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InterlinearVerse GEN EXO LEV NUM DEU JOB JOS JDG RUTH 1 SAM 2 SAM PSA AMOS HOS 1 KI 2 KI 1 CHR 2 CHR PROV ECC SNG JOEL MIC ISA ZEP HAB JER LAM YNA (JNA) NAH OBA DAN EZE EZRA EST NEH HAG ZEC MAL LAO GES LES ESG DNG 2 PS TOB JDT WIS SIR BAR LJE PAZ SUS BEL MAN 1 MAC 2 MAC 3 MAC 4 MAC YHN MARK MAT LUKE ACTs YAC (JAM) GAL 1 TH 2 TH 1 COR 2 COR ROM COL PHM EPH PHP 1 TIM TIT 1 PET 2 PET 2 TIM HEB YUD (JUD) 1 YHN (1 JHN) 2 YHN (2 JHN) 3 YHN (3 JHN) REV
Yhn C1 C2 C3 C4 C5 C6 C7 C8 C9 C10 C11 C12 C13 C14 C15 C16 C17 C18 C19 C20 C21
Yhn 18 V1 V2 V3 V4 V5 V6 V7 V8 V9 V10 V11 V12 V13 V14 V15 V16 V17 V18 V19 V20 V21 V22 V23 V24 V25 V26 V27 V28 V29 V30 V31 V32 V33 V34 V35 V36 V37 V39 V40
OET (OET-LV) The Pilatos is_saying to_him:
What is truth?
And having_said this, he_came_out again to the Youdaiōns, and is_saying to_them:
I am_finding not_one Guilt in him.
OET (OET-RV) “Yeah. What is truth?” said Pilate.
¶ After he’d said this, Pilate went back outside to the Jews and told them, “I can’t find anything that he’s guilty of.
This section tells how the soldiers took Jesus to the Roman governor, Pilate. Pilate questioned Jesus to find out why the Jews wanted him to punish Jesus with death. He could find no reason to do that. But the Jewish leaders there insisted that Pilate crucify him. Finally, Pilate agreed that Jesus could be crucified.
Here are other possible section headings:
Pilate questioned the Jews and Jesus and sent Jesus to be crucified
Pilate investigated Jesus and decided that he could be punished with death
Jesus’ trial and judgment before Pilate
This section can be divided into seven smaller pieces, where each piece is a separate event. Jews often arranged written materials to include seven related pieces, where the first and last pieces relate, and the second and sixth relate, and the third and fifth relate. Then the middle piece, the fourth, stands alone and is emphasized. That happens in this section as well. Here is a chart showing the seven pieces of this section and how they relate:
18:28–32: Outside the house; Jews ask for Jesus’ death
18:33–38a: Inside the house; Pilate asks Jesus if he is King of the Jews
18:38b–40: Outside the house; Pilate says, “I find no case against him.”
19:1–3: The soldiers beat Jesus with a whip and pretend that he is the king of the Jews
19:4–8: Outside the house; Pilate says, “I find no case against him.”
19:8–11: Inside the house; Pilate asks Jesus where he came from
19:12–16a: Outside the house; Pilate allows Jews to crucify Jesus
The middle piece, 19:1–3, is different from all the other pieces. Pilate is only mentioned and is not an important person in this event. That is different from all the other pieces. This middle piece therefore is emphasized. The only ones who seem to worship Jesus in the whole section do so in this middle piece. However, they only pretend to worship and are very cruel as they mock Jesus.
In your translation, you may want to find ways to emphasize 19:1–3. Also, try to translate this section in ways that make it possible to see the connections between the pieces.
Jesus explained that he was not a king of an earthly kingdom.
“What is truth?” Pilate asked.
Pilate asked Jesus, “What is really true?”
Pilate said, “Who can really know what truth is?”
Pilate said to him, “We cannot know what is the real truth.”
What is truth?: This is a rhetorical question. Pilate used it to stop the conversation. Pilate does not want to hear Jesus’ answer.
There are two ways to translate this question:
Use a rhetorical question or questions. For example:
Truth?…What is that? (NJB)
Can we really know truth?
Use a statement. For example:
We cannot know what is really true.
It would be good if someone knew what the true teaching is (but no one does). (Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
Translate this rhetorical question in a way that is most natural in your language. Try to show that Pilate did not want to talk anymore about truth.
truth: Translate this word like you translated it in 18:37. For example:
What is true?
What is the true teaching?
Pilate asked: The word that the BSB translates as asked is more literally “said.” Pilate did not really want or expect an answer to his question. We know that because he immediately went outside. Use a verb that is natural for introducing a rhetorical question.
In this paragraph, Pilate tried to release Jesus. He thought that Jesus was innocent. So he offered to free Jesus for the celebration of a Jewish feast. But the leaders of the Jews and the crowd were determined to have Jesus crucified. They asked Pilate to release a criminal named Barabbas instead.
And having said this, he went out again to the Jews
¶ After saying this, Pilate went back outside to speak to the Jews
¶ After Pilate said this to Jesus, he went outside to talk with the Jewish leaders.
And having said this: This phrase introduces Pilate’s next action: he went outside immediately after he asked about truth. He did not wait for an answer. Some English translations leave this phrase implicit. This may be most natural if you begin a new paragraph here. Here is one way you could start a new paragraph:
Pilate went back out… (CEV)
he went out again to the Jews: This clause indicates that Pilate left the judgment hall in his house and went outside. That is where the Jewish crowd was waiting for him. Because this is a new paragraph, you may want to use Pilate’s name. For example:
Then Pilate went back outside (GNT)
to the Jews: The phrase the Jews here refers to the religious leaders of the Jews.
and told them, “I find no basis for a charge against Him.
and announced, “I find no reason to accuse him of anything.
He told them, “There is no reason for me to declare this man guilty of any crime.
I find no basis for a charge against Him: This clause is more literally “I find no fault in him.” Pilate thought that Jesus was innocent. He did not disobey any Roman laws, so Pilate did not have a case (a basis for accusing him in court). Indicate this idea using the legal expression that is natural in your language. For example:
I don’t find this man guilty of anything! (CEV)
He is not guilty of any crime. (NLT)
I cannot find any reason for judging this person. (Yakan Back Translation)
Note 1 topic: figures-of-speech / pastforfuture
λέγει
˓is˒_saying
Here John uses the present tense in past narration in order to call attention to a development in the story.
Note 2 topic: figures-of-speech / rquestion
τί ἐστιν ἀλήθεια?
(Some words not found in SR-GNT: λέγει αὐτῷ Ὁ Πιλᾶτος Τί ἐστίν ἀλήθεια Καί τοῦτο εἰπών πάλιν ἐξῆλθεν πρός τούς Ἰουδαίους καί λέγει αὐτοῖς Ἐγώ οὐδεμίαν εὑρίσκω ἐν αὐτῷ Αἰτίαν)
Pilate is using a rhetorical question here to emphasize that he does not believe anyone really knows what truth is. If you would not use a rhetorical question for this purpose in your language, you could translate his words as a statement or an exclamation and communicate the emphasis in another way. Alternate translation: [No one can know the truth!]
Note 3 topic: figures-of-speech / abstractnouns
ἀλήθεια
truth
Here, truth refers to any true information. If your language does not use an abstract noun for the idea of truth, you could express the same idea in another way. Alternate translation: [What is true]
Note 4 topic: figures-of-speech / synecdoche
τοὺς Ἰουδαίους
(Some words not found in SR-GNT: λέγει αὐτῷ Ὁ Πιλᾶτος Τί ἐστίν ἀλήθεια Καί τοῦτο εἰπών πάλιν ἐξῆλθεν πρός τούς Ἰουδαίους καί λέγει αὐτοῖς Ἐγώ οὐδεμίαν εὑρίσκω ἐν αὐτῷ Αἰτίαν)
Here, the Jews refers to the Jewish leaders. See how you translated this term in [1:19](../01/19.md).
Note 5 topic: figures-of-speech / metaphor
ἐγὼ οὐδεμίαν αἰτίαν εὑρίσκω ἐν αὐτῷ
(Some words not found in SR-GNT: λέγει αὐτῷ Ὁ Πιλᾶτος Τί ἐστίν ἀλήθεια Καί τοῦτο εἰπών πάλιν ἐξῆλθεν πρός τούς Ἰουδαίους καί λέγει αὐτοῖς Ἐγώ οὐδεμίαν εὑρίσκω ἐν αὐτῷ Αἰτίαν)
Pilate speaks of guilt as if it were an object that can be inside a person. If your readers would not understand this, you could express the meaning plainly. Alternate translation: [I find no evidence that he is guilty of any crime]
OET (OET-LV) The Pilatos is_saying to_him:
What is truth?
And having_said this, he_came_out again to the Youdaiōns, and is_saying to_them:
I am_finding not_one Guilt in him.
OET (OET-RV) “Yeah. What is truth?” said Pilate.
¶ After he’d said this, Pilate went back outside to the Jews and told them, “I can’t find anything that he’s guilty of.
Note: The OET-RV is still only a first draft, and so far only a few words have been (mostly automatically) matched to the Hebrew or Greek words that they’re translated from.
Acknowledgements: The SR Greek text, lemmas, morphology, and VLT gloss are all thanks to the CNTR.
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