It was the day of Preparation, and the next day was a High Sabbath. In order that the bodies would not remain on the cross during the Sabbath, the Jews asked Pilate to have the legs broken and the bodies removed.
Parallel translations
- WEB Therefore 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.
- KJV The Jews therefore, because it was the preparation, that the bodies should not remain upon the cross on the sabbath day, (for that sabbath day was an high day,) besought Pilate that their legs might be broken, and that they might be taken away.
- NKJV Therefore, because it was the Preparation Day, that the bodies should not remain on the cross on the Sabbath (for that Sabbath was a high day), the Jews asked Pilate that their legs might be broken, and that they might be taken away.
- NASB Now then, since it was the day of preparation, to prevent the bodies from remaining on the cross on the Sabbath (for that Sabbath was a high day), the Jews requested of Pilate that their legs be broken, and the bodies be taken away.
- NLT It was the day of preparation, and the Jewish leaders didn’t want the bodies hanging there the next day, which was the Sabbath (and a very special Sabbath, because it was Passover week). So they asked Pilate to hasten their deaths by ordering that their legs be broken. Then their bodies could be taken down.
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 ask Pilate to hasten the deaths so bodies won't remain on the Sabbath. Their scruple about ritual purity sets up the next events.
Overview
Breaking the legs sped death by suffocation, allowing burial before the special Passover Sabbath (Deuteronomy 21:23). Ironically, the leaders are meticulous about ceremonial law while having engineered an unjust execution. Their request providentially leads to the events that fulfill Scripture concerning Jesus' bones and his pierced side.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 12
- John 19:14It was the day of Preparation for the Passover, about the sixth hour. And Pilate said to the Jews, “Here is your King!”
- John 19:42And because it was the Jewish day of Preparation and the tomb was nearby, they placed Jesus there.
- Mark 15:42Now it was already evening. Since it was Preparation Day (that is, the day before the Sabbath),
- Josh 8:29He hung the king of Ai on a tree until evening, and at sunset Joshua commanded that they take down the body from the tree and throw it down at the entrance of the city gate. And over it they raised a large pile of rocks, which remains to this day.
- Prov 12:10A righteous man regards the life of his animal, but the tender mercies of the wicked are only cruelty.
- Exod 12:16On the first day you are to hold a sacred assembly, and another on the seventh day. You must not do any work on those days, except to prepare the meals—that is all you may do.
- John 19:1Then Pilate took Jesus and had Him flogged.
- Mic 3:3You eat the flesh of my people after stripping off their skin and breaking their bones. You chop them up like flesh for the cooking pot, like meat in a cauldron.”
- Lev 23:7–16On the first day you are to hold a sacred assembly; you are not to do any regular work.
- Deut 21:22–23If a man has committed a sin worthy of death, and he is executed, and you hang his body on a tree,
- Josh 10:26–27After this, Joshua struck down and killed the kings, and he hung their bodies on five trees and left them there until evening.
- Matt 27:62The next day, the one after Preparation Day, the chief priests and Pharisees assembled before Pilate.
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