But when Pilate heard Galilee mentioned, he asked if the man was a Galilean.
Parallel translations
- KJV When Pilate heard of Galilee, he asked whether the man were a Galilaean.
- BSB When Pilate heard this, he asked if the man was a Galilean.
- NKJV When Pilate heard of Galilee, he asked if the Man were a Galilean.
- NASB Now when Pilate heard this, he asked whether the Man was a Galilean.
- NLT “Oh, is he a Galilean?” Pilate asked.
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
Hearing of Galilee, Pilate asks whether Jesus is a Galilean. He looks for a way to pass off the difficult case.
Overview
Pilate seizes on the reference to Galilee to consider transferring jurisdiction. His question reveals his reluctance to condemn a man he judges innocent. The detail advances the narrative toward Jesus' appearance before Herod, fulfilling the pattern of His being passed among the authorities.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 2
- Luke 13:1Now there were some present at the same time who told him about the Galileans, whose blood Pilate had mixed with their sacrifices.
- Acts 5:37After this man, Judas of Galilee rose up in the days of the enrollment, and drew away some people after him. He also perished, and all, as many as obeyed him, were scattered abroad.
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Christ at the center
Luke shows Jesus the Savior for all — outsiders, the poor, the nations — the one who, on the Emmaus road, opened all the Scriptures to show they were about himself.
How Luke 23:6 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
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