“Why?” Pilate demanded. “What crime has he committed?” But the mob roared even louder, “Crucify him!”
Parallel translations
- WEB But the governor said, “Why? What evil has he done?” But they cried out exceedingly, saying, “Let him be crucified!”
- KJV And the governor said, Why, what evil hath he done? But they cried out the more, 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!”
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 23:12–15When it was day, some of the Jews banded together, and bound themselves under a curse, saying that they would neither eat nor drink until they had killed Paul.
- Acts 7:57But they cried out with a loud voice, and stopped their ears, and rushed at him with one accord.
- Gen 37:18–19They saw him afar off, and before he came near to them, they conspired against him to kill him.
- Acts 23:10When a great argument arose, the commanding officer, fearing that Paul would be torn in pieces by them, commanded the soldiers to go down and take him by force from among them, and bring him into the barracks.
- Acts 17:5–7But the unpersuaded Jews took along some wicked men from the marketplace, and gathering a crowd, set the city in an uproar. Assaulting the house of Jason, they sought to bring them out to the people.
- Acts 22:22–23They listened to him until he said that; then they lifted up their voice, and said, “Rid the earth of this fellow, for he isn’t fit to live!”
- 1 Sam 19:3–15I will go out and stand beside my father in the field where you are, and I will talk with my father about you; and if I see anything, I will tell you.”
- 1 Sam 20:31–33For as long as the son of Jesse lives on the earth, you will not be established, nor will your kingdom. Therefore now send and bring him to me, for he shall surely die!”
- Matt 21:38–39But the farmers, when they saw the son, said among themselves, ‘This is the heir. Come, let’s kill him, and seize his inheritance.’
- 1 Sam 22:14–19Then Ahimelech answered the king, and said, “Who among all your servants is so faithful as David, who is the king’s son-in-law, and is taken into your council, and is honorable in your house?
- Acts 21:28–31crying out, “Men of Israel, help! This is the man who teaches all men everywhere against the people, and the law, and this place. Moreover, he also brought Greeks into the temple, and has defiled 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
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