| Matthew 27:2 | |
|---|---|
← 27:1 27:3 → | |
 A 1390 image of Christ before Pilate. | |
| Book | Gospel of Matthew |
| Christian Bible part | New Testament |
Matthew 27:2 is the second verse of the twenty-seventh chapter of the Gospel of Matthew in the New Testament. Jesus has been condemned by the Jewish Sanhedrin, and in this verse is handed over to Pontius Pilate.
The original Koine Greek, according to Westcott and Hort, reads:[ citation needed ]
In the King James Version of the Bible it is translated as:
The modern World English Bible translates the passage as:
For a collection of other versions see BibleHub Matthew 27:2.
This verse introduces Pontius Pilate in the Gospel of Matthew.
Pilate is a historical figure attested from contemporary sources, including the histories of the Jewish historian Josephus who describes Pilate with neutrality. [1] Philo Judaeus describes Pilate as gratuitously and grievously inhumane, and "at all times a man of most ferocious passions." [2]
Christian sources similarly vary in their portrayal and interpretation of Pilate. [3] The Ethiopian Orthodox Church venerates Pontius Pilate as a saint. [4] Augustine compared Pilate to the Magi in a sermon describing them all as gentiles who acknowledged Jesus Christ as king. [5] The Gospel of Matthew follows the narrative of a weak, but decent, Pilate who is pressured into the crucifixion by the Jewish leaders. [6] [ further explanation needed ]
According to the Pilate Stone, Pilate was officially the prefect of Judea. The characterization of Pilate as governor may link with Jesus' prediction at Matthew 10:18 that he would be "dragged before governors." [7] Josephus also refers to him as governor, while Tacitus uses Procurator, the later title for the governor of the region. [7] Pilate's headquarters was at Caesarea Maritima, but his presence in Jerusalem for the Passover feast is customary (see Matthew 27:15 ) and perhaps logical. [8]
John 18:31 gives as reason for the delivery of Jesus to the Romans by the Sanhedrin that the Jewish authorities lacked lawful authority to carry out executions under Roman rule. This has been questioned by some modern historians. [7] Beginning with Jean Juster in 1914, Hans Lietzmann in 1931 and Paul Winter in 1974 [9] looked at the legal history of the period and found several executions carried out on orders of the Sanhedrin with no mention of Roman authorities. In early Christian tradition Stephen and James were tried and sentenced to death by the Sanhedrin.[ citation needed ] The right to execute Gentile trespassers into the Temple is also established from documents of the time.[ citation needed ] Based on these facts Lietzmann and Winter originated a theory that the Jewish trial is not historical, and that the execution of Jesus was a purely Roman matter. The idea that the Jewish authorities did not have this power was a product of the Gospel writers working after the destruction of the Temple, when Roman rule was far more rigid. Other historians, notably A. N. Sherwin-White, [10] disagree. While there are recorded executions by the Jewish authorities, that of James was during a time of lapsed imperial control and that of Stephen perhaps by an extrajudicial mob rather than any formal proceedings. Across the Empire the power of capital punishment was limited only to high Roman authorities. Judea would be exceptional if locals had such rights. Roman enforcement of laws and penal practices, including capital punishment, changed throughout the course of the era and differed in application based on citizenship, gender, and other social aspects of the accused. [11] [12]
Jesus had been bound and taken to Pilate but not accused with any crime. He had already been beaten in Matthew 26:67 .
The Roman historian and senator Tacitus referred to Jesus, his execution by Pontius Pilate, and the existence of early Christians in Rome in his final work, Annals, book 15, chapter 44.
Annas was appointed by the Roman legate Quirinius as the first High Priest of the newly formed Roman province of Judaea in AD 6 – just after the Romans had deposed Archelaus, Ethnarch of Judaea, thereby putting Judaea directly under Roman rule.
Pontius Pilate was the fifth governor of the Roman province of Judaea, serving under Emperor Tiberius from 26/27 to 36/37 AD. He is best known for being the official who presided over the trial of Jesus and ultimately ordered his crucifixion. Pilate's importance in Christianity is underscored by his prominent place in both the Apostles' and Nicene Creeds. Because the gospels portray Pilate as reluctant to execute Jesus, the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church believes that Pilate became a Christian and venerates him as both a martyr and a saint, a belief which is historically shared by the Coptic Church, with a feast day on 19 or 25 June, respectively.
Herod Antipas was a 1st-century ruler of Galilee and Perea. He bore the title of tetrarch and is referred to as both "Herod the Tetrarch" and "King Herod" in the New Testament. He was a son of Herod the Great and a grandson of Antipater the Idumaean. He is widely known today for accounts in the New Testament of his role in events that led to the executions of John the Baptist and Jesus of Nazareth. His father, Herod the Great, was described in the account as ordering the Massacre of the Innocents, marking the earliest Biblical account of the concerns of the government in Jerusalem regarding Jesus's existence.
Josef Ben Caiaphas, known simply as Caiaphas in the New Testament, was the Jewish high priest during the years of Jesus' ministry, according to Josephus. The Gospels of Matthew, Luke and John indicate he was an organizer of the plot to kill Jesus. He famously presided over the Sanhedrin trial of Jesus. The primary sources for Caiaphas' life are the New Testament, and the writings of Josephus. The latter records he was made high priest by the Roman procurator Valerius Gratus after Simon ben Camithus had been deposed.
Barabbas was, according to the New Testament, a prisoner who was chosen over Jesus by the crowd in Jerusalem to be pardoned and released by Roman governor Pontius Pilate at the Passover feast.
Most scholars who study the historical Jesus and early Christianity believe that the canonical gospels and the life of Jesus must be viewed within their historical and cultural context, rather than purely in terms of Christian orthodoxy. They look at Second Temple Judaism, the tensions, trends, and changes in the region under the influence of Hellenism and the Roman occupation, and the Jewish factions of the time, seeing Jesus as a Jew in this environment; and the written New Testament as arising from a period of oral gospel traditions after his death.
Luke 3 is the third chapter of the Gospel of Luke in the New Testament of the Christian Bible, traditionally attributed to Luke the Evangelist, a companion of Paul the Apostle on his missionary journeys. It contains an account of the preaching of John the Baptist as well as a genealogy of Jesus. From the start of this chapter until Luke 9:50, the "shape and outlook" of Luke's Gospel follow closely those of the other synoptic gospels, Matthew and Mark. The Expositor's Greek Testament states that in this chapter "the ministry of the new era opens".
John 18:38 is the 38th verse in chapter 18 of the Gospel of John in the New Testament of Christian Bible. It is often referred to as "jesting Pilate". In it, Pontius Pilate questions Jesus' claim that he is "witness to the truth".
Matthew 27:3 is the third verse of the twenty-seventh chapter of the Gospel of Matthew in the New Testament. This verse returns to the story of Judas Iscariot who, in the previous chapter, had accepted payment to betray Jesus to the Jewish authorities. This verse opens the story of Judas' remorse and death, interrupting the Gospel's narrative regarding the trials of Jesus.
Matthew 27 is the 27th chapter in the Gospel of Matthew, part of the New Testament in the Christian Bible. This chapter contains Matthew's record of the day of the trial, crucifixion and burial of Jesus. Scottish theologian William Robertson Nicoll notes that "the record of this single day is very nearly one-ninth of the whole book".
Luke 23 is the twenty-third chapter of the Gospel of Luke in the New Testament of the Christian Bible. The book containing this chapter is anonymous, but early Christian tradition uniformly affirmed that Luke the Evangelist composed this Gospel as well as the Acts of the Apostles. This chapter records the trial of Jesus Christ before Pontius Pilate, Jesus' meeting with Herod Antipas, and his crucifixion, death and burial.
In the New Testament, the Sanhedrin trial of Jesus refers to the trial of Jesus before the Sanhedrin following his arrest in Jerusalem and prior to the trial before Pontius Pilate. It is an incident reported by all three Synoptic Gospels of the New Testament, while the Gospel of John refers to a preliminary inquiry before Annas. The gospel accounts vary on a number of details.
Matthew 28:14 is the fourteenth verse of the twenty-eighth chapter of the Gospel of Matthew in the New Testament. This verse is part of the resurrection narrative. In this verse the priests of Jerusalem assured the safety of the tomb guards should the governor, Pontius Pilate, receive report of their failure.
Matthew 27:58 is the fifty-eighth verse of the twenty-seventh chapter of the Gospel of Matthew in the New Testament. This verse describes Joseph of Arimathea meeting with Pontius Pilate to secure the burial of Jesus.
Matthew 27:11 is the eleventh verse of the twenty-seventh chapter of the Gospel of Matthew in the New Testament. This verse brings the narrative back to Pilate's Court, and the final trial of Jesus.
The Pilate stone is a damaged block of carved limestone with a partially intact inscription attributed to, and mentioning, Pontius Pilate, a prefect of the Roman province of Judea from AD 26 to 36. It was discovered at the archaeological site of Caesarea Maritima in 1961. The artifact is particularly significant because it is an archaeological find of an authentic 1st-century Roman inscription mentioning the name "[Pon]tius Pilatus". It is contemporary to Pilate's lifetime, and accords with what is known of his reported career. In effect, the inscription constitutes the earliest surviving, and only contemporary, record of Pilate, who is otherwise known from the New Testament and apocryphal texts, the Jewish historian Josephus and writer Philo, and brief references by Roman historians such as Tacitus.
Marcellus was the 6th Roman Prefect of the province of Judea.
In the canonical gospels, Pilate's court refers to the trial of Jesus in praetorium before Pontius Pilate, preceded by the Sanhedrin Trial. In the Gospel of Luke, Pilate finds that Jesus, being from Galilee, belonged to Herod Antipas' jurisdiction, and so he decides to send Jesus to Herod. After questioning Jesus and receiving very few replies, Herod sees Jesus as no threat and returns him to Pilate.
The Pilate cycle is a group of various pieces of early Christian literature that purport to either be written by Pontius Pilate, or else otherwise closely describe his activities and the Passion of Jesus. Unlike the four gospels, these later writings were not canonized in the New Testament, and hence relegated to a status of apocrypha. Some writings were quite obscure, with only a few ancient textual references known today; they merely survived through happenstance, and may not have been particularly widely read by early Christians in the Roman Empire and Christians in the Middle Ages. Others were more popular. The most notable example was the Gospel of Nicodemus, which proved quite popular and influential in medieval and Renaissance Christianity.
| Preceded by Matthew 27:1 | Gospel of Matthew Chapter 27 | Succeeded by Matthew 27:3 |