John 18 · Verse 31

John 18:31

Then said Pilate unto them, Take ye him, and judge him according to your law. The Jews therefore said unto him, It is not lawful for us to put any man to death:

John 18:31, King James Version

John 18:31 in other translations

BSB	“You take Him and judge Him by your own law,” Pilate told them. “We are not permitted to execute anyone,” the Jews replied.
WEB	Pilate therefore said to them, “Take him yourselves, and judge him according to your law.” Therefore the Jews said to him, “It is illegal for us to put anyone to death,”
ASV	Pilate therefore said unto them, Take him yourselves, and judge him according to your law. The Jews said unto him, It is not lawful for us to put any man to death:
YLT	Pilate, therefore, said to them, ‘Take ye him--ye--and according to your law judge him;' the Jews, therefore, said to him, ‘It is not lawful to us to put any one to death;'
DARBY	Pilate therefore said to them, Take him, ye, and judge him according to your law. The Jews therefore said to him, It is not permitted to us to put any one to death;
BBE	Then Pilate said to them, Take him yourselves and let him be judged by your law. But the Jews said to him, We have no right to put any man to death.
Webster	Then said Pilate to them, Take ye him, and judge him according to your law. The Jews therefore said to him, It is not lawful for us to put any man to death:

What does John 18:31 mean?

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on John 18:29-32

29-32. Pilate went out to them, and said, What accusation bring ye against this man?--State your charge.

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Barnes' Notes

Verse 31. Judge him, &c. The Jews had not directly informed him that they had judged him and pronounced him worthy of death. Pilate therefore tells them to inquire into the case; to ascertain the proof of his guilt, and to decide on what the law of Moses pronounced. It has been doubted whether this gave them the power of putting him to death, or whether it was not rather a direction to them to inquire into the case, and inflict on him, if they judged him guilty, the mild punishment which they were yet at liberty to inflict on criminals. Probably the former is intended. As they had already determined that in their view this case demanded the punishment of death, so in their answer to Pilate they implied that they had pronounced on it, and that he ought to die. They still, therefore, pressed it on his attention, and refused to obey his injunction to judge him.

It is not lawful, &c. The Jews were accustomed to put persons to death still in a popular tumult (Acts 7:59,60), but they had not the power to do it in any case in a regular way of justice. When they first laid the plan of arresting the Saviour, they did it to kill him (Mt 26:4); but whether they intended to do this secretly, or in a tumult, or by the concurrence of the Roman governor, is uncertain. The Jews themselves say that the power of inflicting capital punishment was taken away about forty years before the destruction of the temple; but still it is probable that in the time of Christ they had the power of determining on capital cases in instances that pertained to religion (Josephus, Antiq., b. xiv. ch. 10, 2; comp. Jewish Wars, b. vt. ch. 2, 4). In this case, however, it is supposed that their sentence was to be confirmed by the Roman governor. But it is admitted on all hands that they had not this power in the case of seditions, tumults, or treason against the Roman government. If they had this power in the case of blasphemy and irreligion, they did not dare to exert it here, because they were afraid of tumult among the people (Mt 26:5); hence they sought to bring in the authority of Pilate. To do this, they endeavoured to make it appear that it was a case of sedition and treason, and one which therefore demanded the interference of the Roman governor. Hence it was on this charge that they arraigned him, Lk 23:2. Thus a tumult might be avoided, and the odium of putting him to death they expected would fall, not on themselves, but on Pilate.

(u) "It is not lawful" Gen 49:10, Eze 21:27

Albert Barnes, 1834 · public domain

Adam Clarke's Commentary

Verse 31 It is not lawful for us to put any man to death - They might have judged Jesus according to their law, as Pilate bade them do; but they could only excommunicate or scourge him. They might have voted him worthy of death; but they could not put him to death, if any thing of a secular nature were charged against him. The power of life and death was in all probability taken from the Jews when Archelaus, king of Judea, was banished to Vienna, and Judea was made a Roman province; and this happened more than fifty years before the destruction of Jerusalem. But the Romans suffered Herod, mentioned Act 12:1, etc., to exercise the power of life and death during his reign. See much on this point in Calmet and Pearce. After all, I think it probable that, though the power of life and death was taken away from the Jews, as far as it concerned affairs of state, yet it was continued to them in matters which were wholly of an ecclesiastical nature; and that they only applied thus to Pilate to persuade him that they were proceeding against Christ as an enemy of the state, and not as a transgressor of their own peculiar laws and customs. Hence, though they assert that he should die according to their law, because he made himself the Son of God, Joh 19:7, yet they lay peculiar stress on his being an enemy to the Roman government; and, when they found Pilate disposed to let him go, they asserted that if he did he was not Caesar's friend, Joh 18:12. It was this that intimidated Pilate, and induced him to give him up, that they might crucify him. How they came to lose this power is accounted for in a different manner by Dr. Lightfoot. His observations are very curious, and are subjoined to the end of this chapter.

Adam Clarke, 1831 · public domain

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on John 18:28-32

It was unjust to put one to death who had done so much good, therefore the Jews were willing to save themselves from reproach. Many fear the scandal of an ill thing, more than the sin of it. Christ had said he should be delivered to the Gentiles, and they should put him to death; hereby that saying was fulfilled. He had said that he should be crucified, lifted up. If the Jews had judged him by their law, he had been…

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John 18:31 in the original Greek

Word-by-word with transliteration, English gloss and Strong's number. Tap a number for the full definition and every place the word is used.

εἶπενeipenSaidG2036

οὖνounthereforeG3767

αὐτοῖςautoisto themG846

ὁho<the>G3588

Πιλᾶτος·PilatosPilate;G4091

λάβετεlabetedo takeG2983

αὐτὸνautonHimG846

ὑμεῖςhumeisyourselvesG4771

καὶkaiandG2532

κατὰkataaccording toG2596

τὸνtontheG3588

νόμονnomonlawG3551

ὑμῶνhumōnof youG4771

κρίνατεkrinatedo judgeG2919

αὐτόν.autonHim.G846

εἶπονeiponSaidG2036

οὖνounthereforeG3767

αὐτῷautōto himG846

οἱhoitheG3588

Ἰουδαῖοι·IoudaioiJews;G2453

ἡμῖνhēminTo usG3165

οὐκouknotG3756

ἔξεστινexestinit is permittedG1832

ἀποκτεῖναιapokteinaito put to deathG615

οὐδένα·oudenano [one];G3762

Source: STEPBible TAHOT/TAGNT (Tyndale House, CC BY 4.0).

Cross references for John 18:31

John 19:6-7
When the chief priests therefore and officers saw him, they cried out, saying, Crucify him, crucify him. Pilate saith unto them, Take ye him, and crucify him: for I find no fault in him. The Jews answered him, We have a law, and by our law he ought to die, because he made himself the Son of God.
John 19:15
But they cried out, Away with him, away with him, crucify him. Pilate saith unto them, Shall I crucify your King? The chief priests answered, We have no king but Cesar.
Ezekiel 21:26-27
Thus saith the Lord God; Remove the diadem, and take off the crown: this shall not be the same: exalt him that is low, and abase him that is high. I will overturn, overturn, overturn, it: and it shall be no more, until he come whose right it is; and I will give it him.
Acts 25:18-20
Against whom when the accusers stood up, they brought none accusation of such things as I supposed: But had certain questions against him of their own superstition, and of one Jesus, which was dead, whom Paul affirmed to be alive. And because I doubted of such manner of questions, I asked him whether he would go to Jerusalem, and there be judged of these matters.
Hosea 3:4-5
For the children of Israel shall abide many days without a king, and without a prince, and without a sacrifice, and without an image, and without an ephod, and without teraphim: Afterward shall the children of Israel return, and seek the Lord their God, and David their king; and shall fear the Lord and his goodness in the latter days.
Genesis 49:10
The sceptre shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet, until Shiloh come; and unto him shall the gathering of the people be.

Ranked by reader votes · OpenBible.info cross references (CC BY).

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge

Take.
19:6,7; Ac 25:18-20
It.
19:15; Ge 49:10; Eze 21:26,27; Ho 3:4,5

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (Samuel Bagster, c. 1836) · public domain

Context

John 18:30
They answered and said unto him, If he were not a malefactor, we would not have delivered him up unto thee.
John 18:31
Then said Pilate unto them, Take ye him, and judge him according to your law. The Jews therefore said unto him, It is not lawful for us to put any man to death:
John 18:32
That the saying of Jesus might be fulfilled, which he spake, signifying what death he should die.

Read all of John 18

John 18:31 in other languages

Spanish Reina-Valera 1909	Díceles entonces Pilato: Tomadle vosotros, y juzgadle según vuestra ley. Y los Judíos le dijeron: A nosotros no es lícito matar á nadie:
French Bible J.N. Darby 1885	Pilate donc leur dit: Prenez-le, vous, et jugez-le selon votre loi. Les Juifs donc lui dirent: Il ne nous est pas permis de faire mourir personne;
German Elberfelder 1871	Da sprach Pilatus zu ihnen: Nehmet ihr ihn und richtet ihn nach eurem Gesetz. Da sprachen die Juden zu ihm: Es ist uns nicht erlaubt, jemanden zu töten;
Latin Clementine Vulgate	Dixit ergo eis Pilatus: Accipite eum vos, et secundum legem vestram judicate eum. Dixerunt ergo ei Judæi: Nobis non licet interficere quemquam.