And the governor said, Why, what evil hath he done? But they cried out the more, saying, Let him be crucified.
Parallel translations
- WEB But the governor said, “Why? What evil has he done?” But they cried out exceedingly, saying, “Let him be crucified!”
- BSB “Why?” asked Pilate. “What evil has He done?” But they shouted all the louder, “Crucify Him!”
- NKJV Then the governor said, “Why, what evil has He done?” But they cried out all the more, saying, “Let Him be crucified!”
- NASB But he said, “Why, what evil has He done?” Yet they kept shouting all the more, saying, “Crucify Him!”
- NLT “Why?” Pilate demanded. “What crime has he committed?” But the mob roared even louder, “Crucify him!”
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 protests Jesus' innocence, but the crowd only shouts louder for crucifixion. Reason yields to mob fury.
Overview
Pilate's question, 'What evil has he done?', is an admission that he finds no crime in Jesus, yet the crowd answers only with louder demands. The scene exposes the irrationality of their hatred and the injustice of the proceedings. Jesus is condemned not for any wrong but to fulfill God's saving purpose through His undeserved suffering.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 11
- Acts 23:12–15And when it was day, certain of the Jews banded together, and bound themselves under a curse, saying that they would neither eat nor drink till they had killed Paul.
- Acts 7:57Then they cried out with a loud voice, and stopped their ears, and ran upon him with one accord,
- Gen 37:18–19And when they saw him afar off, even before he came near unto them, they conspired against him to slay him.
- Acts 23:10And when there arose a great dissension, the chief captain, fearing lest Paul should have been pulled in pieces of them, commanded the soldiers to go down, and to take him by force from among them, and to bring him into the castle.
- Acts 17:5–7But the Jews which believed not, moved with envy, took unto them certain lewd fellows of the baser sort, and gathered a company, and set all the city on an uproar, and assaulted the house of Jason, and sought to bring them out to the people.
- Acts 22:22–23And they gave him audience unto this word, and then lifted up their voices, and said, Away with such a fellow from the earth: for it is not fit that he should live.
- 1 Sam 19:3–15And I will go out and stand beside my father in the field where thou art, and I will commune with my father of thee; and what I see, that I will tell thee.
- 1 Sam 20:31–33For as long as the son of Jesse liveth upon the ground, thou shalt not be established, nor thy kingdom. Wherefore now send and fetch him unto me, for he shall surely die.
- Matt 21:38–39But when the husbandmen saw the son, they said among themselves, This is the heir; come, let us kill him, and let us seize on his inheritance.
- 1 Sam 22:14–19Then Ahimelech answered the king, and said, And who is so faithful among all thy servants as David, which is the king’s son in law, and goeth at thy bidding, and is honourable in thine house?
- Acts 21:28–31Crying out, Men of Israel, help: This is the man, that teacheth all men every where against the people, and the law, and this place: and further brought Greeks also into the temple, and hath polluted this holy place.
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Christ at the center
Matthew presents Jesus as the promised King — son of David, son of Abraham — the new Moses and true Israel in whom every prophecy reaches 'that it might be fulfilled.'
How Matthew 27:23 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.