John 19:13

Joh_19:13

When Pilate therefore heard that

The down grade

Pilates time for playing with the situation is gone; now the situation plays with him.

First he said, not asked, What is truth? Now his frightened heart, to which the emperors favour is the supreme law of life, says, What is justice? (J. P. Lange, D. D.)

A place that is called the pavement, but in the Hebrew, Gahbatha.--Both these words occur here only, and are instances of the writers minute knowledge of the localities in Jerusalem. It may have been better to have preserved the Greek name (Lithost-roton), as well as that by which the place was known in the Hebrew (Syro-Chaldaic), of the time. The word literally means stonepaved, and was the Greek name for the tesselated pavement of marble and coloured stones with which, from the time of Sylla, the Romans delighted to adorn the Praetorium. The Chaldic word means an elevated place, so that the one name was given to it from its form, and the other from the material of which it was made. Suetonius tells us that Julius Caesar carried about with him such pieces of marble and stone, but the mention of the place bears the impression that it was a fixture in front of the Praetorium at Jerusalem, in which the Bema was placed; or it may have been a portion of the northern court of the sanctuary to which Pilate came out, if we identify the Praetorium with the tower Antonia (cf. Mat_27:27)

. Josephus mentions that the whole of the Temple mountain was paved with this kind of mosaic work. (Archdeacon Watkins.)

The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Joh 19:13-15. When Pilate heard that saying, he brought Jesus forth — Brought him out of the palace a second time; and sat down in the judgment-seat — On the tribunal which was then erected without the palace; in a place that was called, in Greek, λιθοστρωτον, the Pavement — So called on account of a beautiful piece of Mosaic work, with which the floor was adorned; but in the Hebrew, Gabbatha — Or, the high place, because it stood on an eminence; so that the judge, being seated there, might be heard and seen by a considerable number of people. And it was the preparation of the passover — Or, of the paschal sabbath. The word παρασκευη, [here rendered preparation,] in the New Testament, denotes always, in my opinion, says Dr. Campbell, “the day before the sabbath, and not the day which preceded any other festival, unless that festival fell on the sabbath. My reasons for this opinion are, 1st, This explanation coincides exactly with the definition which Mark gives of that word, (Mar 15:42,) It was the preparation, that is, the eve of the sabbath. 2d, The word occurs six times in the New Testament, and, in all these places, confessedly means the sixth day of the week, answering to our Friday, and consequently the day before the Jewish sabbath, or Saturday. 3d, The preparation of all things necessary the day before the sabbath was expressly commanded in the law, Exo 16:5; Exo 16:23. There was nothing analogous to this enjoined in preparation for the other feasts.” And about the sixth hour — Or rather, the third hour: for as there is no reason to think that John computed time in a manner different from that used by the other evangelists; “as six o’clock, (according to the Roman computation,) or soon after sunrise, must have been much too early for all the events to have occurred that morning which preceded our Lord’s crucifixion; as Mark has expressly mentioned the third hour, or nine o’clock, for the time of that event, to which the accounts of the other evangelists accord; and as the sixth hour, or noon, (according to the Jewish computation,) would be too late to agree with the parallel scriptures; so it seems the most easy way of solving the difficulty, to suppose that [ζ] sixth, instead of [γ] third, was inserted by some of the early transcribers of this gospel. The mistake would be very easily fallen into; and in a few places it is necessary to allow that something of this kind has happened. Indeed some manuscripts read the third hour.” — Scott. See this point more fully explained and defended in the note on Mar 15:25. And he saith unto the Jews — Who were present in vast numbers; Behold your king — Pointing to Jesus as he now appeared in the mock pomp of royalty, wearing the purple robe and crown of thorns, and with his hands manacled. It seems he spoke thus, either in ridicule of the national expectation, or, which is more probable, to show the Jews how vain the fears were which they pretended to entertain about the emperor’s authority in Judea, the person who was the occasion of them, showing, in the whole of his deportment, a temper of mind no ways consonant to the ambition which they branded him with. But they cried out — With indignation and disdain; Away with him, &c. — See on Luk 23:18-25. Pilate saith, shall I crucify your king? — According to most commentators, Pilate said this, mocking him. But it is more agreeable to his general behaviour in this affair to suppose, that he spoke it with a view to move the populace, who he knew had once held Jesus in great esteem as the Messiah. For John tells us (Joh 19:12,) that he now sought to release him. The chief priests answered, We have no king but Cesar — “In this reply they publicly renounced their hope of a Messiah, which the whole economy of their religion had been calculated to cherish: and likewise they acknowledged publicly their subjection to the Romans; and by so doing condemned themselves when they afterward rebelled.”

Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

19:13 Pilate took the governor’s judgment seat (Greek bēma, cp. Acts 25:6, “seat in court”) to render his verdict. • The Stone Pavement was the platform holding the judgment seat; from there Pilate now spoke with the authority of his office.

Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Joh 19:13. Ἐπὶ τοῦ βήματος, on the judgment-seat) The judgment-seat was outside the judgment-hall or pretorium, in the place called Gabbatha.—λεγόμενον, called) There is not added, “in Greek,” for John wrote in Greek; comp. Joh 19:17.—Λιθόστρωτον) A tesselated stone pavement, formed of various kinds of stones, and so, as it were, made into a painting. [Mosaic-work, inlaid with stones.] See concerning such pavements, Amœn. lit. T. vii., p. 19, et seqq.—Γαββαθὰ, Gabbatha) A place elevated and conspicuous.

Bengel's Gnomon of the New Testament — English translation (T&T Clark, Edinburgh, 1860) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Joh_19:13. These speeches penetrate the mind of Pilate, dismayed at the thought of Rome and the emperor. He will now, formally and solemnly, deliver the final sentence, which must be done, not in the praetorium, but outside in the open air (see Josephus, Bell. ii. 9. 3, ii. 14. 8); he therefore causes Jesus to be brought out, and seats himself, taking his place on the judicial seat, at the place which is called Lithostroton, but in Hebrew, Gabbatha.

ἐπὶ τοῦ βήματος] Modal definition of ἐκάθ. εἰς τόπον.

Since τόπος here denotes a definite and distinguished place, the article is as little required as with πόλις, ἀγρός, and the like in such cases. Comp. Mat_27:33; Kühner, II. p. 129.

The place where the tribunal stood, before the praetorium in Jerusalem, bore the Greek name, derived from its Mosaic floor (see Wetstein and Krebs, p. 158 f.) of Λιθόστρωτον, i.e. stone-joining, but in the Aramaic dialect that of גּבְּתָא, arising from its elevated position; two different names, therefore, derived from different properties[238] of the same place. Further, this place is mentioned neither in Josephus nor in the Rabbins. The name ΓΑΒΒ. is not to be derived from גִּבְעָה, hill (Hengstenberg), against which would be the double β (comp. Γαβαθᾶ, Josephus, Antt. v. 1. 29, vi. 4. 2), but from גַּב, ridge, hump. See generally Fritzsche, Verdienste Tholucks, p. 102; Tholuck, Beitr. p. 119 ff.

[238] Ewald attempts to refer Γαββαθᾶ also back to the signification of λιθόστρωτον by assuming a root גבע, but in the signification of קבע (Aram.: insert). Too bold an hypothesis. In the LXX. λιθοστρ. (Son_3:10; 2Ch_7:3; Est_1:7) corresponds to the Hebr. רצף.

Meyer — Critical and Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament — English translation by Peter Christie, edited by Frederick Crombie (T&T Clark, 1880) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Joh 19:13 . Pilate therefore, when he heard this, brought Jesus out, καὶ ἐκάθισεν ἐπὶ τοῦ βήματος . In the Gospel according to Peter , ἐκάθισεν is understood transitively: καὶ ἐκάθισαν αὐτὸν ἐπὶ καθέδραν κρίσεως λέγοντες Δικαίως κρῖνε , βασιλεῦ τοῦ Ἰσραήλ . Similarly in Justin, I. Apol. , i. 35. This rendering presents a strikingly dramatic scene, and admirably suits the “behold your king” of Joh 19:14 . (See Expositor for 1893, p. 296 ff., and Robinson and James’ Gospel according to Peter , p. 18.) But it is extremely unlikely that Pilate should thus have degraded his seat of justice, and much more natural to suppose that ἐκάθισεν is used intransitively, as in Joh 12:14 , etc. (Joseph., Bell. Jud. , ii. 9, 3, ὁ Πιλάτος καθίσας ἐπὶ βήματος ), and that Pilate’s taking his seat is mentioned to indicate that his mind was now made up and that he was now to pronounce his final judgment. The βῆμα was the suggestum or tribunal , the raised platform (Livy, xxxi. 29; Tac., Hist. , iv. 25) or seat (Suet., Aug. , 44) on which the magistrate sat to administer justice. See 2Ma 13:26 . εἰς τόπον λεγόμενον Λιθόστρωτον , “at a place called Lithostroton,” i.e. , lit. Stone pavement, or Tesselated pavement (of which see reproductions in Rich’s Antiq. ). Cf. 2Ch 7:3 , Joseph., Bell. Jud. , vi. 1, 1. Pliny (xxxvi. 15) defines Lithostrota as mosaics, “parvulis certe crustis,” and says they were a luxury introduced in the time of Sulla and found in the provinces rather than in Rome (see Krebs in loc ). The space in front of the praetorium where the βῆμα stood was thus paved and therefore currently known as “Lithostroton”: Ἑβραϊστὶ δὲ Γαββαθᾶ , “but in Hebrew,” i.e. , in the popular Aramaic, “Gabbatha,” which is not a translation of Lithostroton, but a name given to the same place from its being raised , from גַּב , a ridge or elevation. The tribunal was raised as a symbol of authority and in order that the judge might see and be seen (see Lücke).

The Expositor's Greek Testament, edited by W. Robertson Nicoll (1897–1910) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

13. We must read τῶν λόγων τούτων, with אABW, rather than τοῦτον τὸν λόγον of the rec. text, which has come in from v. 8. Pilate not only heard what the Jews said, but he appreciated its force (see on 3:8 for ἀκούειν followed by the gen.). The reference is to the threat of v. 12. Pilate could not afford to have it reported to the emperor that he had acquitted a prisoner who was accused of setting himself up as a king. His position would be safe only if the Jews asked for an acquittal; for then he could always say that the charge had broken down.

ἤγαγεν ἔξω τὸν Ἰη., “he led Jesus out,” sc. from the Praetorium, where He had been under examination (v. 9).

ἐκάθισεν ἐπὶ βήματος must be rendered “he sat down on the judgment seat,” i.e. Pilate sat down, the examination being over, intending now to give judgment with full dignity. Before he finally passed sentence, he gave the priests another opportunity of claiming, or acquiescing in, the release of Jesus. This (intransitive) rendering of ἐκάθισεν agrees with Mt.’s report καθημένου δὲ αὐτοῦ ἐπὶ τοῦ βήματος (Mat 27:19), as well as with the only other place where ἐκάθισεν occurs in Jn. (12:14). We have καθίσας ἐπὶ τοῦ βήματος used of Herod and of Festus in Act 12:21, Act 12:25:6, Act 12:17.

καθίζειν, however, is used transitively in 1Co 6:4, Eph 1:20 (cf. Hermas, Vis. III. ii. 4), and Archbishop Whately maintained1 that ἐκάθισεν should be rendered transitively here, the meaning being that Pilate did not sit on the Βήμα himself, but set Jesus on it in derision. It is worthy of note that there was a tradition current in the second century that Jesus had thus been placed by the Jews on the judgment seat. It appears in the Gospel of Peter (§ 3): ἐκάθισαν αὐτὸν ἐπὶ καθέδραν κρίσεως, λέγοντες, Δικαίως κρῖνε, βασιλεῦ τοῦ Ἰσραήλ Justin (whencesoever he obtained the tradition) has it also: διασύροντες αὐτὸν (referring to Isa 58:2) ἐκάθισαν ἐπὶ βήματος, καὶ εἶπον Κρῖνον ἡμῖν (Apol. i. 35). Perhaps it came from a misunderstanding of Joh 19:13, attributing this derisive action to Pilate, not to the Jews. But a misunderstanding it must be, for, apart from the intransitive use of καθίζειν being always found elsewhere in the Gospels, it is inconceivable that a Roman procurator should be so regardless of his dignity, when about to pronounce sentence of death, as to make a jest of the matter.2

ἐπὶ βήματος, “upon a judgment seat,” sc. perhaps upon one improvised for the occasion, as the Jews would not enter the Prætorium, and judgment had to be given in public.

The rec. text has ἐπὶ τοῦ βήματος, but τοῦ is omitted by אABDsuppLN, and it probably came in from such passages as Act 12:21, Act 12:25:6, Act 12:17.

Josephus (Bell. Jud. II. ix. 3), when telling of another sentence pronounced by Pilate, has ὁ Πιλᾶτος καθίσας ἐπὶ βήματος ἐν τῷ μεγάλῳ σταδίῳ, judgment in this case also being delivered in the open air. Here we have ἐπὶ βήματος εἰς τόπον κτλ., instead of ἐν τόπῳ. Perhaps εἰς is used because of the verb at the beginning of the sentence (see on 9:7); but it is possible that it is used for ἐν here, as it often is in Mar_3 and in Lk. and Acts. See on 1:18, 9:7

εἰς τόπον λεγόμενον Λιθόστρωτον, Ἑβραϊστὶ (see on 5:2) δὲ Γαββαθά. Λιθόστρωτον is not the interpretation of the name Gabbatha (see on 4:25); Jn. gives the two names, Greek and Aramaic, of distinct derivation, by which the place was known. The word Λιθόστρωτον does not occur again in the N.T., and in the LXX it is found only at Est 1:6, Son 3:10, 2Ch 7:3; in the last-mentioned passage being applied to the pavement of Solomon’s temple. (cf. Josephus, Antt. VIII. iii. 2).

The situation of the Prætorium has been already discussed (see on 18:28), and we have identified it with Herod’s Palace, which was to the south of the Temple area. But the name Gabbatha is not known elsewhere. Its derivation is probably from the root גבה “to be high,” so that נַּבְּתָא would mean “an elevated place.”1 G. A. Smith (Jerusalem, ii. 575) suggests that it is derived from גבב, “to pack closely,” so that Gabbatha would be equivalent to “a mosaic.”

It was customary to place the βῆμα or judgment seat on a dais of tesselated or mosaic pavement, in order that the judge might be seen and heard conveniently; and Julius Cæsar is said to have carried about with him tessellata et sectilia pavimenta, to be laid down wherever he encamped (Suet. Jul. 46). A portable dais of this kind could not, however, have given its name to a locality; Λιθόστρωτον was probably one of the names by which the elevated place of judgment came to be known, because of the mosaic pavement which was laid down for the sake of dignity

International Critical Commentary — older volumes (1896–1929), various authors — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Gabbatha signifieth an high place, as judgment seats are.

Pilate condemneth himself first, with the same mouth wherewith he afterward condemneth Christ.

Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain. Text via Bolls.life.

Verse 13. The Pavement] λιθοστρωτον, literally, a stone pavement: probably it was that place in the open court where the chair of justice was set, for the prefects of provinces always held their courts of justice in the open air, and which was paved with stones of various colours, like that of Ahasuerus, Es 1:6, of red, blue, white, and black marble; what we still term Mosaic work, or something in imitation of it; such as the Roman pavements frequently dug up in this and other countries, where the Romans have had military stations.

Gabbatha.] That is, an elevated place; from גבה gabah, high, raised up; and it is very likely that the judgment seat was considerably elevated in the court, and that the governor went up to it by steps; and perhaps these very steps were what was called the Pavement. John does not say that Lithostroton, or the Pavement, is the meaning of the word Gabbatha; but that the place was called so in the Hebrew. The place was probably called Lithostroton, or the Pavement: the seat of judgment, Gabbatha, the raised or elevated place.

In several MSS. and versions, the scribes not understanding the Hebrew word, wrote it variously, Gabbatha, Gabatha, Kapphatha, Kappata, Gennetha, Gennaesa, and Gennesar. Lightfoot conjectures that the pavement here means the room Gazith in the temple, in which the grand council, called the Sanhedrin, held their meetings.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

13. And sat down on the judgment-seat. Hence we see what conflicting opinions passed through the mind of Pilate, as if he had been a stage-player who was acting two characters. He ascends the judgment-seat, in order to pronounce sentence of death on Christ solemnly, and in the customary form; and yet he declares openly, that he does so reluctantly and against his conscience. When he calls Christ king, he speaks ironically, meaning that it was a trivial charge which the Jews brought against him; or rather, for the purpose of allaying their fury, he warns them, that it would bring disgrace on the whole nation, if a report were spread abroad, that a person of that nation had been condemned to die for aspiring to kingly power.

In the place which is called the Stone-pavement, but in the Hebrew, Gabbatha. When the Evangelist says, that גבתא (Gabbatha) was the name of the place in Hebrew he means the Chaldaic or Syriac language, which was then in common use; for in Hebrew, גבה(Gabach) means to be lofty. It was proper, therefore, that Christ should be condemned from a lofty place, that he, coming from heaven as the supreme Judge, may acquit us at the last day.

John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.

(13) When Pilate therefore heard that saying.—Better . . . these sayings—i.e., the two sayings of the previous verse.

He brought Jesus forth ., .—Comp. Joh_19:9. He hesitates no longer about the course to be taken. His own position and life may be in danger, and he prepares, therefore, to pronounce the final sentence, which must necessarily be done from the public judgment seat outside the palace. (Comp. Mat_27:19.)

The Pavement, but in the Hebrew, Gabbatha.—Both these words occur here only, and are instances of the writer’s minute knowledge of the localities in Jerusalem. It may have been better to have preserved the Greek name (Lithostrôton), as well as that by which the place was known in the Hebrew (Syro-Chaldaic) of the time. The word literally means “stone-paved,” and was the Greek name for the tesselated “pavement” of marble and coloured stones with which from the time of Sylla the Romans delighted to adorn the Prætorium. The Chaldee word means “an elevated place,” so that the one name was given to it from its form, and the other from the material of which it was made. Suetonius (Life, chap. 46) tells us that Julius Cæsar carried about with him such pieces of marble and stone, but the mention of the “place” bears the impression that it was a fixture in front of the Prætorium at Jerusalem, in which the Bema was placed; or it may have been a portion of the northern court of the sanctuary to which Pilate came out, if we identify the Prætorium with the tower Antonia. (Comp. Note on Mat_27:27.) Josephus mentions that the whole of the Temple mountain was paved with this kind of Mosaic work (Ant v. 5. 2. Caspari, Chron. Geogr., Introd., Eng. Trans., p. 225).

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

13. that saying] The better reading gives, these words. Pilate’s mind seems to be made up at once.

brought Jesus forth] Sentence must be pronounced in public. Thus we find that Pilate, in giving judgment about the standards, which had been brought into Jerusalem, has his tribunal in the great circus at Caesarea, and Florus erects his in front of the palace (Josephus, B. J. ii. ix. 3, xiv. 8).

sat down] The Greek verb (kathizo) may be either transitive, as in 1Co_6:4; Eph_1:20, or intransitive, as in Mat_19:28; Mat_25:31. If it is transitive here, the meaning will be, ‘placed him on a seat,’ as an illustration of his mocking exclamation, ‘Behold your King!’—i.e. ‘There He sits enthroned! But [Joh_8:2;] Joh_12:14; Rev_3:21; Rev_20:4, the only places where S. John uses the word, and Act_12:21; Act_25:6; Act_25:17, where we have the same phrase as here, are against the transitive meaning in this place.

in the judgment seat] In the true text there is no article, which may mean that it was not the usual Bema but a temporary one. Every where else in N.T. ‘judgment seat’ has the definite article.

Pavement] Literally, stone-paved. Josephus (Ant. v. Joh_19:2) says that the Temple-mount, on part of which the fortress of Antonia stood, was covered with a tesselated pavement.

in the Hebrew, Gabbatha] Omit ‘the,’ as in Joh_19:20, and see on Joh_20:16. It was, we may conclude “from its having a Hebrew name, a fixed spot, and not the portable mosaic work which Roman generals sometimes carried about with them.” S. p. 250. The fact that there was a fixed pavement supports this view; but Gabbatha (= Gab Baitha) means ‘the ridge of the House’ i.e. ‘the Temple-mound,’ and refers to the shape of the ground (like a back), not to the pavement upon it.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

When Pilate therefore heard that saying,.... Of the Jews, that a freeing of Jesus would show an unfriendliness to Caesar; and gave very broad hints that they would accuse him to Caesar of treachery and unfaithfulness, in letting go a man, that made pretensions to be a king in his territories; and knowing well the jealousies and suspicions of Tiberius, and fearing lest it would turn to his own disrepute and disadvantage, immediately

he brought Jesus forth out of the judgment hall, the place where he had been examined in; not to declare his innocence, nor to move their pity, nor to release him, but to pass sentence on him.

And he sat down in the judgment seat: for that purpose. He had sat but little all this while, but was continually going in and out to examine Jesus, and converse with the Jews; but he now takes his place, and sits down as a judge, in order to give the finishing stroke to this affair; and where he sat down, was

in the place that is called the pavement, but in the Hebrew, Gabbatha. This place, in the Greek tongue, was called "Lithostrotos"; or "the pavement of stones", as the Syriac version renders it: it is thought to be the room "Gazith", in which the sanhedrim sat in the temple when they tried capital causes (t); and it was so called, because it was paved with smooth, square, hewn stones:

"it was in the north part; half of it was holy, and half of it common; and it had two doors, one for that part which was holy, and another for that which was common; and in that half which was common the sanhedrim sat (u).''

So that into this part of it, and by this door, Pilate, though a Gentile, might enter. This place, in the language of the Jews, who at this time spoke Syriac, was "Gabbatha", front its height, as it should seem; though the Syriac and Persic versions read "Gaphiphtha", which signifies a fence, or an enclosure. Mention is made in the Talmud (w) of the upper "Gab" in the mountain of the house; but whether the same with this "Gabbaths", and whether this is the same with the chamber "Gazith", is not certain. The Septuagint use the same word as John here does, and call by the same name the pavement of the temple on which the Israelites felt and worshipped God, Ch2 7:3.

(t) Gloss. in T. Bab. Avoda Zara, fol. 8. 2. (u) T. Bab. Yoma, fol. 25. 1. Maimon. Hilch. Beth Habbechira, c. 5. sect. 17. Bartenora in Misn. Middot, c. 5. sect. 3. (w) T. Bab. Sabbat, fol. 115. 1.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

13 When Pilate therefore heard that saying, he brought Jesus forth, and sat down in the judgment seat in a place that is called the Pavement, but in the Hebrew, Gabbatha.

Ver. 13. When Pilate therefore heard that saying] That saying, and the base fear of being shent by Caesar, makes him warp and go against his conscience. But should not judges be men of courage? Should not the standard be of steel? the chief posts in the house be heart of oak? Solomon’s tribunal was under propped with lions, to show what metal a magistrate should be made of. It is a mercy to have judges, modo audeant quae sentiunt, saith the orator, so they dare do their consciences. (Cic. pro Milone.)

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Judgment-seat - The tribunal or place of pronouncing sentence. He came here to deliver him, in due form of law, into the hands of the Jews.

Pavement - This was an area or room of the judgment hall whose floor was made of small square stones of various colors. This was common in palaces and houses of wealth and splendor. See the notes at Mat 9:2.

Gabbatha - This word is not elsewhere used. It comes from a word signifying to be elevated. The name given to the place by the Hebrews was conferred from its being the place of the tribunal, as an elevated place.

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

That saying, that if he let Jesus go he was not Caesar’s friend. Pilate was a man that loved the honour that was from men more than the honour and praise which is from God; he was more afraid of losing his place than his soul, and could no longer resist the temptation he was under.

He brought Jesus forth, and sat down in a place called the Pavement, because it was paved with stone, but in the Hebrew, (mixed with the Syriac), Gabbatha, that is, a high place; for it was their manner to have their judgment seats higher than other parts of the room where they were.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

13. Heard that saying—Jesus, again, must die that another may not die. A just man though he is, Pilate will shed his blood for his own safety. The Jew conquers the Roman; the subject rules the ruler. The Gentile is compelled by the Jew to be the executioner of the Saviour of mankind.

He brought Jesus forth—Though the examination might be in part in private, yet the sentence must be pronounced in public. Jesus, therefore, is led into the fore court, and Pilate takes his place upon the judgment seat.

Called the Pavement—This was a platform of Mosaic, ornamented and tessellated, on which the judgment throne was made to stand.

Gabbatha—Signifies an elevation. John gives the Hebrew as well as the Greek name of the platform, to indicate that Pilate pronounced judgment solemnly, not from a level, but from the high judicial seat. So truly official a matter was this pavement that we are told by Seutonius, in his life of Cesar, that that general, wherever he marched, had the fitted marble conveyed with him, in order to lay the platform, whenever he encamped, at his pretorium or headquarters.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

When Pilate therefore heard these words, or, sayings his fear of Tiberius became greater than his fear of Christ; his anxiety for himself predominated over his desire for justice and fair play. He found he had gone too far. Some commentators and harmonists here introduce the "hand-washing"; (see above, Joh_18:40) but such a proceeding at this moment, when he was straightening up his back for the last act of injustice, would have roused fresh and dangerous charges against his personal honor. He brought Jesus out from the Praetorium to a place in view of the peoples and sat down (not, as some say, caused Jesus, in mockery, to take his place upon the judgment-seat ( kayizw has the transitive sense in 1Co_6:4 and Eph_1:20, but not in John; and undoubtedly it has the intransitive sense, not only in John, but in Act_25:6, Act_25:17. Moreover, the mockery was the act of the soldiery and of Herod"s men of war, not of Pilate). It is remarkable, as Dr. James Drummond (Theological Review, 1877) points out, that Justin Martyr ("Apol.," 1:35) apparently refers to this supposed transitive usage of kayizw in this very connection by John, by the words, Diasurontev autoyison epi bhmatov kai eipon krinon hmin . It is reasonable inference that Justin read John"s Gospel, and supposed him to give transitive force to the verb (see Dr. Salmon, "Introduction to New Testament," p. 89, note). Upon the judgment-seat in a place called liyostryton , the tessellated Pavement equivalent to "stone-joining in which Romans delighted from thedays of Sulla; a decoration which Julius Caesar carried about with him (Suet., "Vit.," 46.) for purposes of judgmentbut in the Hebrew, Oabbatha. This was probably an elevated and fixed platform overlooking the temple-courts, or joining the Castle of Antonia with the temple. Its etymology is atybiAbG, the ridge of the house or temple. Ewald has endeavored to find in the word the root Bq, Aramaic for "insert," modified into, and then to suppose that we have here an exact equivalent to liyostrwton ; but where this word occurs in the LXX it is the equivalent of the Hebrew pxr, Son_3:10. The liyostrwton was possibly some elevated seat reached by a flight of stairs, and in the open air, not the bema within the Praetorium, where the more private conversations took place.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Pilate sat down on the judgment seat - Which was then without the palace, in a place called, in Greek, the pavement, on account of a beautiful piece of Mosaic work, with which the floor was adorned: but in Hebrew, Gabbatha - Or the high place, because it stood on an eminence, so that the judge sitting on his throne might be seen and heard by a considerable number of people.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.

13. τῶν λόγων τούτων (אAB) for τοῦτον τὸν λόγον (from Joh 19:8).

13. Pilate’s mind seems to have been made up at once: without replying he prepares to pass sentence. The fatal moment has come, and as in the case of the arrest (Joh 18:1-4) the Evangelist gives minute particulars.

ἤγαγεν ἔξω. Sentence must be pronounced in public. Thus we find that Pilate, in giving judgment about the standards, which had been brought into Jerusalem, has his tribunal in the great circus at Caesarea, and Florus erects his in front of the palace (Josephus, B. J. II. Joh 9:3, Joh 14:8).

ἐκάθισεν may be either transitive, as in 1Co 6:4; Eph 1:20, or intransitive, as in Mat 19:28; Mat 25:31. If it is transitive here, the meaning will be, ‘placed him on a seat,’ as an illustration of his mocking exclamation, ‘Behold your King!’—i.e. ‘There He sits enthroned!’ But [Joh 8:2;] Joh 12:14; Rev 3:21; Rev 20:4, the only places where S. John uses the word, and Act 12:21; Act 25:6; Act 25:17, where we have the same phrase as here, are against the transitive meaning in this place. The absence of the article before βήματος perhaps indicates that the Bema was a temporary and not the usual one; everywhere else in N.T. βῆμα has the article. With the pregnant use of εἰς comp. Joh 20:19, (Joh 21:4).

Λιθόστρωτον. Josephus (Ant. v. Joh 19:2) says that the Temple-Mount, on part of which the fortress of Antonia stood, was covered with a tesselated pavement. This fact and the Aramaic name tend to shew that the portable mosaic which Imperators sometimes carried about for their tribunals is not meant here. But Gab Baitha is no equivalent of Λιθόστρωτον, though it indicates the same place: it means ‘the ridge of the House,’ i.e. the Temple-Mound. For ‘Εβραϊστί see on Joh 5:2.

Cambridge Greek Testament for Schools and Colleges (Cambridge University Press, 1896; 21 vols, various authors incl. Carr, Maclear, Plummer, Farrar, Lumby, Moule, M. R. James, Simcox) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

13.] τ. λόγων τούτων—viz. these two last remarks. “In such a perplexity, a man like Pilate could not long hesitate. As Caiaphas had before said, it were better that one even innocent man should die, than that all should perish: so now in like case Pilate decided rather to sacrifice Jesus though innocent, than to expose himself to so great danger.” Friedlieb, Arch. der Leid. § 34.

ἔξω] See on ch. 18:33.

The βῆμα was in front of the prætorium, on an elevated platform;—Gabbatha, probably from גָּבַהּ, altus fuit,—which was paved with a tessellated pavement. Such a pavement Julius Cæsar carried about on his expeditions, Suet. c. 46.

Henry Alford, The Greek Testament (1849–1861) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

That saying [τουτον τον λογον] . The best texts read twn logwn toutwn, these words. He was afraid of an accusation at Rome before Tiberius, an accusation which could be justified by his misrule.

Judgment - seat [βηματος] . See on Act 7:5. The best texts omit the article, which may indicate that the tribunal was an improvised one. The Pavement [λιθοστρωτον] . From liqov, stone, and strwtov, strewn or spread.

Gabbatha. From the Hebrew gab, "back," and meaning, therefore, a raised place. Thus the Aramaic term is not a translation of the Greek term, which indicates that the place, wherever it was, was distinguished by a mosaic or tessellated pavement. Suetonius relates that Julius Caesar used to carry about with him on his expeditions a portable tessellated pavement for his tribunal. It is not likely, however, that there is any allusion to such a practice here. Westcott explains Gabbatha as the ridge of the house.

Marvin R. Vincent, Word Studies in the New Testament (1887–1900) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Vv. 13-16 a. “Having therefore heard these words, Pilate brought Jesus out and sat down on the judgment seat, in the place called the Pavement, and in Hebrew, Gabbatha. 14. Now it was the Preparation of the Passover, and about the sixth hour. And he says to the Jews, Behold your King! 15. They cried out, Away with him, away with him, crucify him! Pilate says to him, Shall I crucify your King? The chief priests answered, We have no King but Caesar. 16a. Then he delivered him to them to be crucified.”

The plural τῶν λόγων τούτων, these words, in the Alexandrian documents and others, shows that Joh 19:12 only summarizes the words of the Jews. Before the threat which it implied, the judge, who was already so long renouncing his own proper part, bows his head and submits. Without saying a word more, he brings Jesus forth from the Praetorium; for the sentence must be pronounced in the presence of the accused; and he ascends his tribunal a second time.

The name λιθόστρωτον signifies: place paved with stones. Before the Praetorium there was one of the pavements of mosaic on which the Roman magistrates had the custom of placing their judgment-seats. The Aramaean name Gabbatha is not the translation of the preceding; it is borrowed from the character of the place. It signifies: eminence, hill.

John inserts here the indication of the day and the hour when the sentence was pronounced. With what purpose? Is it because of the solemnity and importance of this decisive moment for the destiny of mankind? Or does he desire by this means to explain the impatience of the Jews, which manifests itself in Joh 19:15, to see this long trial come to its close at last and the punishment consummated before the end of this day?— It was the Preparation of the Passover, says John. The interpreters who think that the Paschal supper had been celebrated on the preceding evening give to παρασκευή, preparation, the technical signification which it sometimes has in the Patristic language, that of Friday, this day being the one on which the food for the Sabbath was prepared: “the Preparation of the Sabbath.” Comp. Mat 27:62, Luk 23:54, and especially Mar 15:42 : “the Preparation, which is the day before the Sabbath.” The complement τοῦ πάσχα, of the Passover, must necessarily in this case recall the Passover week, to which this Friday belonged. But from the fact that παρασκευή in itself took this technical meaning of Friday, it does not follow that, when this word is followed by a complement like τοῦ πάσχα, of the Passover, it does not preserve its natural sense of preparation: “the preparation of the Passover.” This complement has as its precise purpose to distinguish this preparation of the Passover from the simple ordinary preparation for the Sabbath. If the question were only that of indicating the day of the week, why add the complement here: of the Passover, which gives the reader absolutely no information, since after Joh 13:1, Joh 18:28, etc., no one would be ignorant that it was the Passover week at this time. Every Greek reader, when hearing this phrase, would necessarily think of the 14th of Nisan, known as the day on which the Passover supper was prepared. This date agrees with those of Joh 13:1; Joh 13:29, Joh 18:28, and leads us, as do all these passages, to the idea that the Passover supper was not yet celebrated, but was to take place on the evening of this day.

According to John, the sentence of Jesus was pronounced about the sixth hour —that is, about noon, at least if we do not adopt the method of reckoning according to which John would make the day begin at midnight, in accordance with the custom of the Roman courts. It is certainly difficult to bring this hour of noon into harmony with the account of Matthew, according to which at that hour Jesus had been already for some time suspended on the cross, and still more difficult to reconcile it with Mar 15:25, where it is said that it was at the third hour —that is, at nine o’clock, that Christ was crucified. But is the difficulty really any less if, with Rettig, Tholuck, Wieseler, Keil, Westcott, etc., we hold that John reckons from midnight, and that the hour indicated is consequently six o’clock in the morning? Was not this, according to the Synoptics, the hour when, following upon the session of the morning, the Sanhedrim brought Jesus to Pilate? Keil makes the reckoning thus: At five o’clock, the last session of the Sanhedrim until six or half past six; then the negotiations with Pilate, and the pronouncing of the sentence a little later. But is it possible to confine within so brief a space 1. The first appearance before Pilate; 2. The sending to Herod; comp. the words ἐν λόγοις ἱκανοῖς (Luk 23:9); 3. The discussion relative to the release of Barabbas; 4. The scourging, with the scene of the Ecce homo; 5. The renewal of the examination after this scene, and finally the pronouncing of the condemnation? No; the greater part of the morning is not too much for so many things. The reading τρίτη, third (nine o’clock), in some MSS. of John, would therefore be in itself very suspicious, even if it were not so evidently a correction intended to reconcile the two narratives. Eusebius supposed that some ancient copyist made of the gamma (Γ = 3) a stigma (ζ = 6).

This supposition in itself has little probability. Let us rather call to mind, the fact that the day as a whole was divided, like the night, into four portions of three hours each. This fact explains why in the whole New Testament mention is scarcely ever made of any hours except the third, sixth andninth (comp. Mat 20:1-5), and also why, as Hengstenberg remarks, the expressions nearly, about, are so frequent in it (Mat 22:46, Luk 23:44, Joh 4:6, Act 10:3; Act 10:9). This word about is also added by John in our passage. It is certainly allowable, therefore, to take the middle course, either in Mark or in John, especially if we recall the fact that, as Lange says, the apostles did not have watch in hand. As the third hour of Mark, properly nine o’clock, may include all the time from eight to ten, so the sixth hour in John certainly includes from eleven to twelve. The difference, therefore, is no longer so very great. But especially, 2, account must be taken of an important circumstance, noticed by Lange: it is that Matthew and Mark, having given to the scourging of Jesus the meaning which it ordinarily had in such a case, made it the beginning of the punishment. We see this clearly from the manner in which they both speak of it, connecting it closely with the pronouncing of the condemnation, Mat 27:26 : “He gave Jesus up to them after having scourged Him.” Comp. Mar 15:15. They have therefore united in one the two judicial acts so clearly distinguished by John, that of the scourging and that of the final condemnation, and they have thus quite naturally dated the second at the same moment as the first. How can Weiss call this solution an affirmation without proof? It clearly follows from the comparison of the narratives. Hofmann has proposed the following solution: a mark of punctuation must be placed after the word παρασκευή, and we must translate: “It was Friday, and the sixth hour of the Passover” (omitting the δέ after ὥρα with the principal Mjj.).

But the hours of theday, not those of the feast, are reckoned.

There is a bitter irony in the words of Pilate: Behold your King! But it is directed towards the Jews, not towards Jesus. Towards the latter, Pilate constantly shows himself full of a respectful interest, which, near the end, amounts even to fear. In this sarcasm there is at the same time a serious side. Pilate understands that, if there is a man through whom the Jewish people are to fulfil a mission in the world, it is this man.

The rage of the rulers increases on hearing this declaration. The three aorist imperatives express the impatience and haste to have the matter ended. Pilate henceforth consents to yield; but first he wishes to give himself the pleasure of yet once more striking the dagger into the wound: Shall I crucify your king? He avenges himself thus for the act of baseness to which they compel him. The Jews are driven thereby to the memorable declaration by which they themselves pronounced the abolition of the theocracy and the absorption of Israel into the world of the Gentiles. They who cherished only one thought—the overthrow of the throne of the Caesars by the Messiah—suffer themselves to be carried away by hatred of Jesus so far as to cry out before the representative of the emperor: “We have no other king but Caesar.” “Jesum negant,” says Bengel, “usque eo ut omnino Christum negent.”

After this, all is said. By denying the expectation of the Messiah, Israel has just denied itself; at such a price does it secure the end that Jesus should be surrendered to it. ᾿Αυτοῖς, to them, says John, and not to the Roman executioners. For the latter will be only the blind instruments of the judicial murder which is about to be committed.

Modern criticism (Baur, Strauss, Keim) regards this entire representation of Pilate’s conduct as fictitious. The thought of the author is to personify in Pilate the sympathy of the pagan world for the Gospel, and to throw upon Israel almost the whole responsibility of the crime. But 1. The fact is not presented otherwise in the Synoptics, in the Acts and in the Epistles. In Matthew, the governor marvelled (Joh 19:14); he knows that it is for envy that the rulers deliver Jesus to him (Joh 19:18); he endeavors by means of the people to effect His release, rather than that of Barabbas (Joh 19:17; Joh 19:22). He asks indignantly: “What evil, then, has he done?” (Joh 19:23). He sees that he prevails nothing, and ends by yielding, while he declares himself, by a solemn act, innocent of the blood of this righteous man (Joh 19:24). Such is the description of the condemnation of Jesus by Pilate in the Gospel which is called Jewish- Christian. Does it really differ from John’s description? Mark brings out still more clearly than Matthew the eagerness with which Pilate takes advantage of the spontaneous request of the multitude that a prisoner should be released to them, and the support which he counts upon finding in the popular sympathy for the saving of Jesus (Joh 19:8-10).

Luke adds to the other attempts of Pilate that of the sending of Jesus to Herod, and the twice repeated proposal to release Him at the cost of a simple scourging (Joh 19:16; Joh 19:22). “Having the desire to release Jesus” is expressly said in Joh 19:20. Then in Joh 19:22 : “And he said to them the third time, Why, what evil has he done?” In the Acts, the conciliatory tendency of which book towards Judaism is made prominent at the present time, Peter, as well as John, charges the Jews with the whole responsibility for the murder: “You have crucified him by the hands of wicked men,” Joh 2:23; comp. Joh 3:15. Even James, when addressing the rich men of his nation, says to them: “You have condemned and put to death the Righteous One” (Joh 19:6). Finally, the Apocalypse—that book which is represented as the most pronounced manifestation of Jewish-Christianity—designates Jerusalem as “the Sodom and spiritual Egypt where our Lord was crucified,” Joh 11:8.

The notion of place (where) in this passage very evidently includes those of causality and responsibility.—2. Moreover, the second century, in which it is claimed that the composition of the Fourth Gospel must be placed, was, from Trajan to Marcus Aurelius, a time of bloody persecution on the part of the pagan world against the Church, and it would be very strange that at that epoch an author should have attributed to the Roman governor an imaginary character with the purpose of personifying in him the sympathy of the pagan world for the Gospel !—3. Finally, the scene described by John is its own defence. It is impossible to portray more to the life, the astuteness, the perseverance and the impudent suppleness of the accuser, determined to succeed, at any cost, on the one side, and, on the other, the obstinate struggle, in the heart of the judge, between the consciousness of his duty and the care for his own interests, between the fear of sacrificing an innocent man, perhaps more formidable than He appeared to be outwardly, and that of driving to extremity a people already exasperated by crying acts of injustice, and of finding himself accused before a suspicious emperor, one stroke of whose pen (Reuss) might precipitate him into destruction; finally, between cold scepticism and the transient impressions of natural religiousness and even pagan superstition. Reuss acknowledges that it is “the Fourth Gospel which gives the true key of the problem” of Pilate’s inconceivable conduct: “Jesus was sacrificed by him to an exigency of his position” (p. 675). Excepting the natural vacancies resulting from “the fact that no witness saw the whole from one end to the other,” the Gospel narrative (that of John included) “bears, according to this author, the seal of entire authenticity” (ibid).

These two figures, in fact—one of a cold and diabolical perversity (Caiaphas, as the representative of the Sanhedrim), the other of a cowardice and pitiable vacillation—both contrasting with the calm dignity and holy majesty of the Christ, form a picture which we do not hesitate to call the masterpiece of the Gospel of John, and which, by itself alone, might, if necessary, serve as a certification of authenticity for this entire work.

Whence did he derive such complete information? Perhaps he saw everything himself. The judicial sessions among the Romans were public, and he was not prevented from entering the court of the Praetorium by the same scruples as the Jews. For he did not have to eat the Passover supper in the evening.

Frédéric Louis Godet — Commentaries on Luke, John, Romans, and 1 Corinthians — English translation (T&T Clark, Edinburgh, 1870s–1890s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.