| 20. Hunc ergo titulum multi Iudaeorum legerunt: quia prope civitatem erat locus, ubi crucifixus est Iesus: et erat scriptum hebraice, graece, et latine. | 20. This title therefore many of the Jews did read: because the place where Jesus was crucified was nigh to the city: and it was written in Hebrew, in Greek, and in Latin. |
20. The place where Jesus was crucified was nigh to the city. Calvary was less than a mile from the centre of Jerusalem, and as the city was then crowded, many read the title. The title was in three languages, that all might be able to read it. The Jews resident in Palestine could read the Syro-Chaldaic; the strangers could read the Greek; and the Roman soldiers, the Latin. It was formerly held by some commentators that the three inscriptions were in Latin, but written in Syro-Chaldaic, Greek, and Latin characters, respectively. This opinion, however, has nothing to recommend it. The obvious sense of the verse before us, and the relics of the title, prove that the inscription was in three different languages. Many authorities reverse the order of the two last clauses in this verse: “in Latin, and in Greek.”
| 21. Dicebant ergo Pilato pontifices Iudaeorum: Noli scribere, Rex Iudaeorum: sed quia ipse dixit: Rex sum Iudaeorum. | 21. Then the chief priests of the Jews said to Pilate: Write not, the king of the Jews, but that he said: I am the king of the Jews. |
21. Then the chief priests. Rather, “the chief priests of the Jews, therefore,” &c.
| 22. Respondit Pilatus: Quod scripsi, scripsi. | 22. Pilate answered: What I have written, I have written. |
22. What I have written, I have written. Pilate, already tired of the painful business, and disgusted with the Jews, refused to make any change in what he had written.
| 23. Milites ergo cum crucifixissent eum, acceperunt vestimenta eius (et fecerunt quatuor partes: unicuique militi partem), et tunicam. Erat autem tunica inconsutilis, desuper contexta per totum. | 23. The soldiers therefore when they had crucified him, took his garments (and they made four parts, to every soldier a part) and also his coat. Now the coat was without seam, woven from the top throughout. |
23. It was the custom to give the clothes to the executioners. The tunic was the inner garment worn next the skin, and reaching from the neck to the ankles. It was usually fastened round the neck with a clasp.
| 24. Dixerunt ergo ad invicem: Non scindamus eam, sed sortiamur de illa cuius sit. Ut scriptura impleretur, dicens: Partiti sunt vestimenta mea sibi: et in vestem meam miserunt sortem. Et milites quidem haec fecerunt. | 24. They said then one to another: Let us not cut it, but let us cast lots for it whose it shall be; that the scripture might be fulfilled, saying: They have parted my garments among them: and upon my vesture they have cast lots. And the soldiers indeed did these things. |
24. As Christ's tunic was seamless, and the soldiers thought it a pity to tear it, they cast lots for it; God so ordaining, in order that the Scripture might be fulfilled. According to an old tradition, the tunic had been woven for Jesus by the Blessed Virgin's own hands.