John 19:10-12

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - John 19:1-15

Here is a further account of the unfair trial which they gave to our Lord Jesus. The prosecutors carrying it on with great confusion among the people, and the judge with great confusion in his own breast, between both the narrative is such as is not easily reduced to method; we must therefore take the parts of it as they lie. I. The judge abuses the prisoner, though he declares him innocent, and hopes therewith to pacify the prosecutors; wherein his intention, if indeed it was good, will by no... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - John 19:10

Then saith Pilate unto him ,.... Being angry with him, resenting his silence, and looking upon it as a contempt of him; speakest thou not unto me ? he wondered that he stood in no fear of him, who was the Roman governor, his judge; who had the power of life and death; and that he should make no answer to him, who was in so much dignity, and in so high and exalted a station. Knowest thou not that I have power to crucify thee, and have power to release thee ? proudly boasting of his... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - John 19:11

Jesus answered ,.... With great intrepidity and courage, with freedom and boldness, as being not at all dismayed with his threatenings, or affected with his proud boasts, and in order to expose the vanity of them: thou couldst have no power at all against me, except it were given thee from above : meaning, not from the Jewish sanhedrim, whose court of judicature was in the temple, which was higher than the other part of the city; nor from the Roman emperor, or senate of Rome, the higher... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - John 19:12

And from thenceforth Pilate sought to release him ,.... From the time that Christ spoke the above words; or, as the Syriac version renders it, מטול הדא , "because of this", or on account of the words he had spoken; to which agree the Arabic and Ethiopic versions: he sought by all means, and studied every way to bring the Jews to agree to his release: his reasons were, because of the consciousness of guilt, and the danger of contracting more; the sense he might have of a Divine Being, to... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - John 19:11

Hath the greater sin - It is a sin in thee to condemn me, while thou art convinced in thy conscience that I am innocent: but the Jews who delivered me to thee, and Judas who delivered me to the Jews, have the greater crime to answer for. Thy ignorance in some measure excuses thee; but the rage and malice of the Jews put them at present out of the reach of mercy. read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - John 19:12

Pilate sought to release him - Pilate made five several attempts to release our Lord; as we may learn from Luke 23:4 , Luke 23:15 , Luke 23:20 , Luke 23:22 ; John 19:4 , John 19:12 , John 19:13 . Thou art not Caesar's friend - Thou dost not act like a person who has the interest of the emperor at heart. Ambassadors, prefects, counsellors, etc., were generally termed the friends of the emperor. This insinuation determined Pilate to make no longer resistance: he was afraid of... read more

John Calvin

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - John 19:10

Verse 10 10.Knowest thou not that I have power to crucify thee? This shows that the dread with which Pilate had been suddenly seized was transitory, and had no solid root; for now, forgetting all fear, he breaks out into haughty and monstrous contempt of God. He threatens Christ, as if there had not been a Judge in heaven; but this must always happen with irreligious men, that, shaking off the fear of God, they quickly return to their natural disposition. Hence also we infer, that it is not... read more

John Calvin

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - John 19:11

Verse 11 11.Thou wouldest have no power. Some explain this in a general sense, that nothing is done in the world but by the permission of God; as if Christ had said, that Pilate, though he thinks that he can do all things, will do nothing more than God permits. The statement is, no doubt, true, that this world is regulated by the disposal of God, and that, whatever may be the efforts of wicked men, still they cannot even move a finger but as the secret power of God directs. But I prefer the... read more

John Calvin

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - John 19:12

Verse 12 12.From that time Pilate sought to release him. Though Pilate does not conduct himself conscientiously, and is actuated more by ambition than by a regard to justice, and, on that account, is wretchedly irresolute, yet his modesty is commendable on this ground, that, when he is severely reproved by Christ, he does not fly into a passion, but, on the contrary, is still more disposed to release him. He is a judge, and yet he meekly permits the accused person to be his reprover; and,... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - John 19:8-11

(f) [Within the Praetorium.] The fear of Pilate, and the apportionment of the measures of guilt by the majestic Sufferer. read more

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