Luke 23

Then the whole group got up and took Jesus to Pilate.

1And the whole multitude of them arose, and led him unto Pilate.

NotePilate was the Roman governor of Judea from about AD 26 to 36. The Jewish council could hold a trial and reach a verdict, but only the Roman governor could order an execution, which is why the case is brought to him.

2They started making charges against him. They said, "We found this man turning our nation away. He tells people not to pay taxes to Caesar, and he says that he himself is the Christ, a king."

2And they began to accuse him, saying, We found this fellow perverting the nation, and forbidding to give tribute to Caesar, saying that he himself is Christ a King.

NoteThe charges are deliberately framed as crimes against Rome. "Perverting the nation" in the King James means stirring it up or turning it away from its loyalty; refusing the tribute, the tax paid by subject peoples to the emperor, was open rebellion. "Christ" is the Greek word for "anointed one," the Hebrew "Messiah," a title for the king God would raise up; to Roman ears the word "king" alone was enough, since only Caesar appointed kings.

3Pilate asked him, "Are you the King of the Jews?" Jesus answered, "You have said so."

3And Pilate asked him, saying, Art thou the King of the Jews? And he answered him and said, Thou sayest it.

Note"Thou sayest it" is a sideways answer, and Greek readers would have heard it as such. It neither denies the title nor claims it in Pilate's sense; it throws the words back on the man who chose them.

4Then Pilate said to the leading priests and the crowd, "I find nothing this man can be charged with."

4Then said Pilate to the chief priests and to the people, I find no fault in this man.

Note"I find no fault in this man" is legal language, not a comment on his character. Pilate is saying he can find no chargeable offense.

5But they pressed harder, saying, "He stirs up the people with his teaching all over Judea. He started in Galilee, and now he has come here."

5And they were the more fierce, saying, He stirreth up the people, teaching throughout all Jewry, beginning from Galilee to this place.

Note"Jewry" is the King James word for Judea, the Roman province around Jerusalem. Galilee, in the north, was a separate territory under a different ruler.

6When Pilate heard that, he asked whether the man was from Galilee.

6When Pilate heard of Galilee, he asked whether the man were a Galilaean.

7As soon as he learned that Jesus came under Herod's authority, he sent him to Herod, who was in Jerusalem at that time.

7And as soon as he knew that he belonged unto Herod’s jurisdiction, he sent him to Herod, who himself also was at Jerusalem at that time.

NoteThis is Herod Antipas, son of Herod the Great, who ruled Galilee under Rome. Roman practice allowed a governor to pass a case to the authority of the accused man's home district, which gave Pilate a way to hand the problem on. Antipas would have been in Jerusalem for the Passover festival.

8When Herod saw Jesus, he was very glad. He had wanted to see him for a long time, because he had heard many things about him, and he was hoping to watch him do a miracle.

8And when Herod saw Jesus, he was exceeding glad: for he was desirous to see him of a long season, because he had heard many things of him; and he hoped to have seen some miracle done by him.

9Herod asked him question after question, but Jesus gave him no answer at all.

9Then he questioned with him in many words; but he answered him nothing.

10The leading priests and the teachers of the law stood there and accused him fiercely.

10And the chief priests and scribes stood and vehemently accused him.

11Herod and his soldiers treated him as worthless and made fun of him. They put a fine robe on him and sent him back to Pilate.

11And Herod with his men of war set him at nought, and mocked him, and arrayed him in a gorgeous robe, and sent him again to Pilate.

Note"Set him at nought" means treated him as worth nothing. The "gorgeous robe" is part of the mockery: dressing a prisoner in fine clothing acts out the royal claim being laughed at.

12That same day Pilate and Herod became friends. Before this they had been enemies.

12And the same day Pilate and Herod were made friends together: for before they were at enmity between themselves.

13Pilate called together the leading priests, the rulers, and the people.

13And Pilate, when he had called together the chief priests and the rulers and the people,

14He said to them, "You brought me this man, saying he was turning the people away. Look, I questioned him in front of you, and I found nothing to support the charges you are making against him.

14Said unto them, Ye have brought this man unto me, as one that perverteth the people: and, behold, I, having examined him before you, have found no fault in this man touching those things whereof ye accuse him:

15Herod did not either, for I sent you to him. As you can see, this man has done nothing that deserves death.

15No, nor yet Herod: for I sent you to him; and, lo, nothing worthy of death is done unto him.

16So I will have him whipped, and then let him go."

16I will therefore chastise him, and release him.

Note"Chastise" sounds mild in modern English but means a Roman flogging, a serious and bloody punishment with a whip. Pilate is offering it as a lesser penalty instead of death.

17(He had to release one prisoner to them at the festival.)

17(For of necessity he must release one unto them at the feast.)

ManuscriptsMost modern translations leave this verse out. It is in the Greek text the King James translators worked from, but not in the older manuscripts found since, so scholars generally take it as a copyist’s addition rather than part of the original.

NoteThis verse is missing from the oldest Greek manuscripts of Luke and many modern Bibles print it in brackets or drop it. It describes a custom, otherwise known from the other Gospels, of releasing one prisoner as a goodwill gesture at the Passover festival.

18But they all shouted together, "Take this man away! Set Barabbas free for us!"

18And they cried out all at once, saying, Away with this man, and release unto us Barabbas:

Note"Away with this man" is a shout for his removal and death, not merely for him to be taken out of sight.

19(Barabbas had been thrown in prison for starting a revolt in the city, and for murder.)

19(Who for a certain sedition made in the city, and for murder, was cast into prison.)

Note"Sedition" means armed revolt against Roman rule. Barabbas is charged with exactly the crime Jesus has been accused of and cleared of.

20Pilate wanted to release Jesus, so he spoke to them again.

20Pilate therefore, willing to release Jesus, spake again to them.

21But they kept shouting, "Nail him to a cross! Nail him to a cross!"

21But they cried, saying, Crucify him, crucify him.

NoteCrucifixion was a Roman public execution reserved for slaves, rebels and the lowest criminals, designed to be slow, humiliating and visible. Roman citizens were normally exempt from it.

22He said to them a third time, "Why? What wrong has this man done? I have found nothing in him that deserves death. So I will have him whipped, and then let him go."

22And he said unto them the third time, Why, what evil hath he done? I have found no cause of death in him: I will therefore chastise him, and let him go.

Note"I have found no cause of death in him" means no offense that carries the death penalty.

23But they kept demanding, shouting loudly, that Jesus be nailed to a cross. And their voices, and those of the chief priests, won out.

23And they were instant with loud voices, requiring that he might be crucified. And the voices of them and of the chief priests prevailed.

Note"They were instant" is old English for they kept pressing, urgently and without letting up.

24So Pilate ruled that they should get what they were demanding.

24And Pilate gave sentence that it should be as they required.

25He set free the man they had asked for, the one jailed for revolt and murder. And he handed Jesus over to them to do as they wished.

25And he released unto them him that for sedition and murder was cast into prison, whom they had desired; but he delivered Jesus to their will.

26As they led Jesus away, they grabbed a man named Simon from Cyrene, who was coming in from the countryside. They put the cross on him to carry behind Jesus.

26And as they led him away, they laid hold upon one Simon, a Cyrenian, coming out of the country, and on him they laid the cross, that he might bear it after Jesus.

NoteCyrene was a city on the North African coast, in what is now Libya, with a large Jewish population. Roman soldiers had the legal right to force a bystander into service. The condemned man normally carried the crossbeam, not the whole cross, to the execution site.

27A large crowd of people followed him, including women who were crying and mourning loudly for him.

27And there followed him a great company of people, and of women, which also bewailed and lamented him.

Note"Bewailed and lamented" describes loud public mourning, the expected and audible grief of a funeral procession rather than quiet crying.

28But Jesus turned to them and said, "Daughters of Jerusalem, do not cry for me. Cry for yourselves and for your children.

28But Jesus turning unto them said, Daughters of Jerusalem, weep not for me, but weep for yourselves, and for your children.

29Look, the time is coming when people will say, 'Happy are the women who cannot have children, and the wombs that never gave birth, and the breasts that never fed a baby.'

29For, behold, the days are coming, in the which they shall say, Blessed are the barren, and the wombs that never bare, and the paps which never gave suck.

NoteIn this society childlessness was a misfortune and often a public disgrace, so calling barren women "blessed" reverses the ordinary valuation entirely. It is a way of saying the coming disaster will be so severe that having no children to lose will count as good fortune. "Paps" is the King James word for breasts, and "gave suck" means nursed.

30Then they will begin to say to the mountains, 'Fall on us,' and to the hills, 'Cover us.'

30Then shall they begin to say to the mountains, Fall on us; and to the hills, Cover us.

NoteThese words are quoted from the prophet Hosea, where people beg to be buried under a landslide rather than face what is coming.

31For if they do these things when the tree is green, what will happen when it is dry?"

31For if they do these things in a green tree, what shall be done in the dry?

NoteA proverb drawn from firewood: green, living wood resists burning and dry wood goes up at once. The saying works by comparison without spelling out the comparison, and it has been read in more than one way.

32Two other men, both criminals, were also led out with him to be put to death.

32And there were also two other, malefactors, led with him to be put to death.

Note"Malefactors" is the King James word for wrongdoers or criminals. The Greek term is general and does not say what crime they committed.

33When they came to the place called Calvary, which means The Skull, they nailed him to a cross there, and the criminals too, one on his right and one on his left.

33And when they were come to the place, which is called Calvary, there they crucified him, and the malefactors, one on the right hand, and the other on the left.

Note"Calvary" comes from the Latin word for skull, translating the Greek "Kranion," which in turn translates the Aramaic "Golgotha." Why the place carried that name is not explained; suggestions have included the shape of the rock and its use as an execution ground.

34Then Jesus said, "Father, forgive them, because they do not know what they are doing." And they divided up his clothes by throwing lots for them.

34Then said Jesus, Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do. And they parted his raiment, and cast lots.

NoteThe sentence "Father, forgive them" is absent from several of the oldest manuscripts, and many modern Bibles mark it as uncertain. Dividing a condemned man's clothing was a recognized perk of the execution squad, and "cast lots" means they drew or threw for it, much like drawing straws.

35The people stood there watching. The rulers made fun of him too, saying, "He saved others. Let him save himself, if he is the Christ, the one God chose."

35And the people stood beholding. And the rulers also with them derided him, saying, He saved others; let him save himself, if he be Christ, the chosen of God.

Note"Derided" means sneered at or jeered. "The chosen of God" is a title language, not a description: it names the one God has picked out for a special role.

36The soldiers also mocked him. They came up to him and offered him sour wine,

36And the soldiers also mocked him, coming to him, and offering him vinegar,

Note"Vinegar" here is posca, the cheap sour wine that Roman soldiers drank as a ration. Offering it can be read as a rough kindness or as part of the mockery, and the Greek does not settle which.

37and said, "If you are the King of the Jews, save yourself."

37And saying, If thou be the king of the Jews, save thyself.

38A sign was also put up above him, written in Greek, Latin, and Hebrew: THIS IS THE KING OF THE JEWS.

38And a superscription also was written over him in letters of Greek, and Latin, and Hebrew, THIS IS THE KING OF THE JEWS.

NoteRoman practice was to post the charge above a crucified man, so the passing public could read what the crime was. The three languages were the ones a Jerusalem crowd would read: Greek for common trade, Latin for the Roman administration, Hebrew or Aramaic for the local population.

39One of the criminals hanging there insulted him, saying, "If you are the Christ, save yourself and us!"

39And one of the malefactors which were hanged railed on him, saying, If thou be Christ, save thyself and us.

Note"Railed on him" means hurled abuse at him.

40But the other one answered and corrected him. He said, "Don't you fear God at all? You are under the same sentence.

40But the other answering rebuked him, saying, Dost not thou fear God, seeing thou art in the same condemnation?

41And we are getting what we deserve. We are being paid back for what we did. But this man has done nothing wrong."

41And we indeed justly; for we receive the due reward of our deeds: but this man hath done nothing amiss.

Note"Nothing amiss" means nothing out of place or wrong; it is a statement that he is not guilty of a crime.

42Then he said to Jesus, "Lord, remember me when you come into your kingdom."

42And he said unto Jesus, Lord, remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom.

43Jesus said to him, "I tell you the truth, today you will be with me in paradise."

43And Jesus said unto him, Verily I say unto thee, To day shalt thou be with me in paradise.

Note"Paradise" is a Persian loanword that came into Greek meaning a walled garden or park. In Jewish writing of this period it had become a name for the place where the righteous dead are kept. "Verily I say unto thee" is a strong formula of assurance, roughly "I tell you this for a fact."

44It was now about the sixth hour, and darkness covered the whole land until the ninth hour.

44And it was about the sixth hour, and there was a darkness over all the earth until the ninth hour.

NoteHours were counted from sunrise, so the sixth hour is about midday and the ninth about three in the afternoon. The darkness therefore falls at the brightest part of the day and lasts about three hours. "All the earth" translates a Greek word that can equally mean the whole land, that is, the region rather than the planet.

45The sun grew dark, and the curtain in the temple was torn down the middle.

45And the sun was darkened, and the veil of the temple was rent in the midst.

NoteThe "veil" was the heavy curtain inside the temple screening off the innermost room, which only the high priest entered and only once a year. "Rent" means torn.

46Jesus called out in a loud voice, "Father, I place my spirit in your hands." After he said this, he died.

46And when Jesus had cried with a loud voice, he said, Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit: and having said thus, he gave up the ghost.

NoteThe words are a quotation from Psalm 31, a line a Jewish child was taught to say at bedtime. "Gave up the ghost" is the King James phrase for died; "ghost" here means breath or spirit, with none of the modern sense of a haunting.

47When the Roman officer saw what had happened, he praised God and said, "This man really was innocent."

47Now when the centurion saw what was done, he glorified God, saying, Certainly this was a righteous man.

NoteA centurion commanded a unit of roughly eighty to a hundred soldiers. The Greek word he uses, dikaios, can mean either "innocent" in the legal sense, that is, wrongly convicted, or "righteous" in the moral sense; translators have to choose, and the two readings pull in different directions.

48All the people who had come together to watch saw what happened. They beat their chests in grief and went home.

48And all the people that came together to that sight, beholding the things which were done, smote their breasts, and returned.

Note"Smote their breasts" describes beating the chest with the fist, a recognized public gesture of grief or remorse.

49All those who knew Jesus, and the women who had followed him from Galilee, stood at a distance and watched all this.

49And all his acquaintance, and the women that followed him from Galilee, stood afar off, beholding these things.

50Now there was a man named Joseph, a member of the ruling council. He was a good and fair man.

50And, behold, there was a man named Joseph, a counsellor; and he was a good man, and a just:

Note"Counsellor" means a member of the Sanhedrin, the Jewish ruling council that had just handed Jesus over. "Just" in the King James means upright or law abiding, not merely fair minded.

51He had not agreed with what the council decided or did. He was from Arimathea, a Jewish town, and he was waiting for the kingdom of God.

51(The same had not consented to the counsel and deed of them;) he was of Arimathaea, a city of the Jews: who also himself waited for the kingdom of God.

NoteArimathea was a town in Judea; its exact location is no longer certain. "Waited for the kingdom of God" describes someone expecting God to act and set things right, a hope widely held at the time.

52This man went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus.

52This man went unto Pilate, and begged the body of Jesus.

Note"Begged" here means formally requested, not pleaded in the street. The request mattered because Roman practice was to leave crucified bodies on the cross as a warning, and burial required the governor's permission.

53He took it down, wrapped it in linen cloth, and laid it in a tomb cut into rock, where no one had ever been laid.

53And he took it down, and wrapped it in linen, and laid it in a sepulchre that was hewn in stone, wherein never man before was laid.

NoteA "sepulchre hewn in stone" is a chamber cut into a rock face, with a shelf or niche inside for the body and a stone to close the entrance. The linen was a wrapping cloth; the body was not embalmed.

54It was the day of preparation, and the Sabbath was about to begin.

54And that day was the preparation, and the sabbath drew on.

Note"The preparation" is the Friday, the day for getting food and work finished before the Sabbath. The Jewish day began at sunset, so "the sabbath drew on" means nightfall was close and the burial had to be quick.

55The women who had come with Jesus from Galilee followed along. They saw the tomb and saw how his body was laid in it.

55And the women also, which came with him from Galilee, followed after, and beheld the sepulchre, and how his body was laid.

56Then they went back and got spices and perfumed oils ready. And they rested on the Sabbath day, as the commandment says.

56And they returned, and prepared spices and ointments; and rested the sabbath day according to the commandment.

NoteThe spices and perfumed oils were for anointing the body, a customary honor to the dead rather than an attempt to preserve it. The commandment they obeyed is the Sabbath rest of the Ten Commandments, which is why they had to wait rather than finish the job at once.