Matthew 27:11

Jesus and Pilate

27:11 Then¹ Jesus stood before the governor, and the governor asked him,² “Are you the king³ of the Jews?” Jesus⁴ said, “You say so.”⁵

Matthew 27:27

27:27 Then the governor’s soldiers took Jesus into the governor’s residence⁶ and gathered the whole cohort⁷ around him.

Matthew 27:2

27:2 They⁸ tied him up, led him away, and handed him over to Pilate⁹ the governor.¹⁰

Matthew 27:14

27:14 But he did not answer even one accusation, so that the governor was quite amazed.

¹tn Here δέ (de) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the narrative.

²tn Grk “asked him, saying.” The participle λέγων (legwn) is redundant in contemporary English and has not been translated.

³sn “Are you the king of the Jews?” Pilate was interested in this charge because of its political implications of sedition against Rome.

⁴tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated.

⁵sn The reply “You say so” is somewhat enigmatic, like Jesus’ earlier reply to the Jewish leadership in 26:64.

⁶tn Or “into their headquarters”; Grk “into the praetorium.”

sn The governor’s residence (Grk “praetorium”) was the Roman governor’s official residence. The one in Jerusalem may have been Herod’s palace in the western part of the city, or the fortress Antonia northwest of the temple area.

⁷sn A Roman cohort was a tenth of a legion, about 500-600 soldiers.

⁸tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated.

⁹tc Most mss (A C W Θ 0250 Ë^1,13 Ï latt) have Ποντίῳ (Pontiw, “Pontius”) before Πιλάτῳ (Pilatw, “Pilate”), but there seems to be no reason for omitting the tribal name, either intentionally or unintentionally. Adding “Pontius,” however, is a natural expansion on the text, and is in keeping with several other NT and patristic references to the Roman governor (cf. Luke 3:1; Acts 4:27; 1 Tim 6:13; Ign. Magn. 11.1; Ign. Trall. 9.1; Ign. Smyrn. 1.2; Justin Martyr, passim). The shorter reading, supported by א B L 0281 33 pc co, is thus strongly preferred.

¹⁰sn The Jews most assuredly wanted to put Jesus to death, but they lacked the authority to do so. For this reason they handed him over to Pilate in hopes of securing a death sentence. The Romans kept close control of the death penalty in conquered territories to prevent it from being used to execute Roman sympathizers.