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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 ESA 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 19 V1 V3 V5 V7 V9 V13 V15 V17 V19 V21 V23 V25 V27 V29 V31 V33 V35 V37 V39 V41
OET (OET-LV) Yaʸsous answered to_him:
You_were_ not _having authority against me not_one, except not/lest was having_been_given to_you from_above.
Because_of this the one having_given_ me _over to_you, is_having greater sin.
OET (OET-RV) “You have no authority over me,” Yeshua answered, “none at all, except what has been granted to you from above. Because of this, the sin of the person who handed me over to you is greater.”
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.
Pilate and Jesus spoke together. Jesus showed that he was not afraid of Pilate. He said that it was God who gave Pilate his power.
You would have no authority over Me if it were not given to you from above: This sentence suggests a situation that is not true: that God had not given Pilate power. If that situation were true, Pilate would have no power to decide Jesus’ fate. But God had in fact given Pilate power over Jesus. This was the only reason why Pilate had this power. Consider how it is natural to translate in your language a suggested situation that is not true. See the General Comment on 19:11a–b for examples where the clauses are rearranged.
In some languages it is more natural to use a positive statement. For example:
The only power you have over me is the power given to you by God. (NCV)
You have authority over me only because it was given to you by God. (GNT)
You could only do like that because God has given you that authority. (Tagbanwa Back Translation)
Jesus answered, “You would have no authority over Me
Jesus replied, “You would not have any power to release or crucify me
Jesus answered, “You have authority over me (GNT)
You would have no authority over Me: This clause describes a situation that is not true. Pilate did in fact have power over Jesus.
You: This pronoun is singular and refers to Pilate.
authority over Me: This phrase refers to Pilate’s power or authority to crucify or to free Jesus. As governor, he had the authority to judge people and decide what would happen to them. And as Jesus said in 19:11b, God is really the one who gave him that authority. Here are other ways to translate this phrase:
authority to judge me
power to be in charge of me (Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
if it were not given to you from above.
if it were not given to you by God.
only because God gave it to you.
if it were not given to you from above: The Greek phrase that the BSB translates the Greek phrase literally as if…not. There is a condition here: “if the power had not been given you from above.” This was a condition that was not fulfilled, because God had given Pilate power. That was the only reason why Pilate did have power over Jesus. Translate this condition that was not fulfilled in a way that is natural in your language. For example:
if it were not given to you from above (NIV)
if it had not been given you from above (NJB)
You have authority over me only because it was given to you by God (GNT)
were not given: This verb phrase is passive, and there are at least two ways to translate it:
Use a passive verb. For example:
given to you by God (GNT)
Use an active verb. For example:
unless you had received it from above/God
if God had not given authority to you
In some languages it may be natural to reverse the order of the information in 19:11a–b. For example:
11bIf God had not given you the power, 11ayou couldn’t do anything at all to me. (CEV)
11bAs for your power to be in charge of me, if it were not given you by God, 11ayou wouldn’t be able to do anything. (Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
Therefore the one who handed Me over to you is guilty of greater sin.”
So the man who delivered me to you is even more guilty/responsible than you are.”
So the man/person who gave me to you to judge me has sinned even more than you have.”
Therefore: The Greek expression that the BSB translates as Therefore introduces a logical result or conclusion. Introduce this result in a way that is natural in your language. For example:
That’s why (GW)
And for that reason (JBP)
So (NLT)
the one who handed Me over to you: This clause refers to the person who brought Jesus to Pilate so Pilate could judge him. The clause probably refers to the high priest, Caiaphas, who sent Jesus to Pilate. However, you should not make that explicit in your translation.
you: This pronoun is singular and refers to Pilate.
is guilty of greater sin: This phrase indicates that this man, probably Caiaphas, had done something worse than Pilate had done. Both had done wrong, and were responsible for doing it, but Caiaphas had done the worse wrong. Here are some other ways to translate this phrase:
is even more guilty than you are (JBP)
did something even worse (CEV)
Note 1 topic: figures-of-speech / doublenegatives
οὐκ εἶχες ἐξουσίαν κατ’ ἐμοῦ οὐδεμίαν, εἰ μὴ ἦν δεδομένον σοι ἄνωθεν
(Some words not found in SR-GNT: ἀπεκρίθη αὐτῷ Ἰησοῦς Οὐκ εἶχες ἐξουσίαν κατʼ ἐμοῦ οὐδεμίαν εἰ μή ἦν δεδομένον σοί ἄνωθεν Διά τοῦτο ὁ παραδούς μέ σοί μείζονα ἁμαρτίαν ἔχει)
If this double negative would be misunderstood in your language, you could translate it as a positive statement. Alternate translation: [You only have authority over me because that authority has been given to you from above]
Note 2 topic: figures-of-speech / metaphor
εἰ μὴ ἦν δεδομένον σοι ἄνωθεν
except (Some words not found in SR-GNT: ἀπεκρίθη αὐτῷ Ἰησοῦς Οὐκ εἶχες ἐξουσίαν κατʼ ἐμοῦ οὐδεμίαν εἰ μή ἦν δεδομένον σοί ἄνωθεν Διά τοῦτο ὁ παραδούς μέ σοί μείζονα ἁμαρτίαν ἔχει)
Here, above is used to refer to God who dwells in heaven above. If it would be helpful to your readers, you could state this plainly. Alternate translation: [from heaven]
Note 3 topic: figures-of-speech / activepassive
εἰ μὴ ἦν δεδομένον σοι ἄνωθεν
except (Some words not found in SR-GNT: ἀπεκρίθη αὐτῷ Ἰησοῦς Οὐκ εἶχες ἐξουσίαν κατʼ ἐμοῦ οὐδεμίαν εἰ μή ἦν δεδομένον σοί ἄνωθεν Διά τοῦτο ὁ παραδούς μέ σοί μείζονα ἁμαρτίαν ἔχει)
If your language does not use the passive form in this way, you can state this in active form or in another way that is natural in your language. Alternate translation: [except for what God has given to you]
Note 4 topic: figures-of-speech / ellipsis
μείζονα ἁμαρτίαν ἔχει
greater sin ˓is˒_having
Jesus is leaving out some of the words that a sentence would need in many languages to be complete. If it would be helpful in your language, you could supply these words from the context. Alternate translation: [has a greater sin than your sin]
Note 5 topic: figures-of-speech / metaphor
μείζονα ἁμαρτίαν ἔχει
greater sin ˓is˒_having
Jesus speaks of sin as if it were an object that a person could possess in varying amounts. If this use of sin might be misunderstood in your language, you could express the meaning plainly. Alternate translation: [are more sinful] or [has committed worse sin]
OET (OET-LV) Yaʸsous answered to_him:
You_were_ not _having authority against me not_one, except not/lest was having_been_given to_you from_above.
Because_of this the one having_given_ me _over to_you, is_having greater sin.
OET (OET-RV) “You have no authority over me,” Yeshua answered, “none at all, except what has been granted to you from above. Because of this, the sin of the person who handed me over to you is greater.”
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.