UTN uW Translation Notes:

John 19 General Notes

Structure and Formatting

1. Soldiers beat and mock Jesus (19:1–3)2. The Jewish leaders convince Pilate to crucify Jesus (19:4–16)3. Soldiers crucify Jesus (19:17–27)4. Jesus dies on the cross (19:28–37)5. Jesus’ friends put his body in a tomb (19:38–42)Some translations set each line of poetry farther to the right than the rest of the text in order to make it easier to read. The ULT does this with the poetry in 19:24, which are words from the Old Testament.

Religious and Cultural Concepts in This Chapter

“Purple garment”

Purple is a color that is from a mixture of red and blue. The soldiers mocked Jesus by putting a purple garment on him. This was because kings wore purple garments. They spoke and acted like they were giving honor to a king, but everyone knew that they were doing it because they hated Jesus. (See: figs-irony)

“You are not Caesar’s friend”

Pilate knew that Jesus was not a criminal, so he did not want to have his soldiers kill him. But the Jews told him that Jesus was claiming to be a king, and anyone who did that was breaking Caesar’s laws (19:12).

Ancient Jewish burial customs

According to the burial customs of that time, a dead person’s family would wrap the dead body with many strips of linen cloth and place it on a table inside a tomb. The tomb was either a cave or a room cut out of the side a large rock. According to Jewish tradition, the body was left to decompose in the tomb for one year. Then the family would then place the bones in a stone box. If your readers would be unfamiliar with these burial customs, then you may need to provide explanations in your translation or in a note for 19:39–42.

The tomb

The tomb in which Jesus was buried (19:41) was the kind of tomb in which wealthy Jewish families buried their dead. It was an actual room cut into a rock. It had a flat place on one side where they could place the body after they had put oil and spices on it and wrapped it in cloth. Then they would roll a large rock in front of the tomb so no one could see inside or enter.

Translation Issues in This Chapter

Sarcasm

The soldiers were insulting Jesus when they said, “Hail, King of the Jews.” Pilate was insulting the Jews when he asked, “Should I crucify your king?” He was probably also insulting both Jesus and the Jews when he wrote, “Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews.” (See: figs-irony)

Translation Issues in This Chapter

Gabbatha, Golgotha

John explained the meanings of these two Aramaic words (“The Pavement” and “The Place of a Skull”). Then he used Greek letters to express the sound of these words. You should also use the letters of your language to express the sounds of these Aramaic words.