EasyEnglish Bible 2018
John 18:31
31Pilate said to them, ‘You yourselves take him away. You should judge him by your own laws.’ The Jewish leaders replied, ‘We do not have authority to kill anyone when they have done something bad.’
John 18:31 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)Then said Pilate unto them, Take ye him, and judge him according to your law. The Jews therefore said unto him, It is not lawful for us to put any man to death:
- New International Version (NIV)Pilate said, “Take him yourselves and judge him by your own law.” “But we have no right to execute anyone,” they objected.
- English Standard Version (ESV)Pilate said to them, "Take him yourselves and judge him by your own law." The Jews said to him, "It is not lawful for us to put anyone to death."
- New King James Version (NKJV)Then Pilate said to them, “You take Him and judge Him according to your law.” Therefore the Jews said to him, “It is not lawful for us to put anyone to death,”
Context of John 18:31
29So Pilate, the Roman ruler, went outside to meet them. He asked them, ‘What wrong thing do you say that this man has done?’ 30They replied, ‘We would not have brought him to you if he had done nothing wrong.’ Pilate said to them, ‘You yourselves take him away. You should judge him by your own laws.’ The Jewish leaders replied, ‘We do not have authority to kill anyone when they have done something bad.’ 32Jesus had already told people how he would die. These things happened to make his words become true. 33Pilate went back inside his palace. He told Jesus to come and stand in front of him. He asked Jesus, ‘Are you the king of the Jews?’
Read all of John 18John 18:31 word by word
εἶπεν οὖν αὐτοῖς ὁ Πιλᾶτος· λάβετε αὐτὸν ὑμεῖς καὶ κατὰ τὸν νόμον ὑμῶν κρίνατε αὐτόν. εἶπον αὐτῷ οἱ Ἰουδαῖοι· ἡμῖν οὐκ ἔξεστιν ἀποκτεῖναι οὐδένα·Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
- ·ὁho hē to · the/this/whoG3588
- Thenοὖνoun · therefore/thenG3767
- saidλέγωlegō · to sayG3004
- PilateΠιλᾶτοςPilatos · PilateG4091
- unto themαὐτόςautos · it/s/heG846
- Takeλαμβάνωlambanō · to takeG2983
- yeσύsu · youG4771
- andκαίkai · andG2532
- judgeκρίνωkrinō · to judgeG2919
- according toκατάkata · according toG2596
- lawνόμοςnomos · lawG3551
- The JewsἸουδαῖοςIoudaios · JewG2453
- It isἔξεστι, ἐξόνexesti · be permittedG1832
- notοὐou · noG3756
- for usἐγώegō · I/weG1473
- to putἀποκτείνωapokteinō · to killG615
- any manοὐδείςoudeis · noneG3762
Cross-references for John 18:31
- John 19:6When the leaders of the priests and their officers saw Jesus, they shouted, ‘Kill him! Kill him on a cross!’ Pilate said to them, ‘Take him for yourselves and kill him on a cross. I can find no reason why I should punish him.’
- Acts 25:18The men who had spoken against him stood up. I thought they would say that Paul had done some very bad thing. But they did not say that.
- John 19:15But they shouted, ‘Take him away! Take him away! Kill him on a cross!’ Pilate asked them, ‘Do you want me to kill your king on a cross?’ The leaders of the priests answered, ‘Caesar is the only ruler that we call king.’
- Genesis 49:10Judah's descendants will always rule as king. They will continue to hold the stick and the sceptre that show the king's authority. They will do that until the man comes who truly has that authority. People from all nations will obey that king.
- Ezekiel 21:26This is what the Almighty Lord says: Take off the special cloth from the king's head. Remove his crown! Everything will change! Give honour to humble people! Make proud people ashamed!
- Hosea 3:4In the same way, the Israelites will have to live for many days without a king or any other leader. They will not be able to make sacrifices. They will not have their pillars, their ephods or their idols to help them.
Commentaries on John 18:31
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 31It is not lawful for us to put any man to death - They might have judged Jesus according to their law, as Pilate bade them do; but they could only excommunicate or scourge him. They might have voted him worthy of death; but they could not put him to death, if any thing of a secular nature were charged against him. The power of life and death was in all probability taken from the Jews when Archelaus, king of Judea, was banished to Vienna, and Judea was…Read the comment
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 31Judge him - The Jews had not directly informed him that they had judged him and pronounced him worthy of death. Pilate therefore tells them to inquire into the ease; to ascertain the proof of his guilt, and to decide on what the law of Moses pronounced. It has been doubted whether this gave them the power of putting him to death, or whether it was not rather a direction to them to inquire into the case, and inflict on him, if they judged him guilty, the…Read the comment
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 28-32Verses 28-32 It was unjust to put one to death who had done so much good, therefore the Jews were willing to save themselves from reproach. Many fear the scandal of an ill thing, more than the sin of it. Christ had said he should be delivered to the Gentiles, and they should put him to death; hereby that saying was fulfilled. He had said that he should be crucified, lifted up. If the Jews had judged him by their law, he had been stoned; crucifying never…Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 31-32Pilate did not consider the charges convincing. So he told the Sanhedrin to judge Jesus by their own law. Pilate saw this as a Jewish argument, which he refused to investigate. However, the Jewish leaders insisted that execution was necessary. This fulfilled the prediction Jesus made about how he would die (see 12:32–33). The Jews would have used stoning, but the Romans used crucifixion. If Pilate sentenced Jesus, the Romans would hang Jesus on a cross to…Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 29-3229-32. Pilate went out to them, and said, What accusation bring ye against this man?--State your charge.Read the comment
Topics related to John 18:31
In the dictionaries
Commentaries on John 18
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
- Tyndale Open Study Notes
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
- Calvin’s Commentaries
- John Wesley’s Notes
- Catena Aurea
- Illustrated New Testament
- Burkitt’s Expository Notes
- Darby Translation Notes
- Family Bible Notes
- Geneva Bible Translation Notes
- Kingcomments
- John Lightfoot Commentary
- Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
- Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
- The People’s New Testament
- Robertson’s Word Pictures
- Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
- The Fourfold Gospel and Commentary on Acts
- Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
- EGW Writings
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