Yohanes 18:38

18:38 Pilate asked, ¹  “What is truth?” ² 

When he had said this he went back outside to the Jewish leaders ³  and announced, ⁴  “I find no basis for an accusation ⁵  against him.

Yohanes 19:11

19:11 Jesus replied, “You would have no authority ⁶  over me at all, unless it was given to you from above. Therefore the one who handed me over to you ⁷  is guilty of greater sin.” ⁸ 

[18:38]  ¹ tn Grk “Pilate said.”

[18:38]  ² sn With his reply “What is truth?” Pilate dismissed the matter. It is not clear what Pilate’s attitude was at this point, as in 18:33. He may have been sarcastic, or perhaps somewhat reflective. The author has not given enough information in the narrative to be sure. Within the narrative, Pilate’s question serves to make the reader reflect on what truth is, and that answer (in the narrative) has already been given (14:6).

[18:38]  ³ tn Or “the Jewish authorities”; Grk “the Jews.” Here the phrase refers to the Jewish leaders, especially members of the Sanhedrin. See the note on the phrase “Jewish leaders” in v. 12. The term also occurs in v. 31, where it is clear the Jewish leaders are in view, because they state that they cannot legally carry out an execution. Although it is likely (in view of the synoptic parallels) that the crowd here in 18:38 was made up not just of the Jewish leaders, but of ordinary residents of Jerusalem and pilgrims who were in Jerusalem for the Passover, nevertheless in John’s Gospel Pilate is primarily in dialogue with the leadership of the nation, who are expressly mentioned in 18:35 and 19:6.

[18:38]  ⁴ tn Grk “said to them.”

[18:38]  ⁵ tn Grk “find no cause.”

[19:11]  ⁶ tn Or “power.”

[19:11]  ⁷ tn Or “who delivered me over to you.”

[19:11]  sn The one who handed me over to you appears to be a reference to Judas at first; yet Judas did not deliver Jesus up to Pilate, but to the Jewish authorities. The singular may be a reference to Caiaphas, who as high priest was representative of all the Jewish authorities, or it may be a generic singular referring to all the Jewish authorities directly. In either case the end result is more or less the same.

[19:11]  ⁸ tn Grk “has the greater sin” (an idiom).

[19:11]  sn Because Pilate had no authority over Jesus except what had been given to him from God, the one who handed Jesus over to Pilate was guilty of greater sin. This does not absolve Pilate of guilt; it simply means his guilt was less than those who handed Jesus over to him, because he was not acting against Jesus out of deliberate hatred or calculated malice, like the Jewish religious authorities. These were thereby guilty of greater sin.