and he entered the Praetorium again and *said to Jesus, “Where are You from?” But Jesus gave him no answer.
Parallel translations
- WEB He entered into the Praetorium again, and said to Jesus, “Where are you from?” But Jesus gave him no answer.
- KJV And went again into the judgment hall, and saith unto Jesus, Whence art thou? But Jesus gave him no answer.
- BSB and he went back into the Praetorium. “Where are You from?” he asked. But Jesus gave no answer.
- NKJV and went again into the Praetorium, and said to Jesus, “Where are You from?” But Jesus gave him no answer.
- NLT He took Jesus back into the headquarters again and asked him, “Where are you from?” But Jesus gave no answer.
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
Pilate asks Jesus where he is from, but Jesus gives no answer. His silence fulfills Scripture and shows his sovereign composure.
Overview
Pilate's question probes Jesus' origin, perhaps fearing a heavenly source. Jesus' silence echoes Isaiah 53:7, where the Servant is led like a lamb and does not open his mouth. He has already testified to the truth (18:37); now his silence before an unjust judge displays both dignity and submission to the Father's plan.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 12
- John 18:33Pilate therefore entered again into the Praetorium, called Jesus, and said to him, “Are you the King of the Jews?”
- Isa 53:7He was oppressed, yet when he was afflicted he didn’t open his mouth. As a lamb that is led to the slaughter, and as a sheep that before its shearers is silent, so he didn’t open his mouth.
- John 8:14Jesus answered them, “Even if I testify about myself, my testimony is true, for I know where I came from, and where I am going; but you don’t know where I came from, or where I am going.
- John 9:29–30We know that God has spoken to Moses. But as for this man, we don’t know where he comes from.”
- Mark 15:3–5The chief priests accused him of many things.
- Phil 1:28and in nothing frightened by the adversaries, which is for them a proof of destruction, but to you of salvation, and that from God.
- Ps 38:13–15But I, as a deaf man, don’t hear. I am as a mute man who doesn’t open his mouth.
- Matt 26:63But Jesus held his peace. The high priest answered him, “I adjure you by the living God, that you tell us whether you are the Christ, the Son of God.”
- Judg 13:6Then the woman came and told her husband, saying, “A man of God came to me, and his face was like the face of the angel of God, very awesome. I didn’t ask him where he was from, neither did he tell me his name;
- Acts 8:32–33Now the passage of the Scripture which he was reading was this, “He was led as a sheep to the slaughter. As a lamb before his shearer is silent, so he doesn’t open his mouth.
- Matt 27:12–14When he was accused by the chief priests and elders, he answered nothing.
- John 18:37Pilate therefore said to him, “Are you a king then?” Jesus answered, “You say that I am a king. For this reason I have been born, and for this reason I have come into the world, that I should testify to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth listens to my voice.”
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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 19:9 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.