Pilate asked Jesus, “Are you the king of the Jews?” Jesus replied, “You have said it.”
Parallel translations
- WEB Pilate asked him, “Are you the King of the Jews?” He answered, “So you say.”
- KJV And Pilate asked him, Art thou the King of the Jews? And he answering said unto him, Thou sayest it.
- BSB So Pilate questioned Him, “Are You the King of the Jews?” “You have said so,” Jesus replied.
- NKJV Then Pilate asked Him, “Are You the King of the Jews?” He answered and said to him, “ It is as you say.”
- NASB Pilate questioned Him: “So You are the King of the Jews?” And He answered him, “It is as you say.”
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 if Jesus is the King of the Jews, and Jesus affirms it. The political charge centers on his kingship.
Overview
The leaders frame the accusation in terms Rome would punish, casting Jesus as a rival king. Jesus' measured reply acknowledges the truth while not endorsing their distortion. He is indeed a king, though his kingdom is not of this world, and his royal identity will be ironically proclaimed throughout his passion.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 10
- Matt 2:2“Where is he who is born King of the Jews? For we saw his star in the east, and have come to worship him.”
- Matt 27:11–14Now Jesus stood before the governor: and the governor asked him, saying, “Are you the King of the Jews?” Jesus said to him, “So you say.”
- 1 Tim 6:13I command you before God, who gives life to all things, and before Christ Jesus, who before Pontius Pilate testified the good confession,
- Mark 15:18They began to salute him, “Hail, King of the Jews!”
- Mark 15:26The superscription of his accusation was written over him, “THE KING OF THE JEWS.”
- Luke 23:2–3They began to accuse him, saying, “We found this man perverting the nation, forbidding paying taxes to Caesar, and saying that he himself is Christ, a king.”
- Mark 15:12Pilate again asked them, “What then should I do to him whom you call the King of the Jews?”
- John 18:29–38Pilate therefore went out to them, and said, “What accusation do you bring against this man?”
- 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.”
- Mark 15:9Pilate answered them, saying, “Do you want me to release to you the King of the Jews?”
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Christ at the center
Mark drives urgently to the cross, showing Jesus the Son of God as the suffering Servant who 'came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.'
How Mark 15:2 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.