They did this in order to cause the criminal to die slowly and painfully.

The beams were crossed and attached. This made the shape of a + or (or sometimes a T).

In many languages there may be no word for “cross.” If that is true in your language, you may need to use a descriptive phrase. For example:

nail him to the beam/wood of death

19:6c

You take Him and crucify Him: Pilate did not want to order the soldiers to crucify Jesus. He knew and the Jews knew that the Jews were not allowed to crucify anyone. He was not actually commanding them, or even allowing them, to crucify Jesus. He wanted them to be responsible for Jesus’ death. Consider how you could suggest or imply this. For example:

You be the ones to crucify him.
-or-
You can be the ones to put him on the cross.

You: The Greek text emphasizes the pronoun that some versions translate as “yourselves.”

19:6d

for: The Greek text of this clause includes a word that the Berean Standard Bible translates literally as for. Pilate wanted the Jews to be the ones to crucify Jesus because he did not think that Jesus was guilty. Most English translations leave this word implied. In some languages, it may be better to make this word explicit, like the Berean Standard Bible. For example:

Crucify him yourselves, because I find nothing against him (New Century Version)

I find no basis for a charge against Him: Again Pilate said that he could not find anything that Jesus did wrong. See the very similar expression in 19:4. Here are other ways to translate this clause:

I find no reason to condemn him. (Good News Translation)
-or-
I find him not guilty. (New Living Translation (2004))

I: The Greek text emphasizes this pronoun. It contrasts with “you” in 19:6c. Show this emphasis in a way that is natural in your language. For example:

As for me, I find no basis for a charge against him. (New International Version)

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