Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of John 19:11
Jesus answered, Thou couldest have no power [at all] against me, except it were given thee from above: therefore he that delivered me unto thee hath the greater sin.
11. Thou couldest ] Or, wouldest. This is Christ’s last word to Pilate; a defence of the supremacy of God, and a protest against the claim of any human potentate to be irresponsible.
from above ] i.e. from God. This even Pilate could understand: had Jesus said ‘from My Father’ he would have remained uninstructed. The point is not, that Pilate is an instrument ordained for the carrying out of God’s purposes (Act 2:23); he was such, but that is not the meaning here. Rather, that the possession and exercise of all authority is the gift of God; Joh 3:27; Rom 13:1-7 (see notes there). To interpret ‘from above’ of the higher tribunal of the Sanhedrin is quite inadequate. Comp. Joh 3:3; Joh 3:7; Joh 3:31; Jas 1:17; Jas 3:15; Jas 3:17, where the same adverb, anthen, is used: see notes in each place.
therefore ] Better, for this cause (Joh 12:18; Joh 12:27); comp. Joh 1:31, Joh 5:16; Joh 5:18, Joh 7:22, Joh 8:47.
he that delivered me unto thee ] Caiaphas, the representative of the Sanhedrin and of the nation. The expression rendered ‘he that delivered’ is used in Joh 13:11, Joh 18:2; Joh 18:5 of Judas. But the addition ‘to thee’ shews that Judas is not meant; Judas had not betrayed Jesus to Pilate but to the Sanhedrin. The same verb is used of the Sanhedrin delivering Him to Pilate, Joh 18:35.
hath the greater sin ] Because he had the opportunity of knowing Who Jesus was. Once more we have the expression, peculiar to S. John, ‘to have sin’ (Joh 9:41, Joh 15:22; Joh 15:24; 1Jn 1:8).
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
No power – No such power as you claim. You have not originated the power which you have. You have just as much as is given, and your ability extends no further.
Except it were given thee – It has been conceded or granted to you. God has ordered your life, your circumstances, and the extent of your dominion. This was a reproof of a proud man in office, who was forgetful of the great Source of his authority, and who supposed that by his own talents or fortune he had risen to his present place. Alas, how many men in office forget that God gives them their rank, and vainly think that it is owing to their own talents or merits that they have risen to such an elevation. Men of office and talent, as well as others, should remember that God gives them what they have, and that they have no influence except as it is conceded to them from on high.
From above – From God, or by his direction, and by the arrangements of his providence. Rom 13:1; there is no power but of God; the powers that be are ordained of God. The words from above often refer to God or to heaven, Jam 1:17; Jam 3:15, Jam 3:17; Joh 3:3 (in the Greek). The providence of God was remarkable in so ordering affairs that a man, flexible and yielding like Pilate, should be entrusted with power in Judea. Had it been a man firm and unyielding in his duty one who could not be terrified or awed by the multitude Jesus would not have been delivered to be crucified, Act 2:23. God thus brings about his wise ends; and while Pilate was free, and acted out his nature without compulsion, yet the purposes of God, long before predicted, were fulfilled, and Jesus made an atonement for the sins of the world. Thus God overrules the wickedness and folly of men. He so orders affairs that the true character of men shall be brought out, and makes use of that character to advance his own great purposes.
Therefore – On this account. You are a magistrate. Your power, as such, is given you by God. You are not, indeed, guilty for accusing me, or malignantly arraigning me; but you have power intrusted to you over my life; and the Jews, who knew this, and who knew that the power of a magistrate was given to him by God, have the greater sin for seeking my condemnation before a tribunal appointed by God, and for endeavoring to obtain so solemn a sanction to their own malignant and wicked purposes. They have endeavored to avail themselves of the civil power, the sacred appointment of God, and on this account their sin is greater. This does not mean that their sin was greater than that of Pilate, though that was true; but their sin was greater on account of the fact that they perseveringly and malignantly endeavored to obtain the sanction of the magistrate to their wicked proceedings. Nor does it mean, because God had purposed his death Act 2:23, and given power to Pilate, that therefore their sin was greater, for Gods purpose in the case made it neither more nor less. It did not change the nature of their free acts. This passage teaches no such doctrine, but that their sin was aggravated by malignantly endeavoring to obtain the sanction of a magistrate who was invested with authority by God, and who wielded the power that God gave him. By this Pilate ought to have been convinced, and was convinced, of their wickedness, and hence he sought more and more to release him.
He that delivered me – The singular here is put for the plural, including Judas, the high priests, and the Sanhedrin.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Verse 11. Hath the greater sin.] It is a sin in thee to condemn me, while thou art convinced in thy conscience that I am innocent: but the Jews who delivered me to thee, and Judas who delivered me to the Jews, have the greater crime to answer for. Thy ignorance in some measure excuses thee; but the rage and malice of the Jews put them at present out of the reach of mercy.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
Our Lord checks Pilate modestly for boasting of his authority as a judge to absolve or condemn him; declaring, that all the power he had was derived from God, who in his eternal counsels had determined this thing, which must therefore come to pass: but withal lets him know, that this neither excused him, nor much less the Jews, who were to execute the Divine purposes. Pilate was to look to Gods revealed will, not his secret counsels, of which he could have no knowledge; but he saith, they who had delivered him to him had the greater sin: he did act but as a judge upon their accusations; they procured the false witness, they would not be satisfied without his blood, and they sinned against much more light.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
11. Thou couldestrather,”shouldst.”
have no power at all againstmeneither to crucify nor to release, nor to do anythingwhatever against Me [BENGEL].
except it were“unlessit had been.”
given thee from abovethatis, “Thou thinkest too much of thy power, Pilate: against Methat power is none, save what is meted out to thee by special divineappointment, for a special end.”
therefore he that deliveredme unto theeCaiaphas, too witbut he only as representingthe Jewish authorities as a body.
hath the greater sinashaving better opportunities and more knowledge of such matters.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
Jesus answered,…. With great intrepidity and courage, with freedom and boldness, as being not at all dismayed with his threatenings, or affected with his proud boasts, and in order to expose the vanity of them:
thou couldst have no power at all against me, except it were given thee from above: meaning, not from the Jewish sanhedrim, whose court of judicature was in the temple, which was higher than the other part of the city; nor from the Roman emperor, or senate of Rome, the higher powers; by whom Pilate was made governor of Judea, and a judge in all causes relating to life and death; but reference is had to the place from whence he came, and to the decree and council of God above, and the agreement between the eternal three in heaven. Christ speaks of a power he had against him, that is, of taking away his life; he had no lawful power to do it at all; nor any power, right or wrong, had it not been given him by God: and which is to be ascribed, not merely to the general providence of God, without which nothing is done in this world; but to the determinate counsel of God, relating to this particular action of the crucifying of Christ; otherwise Christ, as God, could have struck Pilate his judge with death immediately, and without so doing could as easily have escaped out of his hands, as he had sometimes done out of the hands of the Jews; and, as man and Mediator, he could have prayed to his Father for, and have had, more than twelve legions of angels, which would soon have rescued him: but this was not to be; power was given to Pilate from heaven against him; not for any evil he himself had committed, or merely to gratify the envy and malice of the Jews, but for the salvation of God’s elect, and for the glorifying of the divine perfections: and to this the Jews themselves agree in general,
“that all the things of this world depend on above; and when they agree above first, (they say s,) they agree below; and that there is no power below, until that
, “power is given from above”; and the whole of that depends on this:”
therefore he that delivered me unto thee, hath the greater sin;
, “than thine”, as the Syriac version adds; and to the same purpose the Persic. Pilate had been guilty of sin already in scourging Christ, and suffering the Roman soldiers to abuse him; and would be guilty of a greater in delivering him up to be crucified, who he knew was innocent: but the sin of Judas in delivering him into the hands of the chief priests and elders, and of the chief priest and elders and people of the Jews, in delivering him to Pilate to crucify him, according to the Roman manner, were greater, inasmuch as theirs proceeded from malice and envy, and was done against greater light and knowledge; for by his works, miracles, and ministry, as well as by their own prophecies, they might, or must have known, that he was the Messiah, and Son of God: and it is to be observed, that as there is a difference in sin, and that all sins are not equal, the circumstances of things making an alteration; so that God’s decree concerning the delivery of his Son into the hands of sinful men, does not excuse the sin of the betrayers of him.
s Zohar in Gen. fol. 99. 1.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
Thou wouldest have ( ). Imperfect active indicative without , but apodosis of second-class condition as in John 15:22; John 15:24.
Except it were given thee ( ). Periphrastic past perfect indicative of (a permanent possession).
From above (). From God (cf. 3:3), the same doctrine of government stated by Paul in Ro 13:1f. Pilate did not get his “authority” from the Sanhedrin, but from Caesar. Jesus makes God the source of all real “authority.”
Hath greater sin ( ). The same idiom in 9:41. Caiaphas has his authority from God also and has used Pilate for his own base end.
Fuente: Robertson’s Word Pictures in the New Testament
He that delivered. Caiaphas.
Fuente: Vincent’s Word Studies in the New Testament
1) “Jesus answered,” (apekrithe lesous) “Jesus replied directly,” to Pilate’s brusque, rough scolding, Joh 19:10.
2) “Thou couldest have no power at all against me,” (ouk eiches aksousian kat’ emou oukemian) “You have, hold, or possess no authority against me at all,” except by the mercy of God, in whose mercy and providence he held his office as governor, La 3:22; Act 4:7; Act 4:28; Act 17:28.
3) “Except it were given thee from above:” (ei me hen dedomenon soi anothen) “Except it exist as having been given (doled out or granted to you) from above,” from heaven, as your temporary hour to judge, for which decisions you too will be judged before God, Ecc 12:14; Mat 12:36; Luk 22:53.
4) “Therefore he that delivered me unto thee,” (dia touto ho paradous me soi) “On account of this the one who delivered me to you,” who was Caiaphas, the high priest that year, and who had long sought His life, Joh 11:49-53; Joh 18:3; Joh 18:28-29, or it may have included Judas Iscariot who delivered Jesus to the mass band of Jewish religious Christ-hating rulers, Mar 14:44; Joh 19:3.
5) “Hath the greater sin.” (meizona hamaritian echei) “He has the greater sin,” against his account. Our Lord seems to have recognized Pilate as a weak-willed man, a tool of stronger men, yet responsible for his actions, Jas 4:17; Luk 12:47.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
11. Thou wouldest have no power. Some explain this in a general sense, that nothing is done in the world but by the permission of God; as if Christ had said, that Pilate, though he thinks that he can do all things, will do nothing more than God permits. The statement is, no doubt, true, that this world is regulated by the disposal of God, and that, whatever may be the efforts of wicked men, still they cannot even move a finger but as the secret power of God directs. But I prefer the opinion of those who confine this passage to the office of the magistrate; for by these words Christ rebukes the foolish boasting of Pilate, in extolling himself, as if his power had not been from God; as if he had said, Thou claimest every thing for thyself’, as if thou hadst not to render an account one day to God; but it was not without His providence that thou wast made a judge. Consider, then, that His heavenly throne is far higher than thy tribunal. It is impossible to find any admonition better fitted to repress the insolence of those who rule over others, that they may not abuse their authority. The father imagines that he may do what he pleases towards his children, the husband towards his wife, the master towards his servants, the prince towards his people, unless when they look to God, who hath determined that their authority shall be limited by a fixed rule.
Therefore he who delivered me to thee. Some think that this declares the Jews to be more guilty than Pilate, because, with wicked hatred and malicious treachery, they are enraged against an innocent man, that is, those of them who were private individuals, and not clothed with lawful authority. But I think that this circumstance renders their guilt more heinous and less excusable on another ground, that they constrain a divinely appointed government to comply with their lawless desires; for it is a monstrous sacrilege to pervert a holy ordinance of God for promoting any wickedness. The robber, who, with his own hand, cuts the throat of a wretched passenger, is justly held in abhorrence; but he who, under the forms of a judicial trial, puts to death an innocent man, is much more wicked. Yet Christ does not aggravate their guilt, for the purpose of extenuating that of Pilate; for he does not institute a comparison between him and them, but rather includes them all in the same condemnation, because they equally pollute a holy power. There is only this difference, that he makes direct attack on the Jews, but indirectly censures Pilate, who complies with their wicked desire.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
(11) Thou couldest have no power at all against me, except it were given thee from above.Pilate had twice said, with something of the pride of his position, I have power. Jesus says that he had of himself neither power of life nor power of death, that he had no power against Him but that which was given to him from above. By this is meant, of course, the power which was given to him by God, and the form in which it is expressed (from above) has a special force in connection with the question of Joh. 19:8, Whence comest Thou? That power of which he boasted existed only because He against whom he boasts submitted to it of His own will. He that cometh from above is above all (Joh. 3:31). But that power was given to him of God for the carrying out of the Messianic purposes which rendered the death of Jesus necessary. The position of Pilate was that of a half-conscious agent wielding this power. He indeed had sin, for he acted against his own better nature; but not the greater sin, for he did not act against the full light of truth.
He that delivered me unto thee hath the greater sin.This cannot mean Judas, who is nowhere mentioned in this connection, and is excluded by the words unto thee. Judas delivered our Lord to the Jews. It was the Sanhedrin, and especially Caiaphas, the high priest, who, professing to represent God on earth, had delivered up the Son of God, and had declared that by the law He ought to die. (Comp. Joh. 11:49; Joh. 18:14-28.)
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
11. No power at all But here is a majesty above the majesty of Rome. The prisoner of Pilate is truly greater than Pilate himself. Again he asserts, what he asserted at his arrest, (Mat 26:53,) that his surrender was perfectly voluntary, that the Scripture might be fulfilled. Only because it was accepted as a foreknown fact in the divine plan, and predicted in Scripture, does Jesus consent to Pilate’s power. Pilate would have no power but that it was given from above.
Therefore Because I am that Divine Being above all human power.
He that delivered me unto thee The word delivered is the same in Greek as the usual word for betrayed. The reference therefore is, primarily, to Judas; for we have already noted that the words just used are parallel with his words used at his arrest.
Greater sin The more divine the victim, the greater the sin of his betrayal and delivery.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
‘Jesus answered him, “You would have no power against me unless it was given to you from above. That is why he who delivered me to you has greater sin”.’
Jesus acknowledged Pilate’s earthly authority, although pointing out that it was a deputed authority. The words could mean that Pilate had the authority ‘from above’, that is from the Emperor, and that that was what gave him the power to do what he said. Possibly that is how Pilate took it. But the greater meaning is clear to the reader. It was that he had authority because the Lord of the Universe was allowing it. It was because of that that he had been put in this position. He had not chosen to be there. He was but a pawn, even though a responsible pawn. So, although he might not decide as he should, it would not be with a deliberate vindictiveness like that of his accusers. Thus his sin was less. It was, however, still sin for he had free choice and little excuse.
‘He who delivered me.’ The contrast is between the one who ‘delivered’ Him up, and Pilate, so that we must see the ‘he’ as the High Priest, but behind him lay his cronies. Those responsible for worship in God’s Temple would now offer up God’s Son.
Pilate probably recognised both meanings. He was pacified that the man recognised his authority from Caesar, of which he was no doubt very proud. It had been hardly obtained. And he accepted that possibly it might be by the permission of some supreme being. Either way it reminded him that he was speaking in Caesar’s name and gave him the motive for making a further effort for the man’s release.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
Joh 19:11 . With a clear and holy defiance, to defend against this expression of personal power at least, the supremacy of the Father, Jesus now speaks His last word to Pilate. He points the latter, with his which he has put forward, by the reference , to the highest authority which has invested him with that , but at the same time, with conciliatory mildness, deduces from it a standard to diminish the guilt of the judge. The saying breathes truth and grace .
] Thou wouldst not have . [235] “Indicativus imperfecti sine h. l. in firmissima asseveratione longe est aptissimus,” Khner, ad Xen. Anab . vii. 6. 21. See also Stallbaum, ad Plat. Sympos . p. 190 C; Bremi, ad Lys. Exc . IV. p. 438 ff.; Winer, p. 286 [E. T. p. 383].
] Namely, the . See Khner, II. sec. 421; Bernhardy, p. 335. Not: the definite act of condemnation (Steinmeyer).
] i.e. from God , Joh 3:3 ; Joh 3:31 . That even the heathen could understand. Had Jesus said , he would not have understood it. Pilate stands before Jesus with the to destroy Him; but he has this power from God , and he would not possess it if God had not appointed him for the fulfilment of His destiny concerning Jesus. For this reason, however ( ), that is, because he here acts not in independent self-determination, but as the divinely-ordained organ of the procedure which is pending against Him, he is not indeed free from sin, since he condemns Jesus contrary to his own conviction of His innocence; but greater is the guilt of him who delivered Jesus into Pilate’s hands, since that divinely-bestowed is wanting to the latter. The logical connection of the rests on the fact that the is the high priest , to whom, consequently, no power is given by God over Him, the Messiah , who in truth is higher than the high priest; to Pilate , on the other hand, the Roman potentate, this power is lent, because, as bearer of the highest magisterial authority, he derives his warrant from God (comp. Rom 13:1 ), to decide concerning every one who is brought before his court, and therefore also concerning the Messiah, who has been accused and delivered up as a pretender to a crown. This power Pilate possessed simply as a Roman potentate; hence this point of view does not confuse the matter (Luthardt), but makes it clear . As . is not to be transmuted into the notion of permission (Chrysostom), so also there is nothing to be found in which is not yielded by the immediate context. Hence we are not to understand with Euth. Zigabenus (comp. Theophylact): , so that the lesser degree of guilt rests on the weakness and timidity of Pilate (comp. Luther); nor with Grotius (comp. Bengel, Baeumlein, and already Ruperti): because thou canst not know so well as the Jews (to whom . is referred) who I am; nor even with Lampe: because the Jews have received no such power from God, have rather assumed it to themselves (Luthardt); but solely in harmony with the context: because thou hast the disposal of me, not from thy proper sovereignty, but from having been divinely empowered thereto .
] he who delivers me up to thee ; the affair is still in actu , those who deliver Him up stand without; hence the pres . The expression itself, however, cannot, as elsewhere in John (Joh 18:2 , Joh 13:2 , Joh 11:21 , Joh 12:4 , Joh 6:64 ; Joh 6:71 ; comp. Mar 14:21 ), mean Judas , who here lies entirely remote from the comparison, especially since is used with it, nor even (so most interpreters) be understood collectively of the Jews . It is rather the chief of the Jews, the high priest Caiaphas , who is meant (so also Bengel, and now Ewald; comp. Luthardt, Baumgarten, p. 388, Hengstenberg), who ought to have recognised the Messiah, and not to have assumed to himself any power over Him.
] compares the sin of the with that of Pilate , not with itself, so that its guilt is designated as aggravated by the misuse of the of Pilate (Calvin, Wetstein, Godet, also Baur). [236] The guilt which belonged to the in and by himself, was in truth not aggravated by the delivering over into the hands of the regular magistracy , which was rather the orderly mode of procedure. [237]
[235] Buttmann, on account of the absence of , would interpret the reading as follows: “ Thou hadst , i.e. when thou didst receive the accusation, against me no power over me, unless it was given to thee by God for that purpose.” See Stud. u. Krit. 1858, p. 501. But irrespective of the dragging in, in this necessitous manner, of this exacter definition of time in , it is in truth precisely the undoubted possession of the which forms the presupposition of the . . . that follows. With the reading , which Buttmann prefers, he explains: “ thou hast no power over me, if it had not been given thee from above,” p. 494. But why in that case should the pluperf. stand? Instead of , must have been used, in conformity with the sense.
[236] Baur in the Theol. Jahrb . 1854, p. 283: “Since thou hast in my case the magisterial power over life and death, those who surrender me to thee, incur by their action, in itself immoral, all the greater guilt, if they abuse the magisterial authority given to thee for their own objects.”
[237] According to Steinmeyer, p. 156, Jesus would say: “Thy power, on the other hand, to release me, is already as good as wrested from thee on the part of the . ; but on that very account thy sin is the less.” But this interpretation of is in truth altogether untextual, as the entire conception to which it would refer is first imported.
Fuente: Heinrich August Wilhelm Meyer’s New Testament Commentary
11 Jesus answered, Thou couldest have no power at all against me, except it were given thee from above: therefore he that delivered me unto thee hath the greater sin.
Ver. 11. Except it were given thee from above ] Therefore be good in thine office, lest thou give a dear account to him that is higher than the highest, as Solomon hath it; who therefore calls the judgment seat “the holy place,”Ecc 8:10Ecc 8:10 . Pilate was afterwards kicked off the bench by Gaius, for his perverting of justice, and, for grief and shame, became his own death’s man.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
11. ] This last testimony of our Lord before Pilate is a witness to the truth: opening in a wonderful manner the secret of Pilate’s vaunted power, of His own humble submission, and the sinfulness of His enemies. This saying, observes Meyer, breathes truth and grace. The great stress is on the word , on which Grotius strikingly says ( ungewohnlich treffend , Stier), “inde scilicet, unde ortus sum!” so that it answers remarkably to the above. We must not dream of any allusion to Rome , or the Sanhedrim , in this , as the sources of Pilate’s power: the word was not so meant, nor so understood: see Joh 19:12 .
, not : the neuter is more general, requiring the supply, as Meyer, of , and embraces in itself the whole delegation from above, power included q. d. except by appointment from above . Lampe (in loc.) remarks: “Concedit Pilato (1) potestatem . Agnoscebat fori humani authoritatem, quia regnum ejus non erat terrenum, humanos magistratus destruens. Neque Pilato et Romanis jus in Judos disputabat. (2) Exaggerat illam potestatem, ut superne datam . Hc est doctrina Christiana, omnem potestatem esse a Deo ( Rom 13:1-2 ). (3) Agnoscit potestatem illam se in Seipsum extendere, cum omnia secum ex decreto divino agerentur ( Act 4:28 ).”
] on this account, viz. because of what has just been asserted, . . .
The connexion is somewhat difficult. I take it to be this: ‘God has given to thee power over me; not insight into the character which I claim, that of being the son of God but simply power: that insight belonged to others, viz. the Sanhedrim, and their president, whose office it was to judge that claim; they have judged against the clearest evidence and rejected me, the Son of God; thy sin, that of blindly exercising thy power , sin though it be, is therefore less than theirs , who being God’s own people, and with God’s word of prophecy before them (and the High Priest, with his own prophetic word before him, see ch. Joh 18:14 ), deliberately gave me over into thy hand.’ It is important to this, which I believe to be the only right understanding of the words, to remember that Pilate, from Joh 19:6 , was making himself simply their tool; He was the sinful, but at the same time the blind instrument of their deliberate malice. Nearly so Lcke and De Wette. Bengel and Stier understand “quia Me non nosti” as the subject of , but Lcke rightly says that . , and nothing else must be that subject. So Meyer also.
., beyond question, Caiaphas , to whom the initiative on the Jewish side belonged; “cujus authoritate omnia agebantur,” Lampe. At the same time the whole Sanhedrim are probably included under the guilt of their chief.
In this is an implied reference to a higher Judge nay, that Judge Himself speaks.
Fuente: Henry Alford’s Greek Testament
Joh 19:11 . Jesus answered, . , “from above,” i.e. , from God. Pilate must be reminded that the power he vaunts is not inherently his, but is given to him for God’s purposes. From this it follows, , that , “he that delivered me unto thee,” to wit, Caiaphas (although the designation being that which is constantly used of Judas it has not unnaturally been referred to him), , “hath greater sin,” not than you, Pilate (as understood by most interpreters), but greater than in other circumstances it would have been. Had Pilate been a mere irresponsible executioner their sin would have been sufficiently heinous; but in using the official representative of God’s truth and justice to fulfil their own wicked and unjust designs, they involve themselves in a darker criminality. So Wetstein: “Comparatur ergo, nisi fallor, peccatum Judaeorum cum suis circumstantiis, cum eodem peccato sine istis circumstantiis: hoc Judaeos aggravat, eosque atrocioris delicti reos agit, quod non per tumultum sed per Praesidem, idque specie juris, me quaerunt de medio tollere”.
Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson
no . . . at all. Greek. ouk oudeis. A double negative.
against. Greek. kata. App-104.
except. Greek. ei me’ = if not,
from above. Greek. anothen. See on Joh 3:3.
therefore = on account of (Greek. dia. App-104. Joh 19:2) this.
he that, &c. : i.e. Caiaphas. Judas had delivered Him to the Sanhedrin, the Sanhedrin to Pilate.
delivered. See on Joh 19:30, “gave up”.
the. Omit “the”.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
11.] This last testimony of our Lord before Pilate is a witness to the truth: opening in a wonderful manner the secret of Pilates vaunted power, of His own humble submission, and the sinfulness of His enemies. This saying, observes Meyer, breathes truth and grace. The great stress is on the word , on which Grotius strikingly says (ungewohnlich treffend, Stier), inde scilicet, unde ortus sum! so that it answers remarkably to the above. We must not dream of any allusion to Rome, or the Sanhedrim, in this , as the sources of Pilates power:-the word was not so meant, nor so understood: see Joh 19:12.
, not :-the neuter is more general, requiring the supply, as Meyer, of ,-and embraces in itself the whole delegation from above, power included-q. d. except by appointment from above. Lampe (in loc.) remarks: Concedit Pilato (1) potestatem. Agnoscebat fori humani authoritatem, quia regnum ejus non erat terrenum, humanos magistratus destruens. Neque Pilato et Romanis jus in Judos disputabat. (2) Exaggerat illam potestatem, ut superne datam. Hc est doctrina Christiana, omnem potestatem esse a Deo (Rom 13:1-2). (3) Agnoscit potestatem illam se in Seipsum extendere, cum omnia secum ex decreto divino agerentur (Act 4:28).
] on this account, viz. because of what has just been asserted, …
The connexion is somewhat difficult. I take it to be this: God has given to thee power over me;-not insight into the character which I claim, that of being the son of God-but simply power: that insight belonged to others, viz. the Sanhedrim, and their president, whose office it was to judge that claim; they have judged against the clearest evidence and rejected me, the Son of God; thy sin, that of blindly exercising thy power, sin though it be, is therefore less than theirs, who being Gods own people, and with Gods word of prophecy before them (and the High Priest, with his own prophetic word before him,-see ch. Joh 18:14), deliberately gave me over into thy hand. It is important to this, which I believe to be the only right understanding of the words, to remember that Pilate, from Joh 19:6, was making himself simply their tool;-He was the sinful, but at the same time the blind instrument of their deliberate malice. Nearly so Lcke and De Wette. Bengel and Stier understand quia Me non nosti as the subject of , but Lcke rightly says that . , and nothing else must be that subject. So Meyer also.
., beyond question, Caiaphas,-to whom the initiative on the Jewish side belonged; cujus authoritate omnia agebantur, Lampe. At the same time the whole Sanhedrim are probably included under the guilt of their chief.
In this is an implied reference to a higher Judge-nay, that Judge Himself speaks.
Fuente: The Greek Testament
Joh 19:11. , no power at all) either to crucify or to let go, or any other power.-, given) It had been given to Pilate to have power.- , therefore) Because thou hast not known (dost not know) Me at all.- , he who hath delivered Me to thee) This was Caiaphas. Pilate, when he heard mention, however, made of the Son of God, was afraid: Caiaphas, when he had heard from the Lord Himself that He was the Son of God, called Him a blasphemer, and judicially pronounced Him guilty of death [Mat 26:65-66].
Fuente: Gnomon of the New Testament
Joh 19:11
Joh 19:11
Jesus answered him, Thou wouldest have no power against me, except it were given thee from above:-Jesus was perfectly composed, realizing that he was guarded and guided by God. Judas was chosen of God to betray Jesus into the hands of his enemies. He was chosen because he was suited in character to do the work. [In reply to Pilates arrogant boast, Jesus asserts the supremacy of God, perhaps with a significant gesture pointing up. God allows him to exert this power.]
therefore he that delivered me unto thee hath greater sin.-Judas and the Jews who accused and delivered him were greater sinners than Pilate. [Some think it no greater sin than Pilate, but greater sin on his own part on account of delivering him to Pilate.]
Fuente: Old and New Testaments Restoration Commentary
sin
Sin. (See Scofield “Rom 3:23”).
Fuente: Scofield Reference Bible Notes
Thou: Joh 3:27, Joh 7:30, Gen 45:7, Gen 45:8, Exo 9:14-16, 1Ch 29:11, Psa 39:9, Psa 62:11, Jer 27:5-8, Lam 3:37, Dan 4:17, Dan 4:25, Dan 4:32, Dan 4:35, Dan 5:21, Mat 6:13, Luk 22:53, Act 2:23, Act 4:28, Rom 11:36, Rom 13:1, Jam 1:17
he: Joh 11:49, Joh 11:50, Joh 18:3, Mat 26:65, Mat 27:2, Mar 14:44
the greater: Joh 9:41, Joh 15:22-24, Luk 7:41, Luk 7:42, Luk 10:11-14, Luk 12:47, Luk 12:48, Heb 6:4-8, Jam 4:17
Reciprocal: Gen 31:29 – the power Jdg 3:12 – and the Lord 1Sa 15:28 – hath given 2Ki 5:1 – by him 2Ki 9:3 – I have anointed 2Ki 17:21 – a great sin 2Ki 18:25 – Amos I now 2Ki 18:29 – Let not 1Ch 29:12 – power 2Ch 32:15 – much less Ezr 6:22 – turned Job 1:12 – Behold Job 32:13 – God Ecc 3:14 – nothing Isa 54:16 – I have Dan 2:37 – power Dan 5:19 – whom he would he slew Mic 2:1 – because Mat 4:5 – taketh Mat 21:44 – but Mar 10:33 – deliver Luk 8:32 – besought Luk 9:44 – for Luk 23:34 – they know not Joh 10:18 – man Joh 18:35 – Thine Act 12:3 – he proceeded Rom 2:12 – For 1Ti 6:13 – who before Rev 6:4 – power Rev 9:5 – it was Rev 13:7 – and power
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
1
Jesus considered it was the proper time for him to speak. He did not deny the power (or authority) that Pilate claimed to have, but informed him that this power was not his directly, but that it had been given him from above. It meant that Pilate was acting as the instrument of a Higher Power, and hence that his part in the solemn drama was not purely upon his own motive; he personally did not wish it to be so. But the Jewish leaders, though also acting in fulfillment of the prophecies, were yet carrying out their personal desires. That is why Jesus told Pilate that he that delivered me unto thee hath the greater sin.
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
Joh 19:11. Jesus answered him, Thou wouldest have no power at all against me, except it had been given thee from above; for this cause he that delivered me up unto thee hath greater sin. These words call attention to the fact that the source whence Pilate derived his power,from above,was the same as that whence Jesus came. In using his power, therefore, against the Son of God, he was really fighting against God. For this cause, also, he that delivered Jesus up to him (not Judas or Caiaphas only, but whosoever shared in the deed) had greater sin. Why greater? Partly, perhaps, because the delivering up was the first step in the process of invoking against God the power of God; mainly, because the sin thus committed was, on the part of those who were guilty of it, a sin against greater light than in Pilates case. The Jews professed to know (and ought to have known) God better than the heathen judge. They ought to have known better than he the true nature of that source from above, from which they derived their power. Therefore their sin, a sin against God, was in them greater than in him. In this reply Jesus had done more than speak as an innocent man. He had assumed a position of superiority alike to His accusers and His judge. The effect produced upon Pilate was proportionally great.
Fuente: A Popular Commentary on the New Testament
Jesus reminded the bullying governor that there was a higher authority than his. Pilate only had authority because God had given it to him (cf. Rom 13:1). Apparently the authority over him that came to Pilate’s mind was Caesar. He immediately sought to set this just man free and thereby avoid trouble with the Emperor over a breach of justice (Joh 19:12).
"Typical of biblical compatibilism, even the worst evil cannot escape the outer boundaries of God’s sovereignty-yet God’s sovereignty never mitigates the responsibility and guilt of moral agents who operate under divine sovereignty, while their voluntary decisions and their evil rebellion never render God utterly contingent (e.g. Gen 50:19-20; Isa 5:10 ff.; Act 4:27-28)" [Note: Carson, The Gospel . . ., p. 600.]
Who did Jesus have in mind when He spoke of the one who had handed Him over to Pilate? Some interpreters believe that Jesus meant Caiaphas. [Note: Morris, p. 705; Blum, p. 338; Tenney, "John," p. 177; Carson, The Gospel . . ., pp. 601-2; Beasley-Murray, p. 340.] This seems most probable since it was Caiaphas who had sent Jesus bound to Pilate (18:28). Another possibility is Judas Iscariot (cf. 6:71; 13:21; 18:2). However, Judas did not hand Jesus over directly to Pilate but to the Jewish authorities. Obviously Jesus did not mean that God was responsible since He viewed the act of handing Him over as a blameworthy sin. Satan might be in view, but Jesus was apparently speaking of another human being. The Jewish rulers do not qualify because Jesus spoke of one other person delivering Him to Pilate.
Both Pilate and Caiaphas were guilty because they treated Jesus as they did. However, Caiaphas was guilty of a worse sin since Caiaphas had received greater power from God than Pilate had. God had given Caiaphas the authority to lead God’s people as Israel’s high priest. Pilate had only received power (Gr. exousia) to govern politically. Specifically Jesus seems to have been referring to Pilate’s power to judge Him. Thus the reason for the greater sin of Caiaphas was his abuse of the greater privilege and power that God had given him.