19:7a

“We have a law,” answered the Jews, “and according to that law He must die: One of the laws of Moses said that anyone who blasphemed (said something against) the name of God should die. More specifically, the Jewish people should kill him. The Jewish leaders decided that when Jesus called himself the Son of God, he blasphemed.

We have a law: This clause indicates that there was a relevant Jewish law. The Jewish people had many hundreds of laws, but the leaders were thinking of one specific law, Leviticus 24:16. It may be natural to indicate that the reference is to a specific law by saying

one of our (excl.) laws

We: The Greek text emphasizes this pronoun, which is exclusive here. It refers to the Jews but not to Pilate, a Roman. It contrasts with “I” in 19:6d (“I find no case against him”).

the Jews: The Greek phrase that the Berean Standard Bible translates as the Jews refers to the same group mentioned in 19:6a. That group consisted mainly of the chief priests and their guards. Other Jewish people who were opposed to Jesus could have also been there. Here are other ways to translate this phrase:

The crowd (Good News Translation)
-or-
The Jewish leaders (New International Version)

and according to that law: This phrase introduces the content or command of that law. In some languages it may be natural to make that law the subject of the sentence. For example:

Our Law says that… (Contemporary English Version)

He must die: This clause here indicates that the Jewish leaders thought that Jesus deserved to be executed (punished with death). They thought that it was someone’s duty to kill him. They did not say who that should be. Jewish law said that the Jews should execute this person themselves, but these Jews wanted the Romans to execute Jesus. If you need to supply a subject, you should leave it general. Here are other ways to translate this clause:

he must be put to death (Contemporary English Version)
-or-
he should be killed (Yakan Back Translation)
-or-
someone should execute/kill him

General Comment on 19:7a

In some languages it may be natural to combine the two clauses in 19:7a. For example:

We have a law that says he ought to die. (Good News Translation)

19:7b

because He declared Himself to be the Son of God: This clause tells the reason why the Jewish leaders thought that Jesus should die. They said that when Jesus’ claimed to be (said that he was) the Son of God he blasphemed or cursed God. See 10:36 and the notes there.

He declared Himself to be the Son of God: The Greek expression that the Berean Standard Bible translates as declared Himself is more literally “made himself.” The idea is that the Jewish leaders believed that Jesus created an identity for himself that was not true. They did not believe that Jesus was the Son of God. They believed that this was a false statement. Here are other ways to translate this clause:

he pretended to be God’s Son
-or-
he said he is the Son of God (New Century Version)
-or-
he called himself the Son of God (New Living Translation (2004))

the Son of God: The Greek text just says “Son of God,” with no definite article “the” here. But a specific Son of God is implied, and the Berean Standard Bible and most English translations have supplied a definite article. The Greek text emphasizes this phrase to emphasize how serious the Jews thought his offense was.

The title the Son of God is one that Jesus used to describe himself. Here the Jews said that Jesus should die because he used that title for himself. They said that by using that title, he made himself equal to God (see 5:18 and 10:33–36). Jesus was God the Son, but the Jews did not believe that. See how you translated the Son of God at 1:34 and 10:36. For further information on what it means that Jesus was the Son of God, see the note at 1:34.

General Comment on 19:7a–b

In some languages it may be more natural to rearrange the clauses in this sentence. You may want to put what the Jews said Jesus did before mentioning the law. Here is an example in which the word “because” is implied:

7b The crowd replied, “He claimed to be the Son of God! 7a Our Law says that he must be put to death.” (Contemporary English Version)

General Comment on 19:7a–b

19:7a–b includes a quotation inside a quotation. The Berean Standard Bible translates the inner quotation as an indirect quotation (“he has claimed to be the Son of God”). In some languages it may be natural to use another direct quotation. For example:

7a The Jews said, “We have a law. According to that law he should be killed, 7b because he said, ‘I am the Son of God.’ ”

Translate this quotation inside a quotation in a way that is natural in your language.

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