Translation commentary on John 19:6

Temple guards was used in 18.3.

They shouted is literally “they shouted saying,” reflecting a Semitic way of introducing direct discourse.

In the present context no object is expressed for the verb crucify (note New English Bible “Crucify! crucify!”), but Jesus is the understood object, and so most translators render it as Crucify him! “Him” is expressed in the Greek text of verse 15. The repetition of Crucify him! indicates the intensity with which the people were demanding that Pilate put Jesus to death. In Pilate’s answer, You take him, then, and crucify him. I find no reason to condemn him, the pronouns you and I are stressed. The Jews could not, of course, take Jesus and crucify him (see 18.31), so Pilate’s words are best taken as an attempt to fix responsibility for the death of Jesus on the Jews. For I find no reason to condemn him see 18.38 and 19.4.

In languages which have no special term for “crucify,” an equivalent phrase must be employed, for example, “Execute him on a cross” or “Kill him by nailing him to a cross” or “Kill him on a cross.” Some languages do not even have a term for “cross,” in the sense of the type of cross on which Jesus was crucified. It is always possible, however, to speak of the design of a cross, to which may be added “wooden cross” or “cross of beams.”

Quoted with permission from Newman, Barclay M. and Nida, Eugene A. A Handbook on the Gospel of John. (UBS Handbook Series). New York: UBS, 1980. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .

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