John 18:28-32 Then led they Jesus from Caiaphas to the hall of judgment: and it was early; and they themselves went not into the judgment hall… is introduced without any further characterization as a well-known personage, the name Pontius Pilate showing that he was connected with the Geus Pontia, and that one of his ancestors or himself had received the cognomen Pilatus, adorned or furnished with a javelin (Virgil AEn. 12:121), on account of meritorious services. Called "the governor" (Matthew 27:2; Tacit. Ann.15:44), he was the fifth Roman procurator of Judaea, his predecessors having been Caponius, Marcus Ambivius, Annius Rufus, Valereius Gratus. Pilate had held the office for ten years during the reign of Tiberius. His arbitrary conduct in introducing Caesar's ensigns into Jerusalem, and in bringing water into the city for which he paid with money belonging to the Temple, led to successive risings amongst his subjects (Jos. "Ant." and "Wars"). Philo accuses him of "bribery, violence, robbery, cruelty, insult, continual executions without semblance of justice, endless and unendurable atrocities." If this, perhaps, as the testimony of an enemy is too strong, it is certain that Pilate was a Roman governor of the regulation type, who acted without the slightest regard for the peculiarities (especially religious) of the provinces over which he ruled, and punished every opposition to his arbitrary conduct with the greatest severity. It would not be easy to find another man so well fitted to drive the Jewish nation to desperation. Accused before Vitellus, the preces of Syria, he was deposed, and sent to Rome to answer for his administration. (T. Whitelaw, D. D.) Parallel Verses KJV: Then led they Jesus from Caiaphas unto the hall of judgment: and it was early; and they themselves went not into the judgment hall, lest they should be defiled; but that they might eat the passover. |
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