It was now about noon on the day of preparation for the Passover. And Pilate said to the people, “Look, here is your king!”
Parallel translations
- WEB Now it was the Preparation Day of the Passover, at about the sixth hour. He said to the Jews, “Behold, your King!”
- KJV And it was the preparation of the passover, and about the sixth hour: and he saith unto the Jews, Behold your King!
- BSB It was the day of Preparation for the Passover, about the sixth hour. And Pilate said to the Jews, “Here is your King!”
- NKJV Now it was the Preparation Day of the Passover, and about the sixth hour. And he said to the Jews, “Behold your King!”
- NASB Now it was the day of preparation for the Passover; it was about the sixth hour. And he *said to the Jews, “Look, your King!”
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
On Passover Preparation Day, Pilate presents Jesus as 'your King.' The timing links Jesus to the Passover lamb.
Overview
John notes it is the Preparation Day of the Passover, about the time lambs were being readied for sacrifice, framing Jesus as the true Passover Lamb (1 Corinthians 5:7). Pilate's 'Behold, your King!' mixes mockery and genuine truth. John's interest in the hour and day heightens the theological significance: the Lamb of God is being delivered up at Passover.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 10
- Matt 27:62Now on the next day, which was the day after the Preparation Day, the chief priests and the Pharisees were gathered together to Pilate,
- John 19:5Jesus therefore came out, wearing the crown of thorns and the purple garment. Pilate said to them, “Behold, the man!”
- Mark 15:25It was the third hour, and they crucified him.
- John 19:42Then because of the Jews’ Preparation Day (for the tomb was near at hand) they laid Jesus there.
- Mark 15:42When evening had now come, because it was the Preparation Day, that is, the day before the Sabbath,
- Mark 15:33–34When the sixth hour had come, there was darkness over the whole land until the ninth hour.
- John 19:3They kept saying, “Hail, King of the Jews!” and they kept slapping him.
- John 19:19–22Pilate wrote a title also, and put it on the cross. There was written, “JESUS OF NAZARETH, THE KING OF THE JEWS.”
- Luke 23:54It was the day of the Preparation, and the Sabbath was drawing near.
- John 19:31–32Therefore the Jews, because it was the Preparation Day, so that the bodies wouldn’t remain on the cross on the Sabbath (for that Sabbath was a special one), asked of Pilate that their legs might be broken, and that they might be taken away.
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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.
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Original language
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