They answered and said unto him, If he were not a malefactor, we would not have delivered him up unto thee.
Parallel translations
- WEB They answered him, “If this man weren’t an evildoer, we wouldn’t have delivered him up to you.”
- BSB “If He were not a criminal,” they replied, “we would not have handed Him over to you.”
- NKJV They answered and said to him, “If He were not an evildoer, we would not have delivered Him up to you.”
- NASB They answered and said to him, “If this Man were not a criminal, we would not have handed Him over to you.”
- NLT “We wouldn’t have handed him over to you if he weren’t a criminal!” they retorted.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
The leaders evade Pilate's question, simply asserting that Jesus is an evildoer. They have no clear charge to bring.
Overview
Rather than naming a concrete crime, the accusers insist on Jesus' guilt and expect Pilate to ratify their verdict. Their vague answer betrays the weakness of their case. The exchange exposes that Jesus is condemned not on evidence but on the determination of his enemies, underscoring his innocence.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 7
- Mark 10:33Saying, Behold, we go up to Jerusalem; and the Son of man shall be delivered unto the chief priests, and unto the scribes; and they shall condemn him to death, and shall deliver him to the Gentiles:
- Mark 15:3And the chief priests accused him of many things: but he answered nothing.
- Luke 20:19–26And the chief priests and the scribes the same hour sought to lay hands on him; and they feared the people: for they perceived that he had spoken this parable against them.
- Luke 24:7Saying, The Son of man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, and be crucified, and the third day rise again.
- Luke 23:2–5And they began to accuse him, saying, We found this fellow perverting the nation, and forbidding to give tribute to Caesar, saying that he himself is Christ a King.
- Acts 3:13The God of Abraham, and of Isaac, and of Jacob, the God of our fathers, hath glorified his Son Jesus; whom ye delivered up, and denied him in the presence of Pilate, when he was determined to let him go.
- John 19:12And from thenceforth Pilate sought to release him: but the Jews cried out, saying, If thou let this man go, thou art not Caesar’s friend: whosoever maketh himself a king speaketh against Caesar.
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Christ at the center
John declares him plainly: the eternal Word made flesh, the Lamb of God, the great 'I AM' — bread, light, door, shepherd, way, truth, life, resurrection — that you may believe and have life in his name.
How John 18:30 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Greek word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.