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By Judith Green, Hebrew University of
Jerusalem.
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“Pilate also had an inscription written and
put on the cross. It read, Jesus the Nazarene, the King of the Jews. Many of the
Jews read this inscription, because the place where Jesus was crucified was near
the city; and it was written in Hebrew, in Latin, and in
Greek.” (John 19:19-20)
An intriguing passage in the Gospel of
John, describing the crucifixion in great detail, including the sign written by
Pilate himself and affixed to the cross. The official charge against Jesus seems
to have been his challenging the authority of the Romans in Judaea by
proclaiming himself, or being proclaimed, “King of the Jews”. It is quite
plausible that there was such a sign, proclaiming the crime of the man being
punished, as we know of this practice from other Latin historical sources of the
period in which criminals are described as wearing signs around their neck, or
above their bodies, describing their crime and
punishment.
In
fact, all four of the Evangelists mention the sign on the cross, but only in
John is the sign, called thetitulus in
Latin, reported as being in three
languages.
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While the discussion rages about what
language Jesus himself spoke (maybe more than one?), this verse makes clear the
tri-lingual nature of his Palestinian environment. The fresco below, by the
Italian Renaissance painter, Fra Angelico, from a Dominican Monastery in Fiesole
(1434), illustrates the languages of the inscription itself on the crossbar of
the cross. This careful depiction reflects the new interest in ancient languges
during the Renaissance.
The Latin version mentioned in
John, IESUS NAZARENUS REX IOUDAEORM, gives us the acronym INRI, an abbreviation
which is found over the cross in so many images. The Greek, Ἰησοῦς ὁ Ναζωραῖος ὁ
Βασιλεὺς τῶν Ἰουδαίων = Jesus the Nazaraean, the King of the Jews, gives rise to
an argument between the Jews and Pilate in the following verses in
John:
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“So
the High Priests of the Jews kept saying to Pilate, ‘Do not write The King of
the Jews, but He said I am King of the Jews.’ But Pilate answered, “What I have
written, I have written.” (John 19:21-22)
What upsets
the High Priests? Here is a point of Greek grammar! In English,
there is a difference between saying “the book” and “a book”. “The” is called
the “definite article”, and it indicates one particular, definite, book. Whereas
“a” is the “indefinite article”, and it indicates any book, not yet specified.
In Greek, there is also a definite article and it is used in Pilate’s
inscription, referring to The King
of the Jews, an absolute title. Of course, the High Priests don’t accept this
title for Jesus; they are only willing to accept the fact that he could have
called himself A King of the Jews, perhaps one of many people taking this title
upon themselves. It is very insightful of John, both in terms of Jewish
psychology, the Palestinian linguistic environment, and in his understanding of
Greek grammar! Again, he is set apart from the synoptic gospels in this
description of the cross. The Hebrew version given by Fra Angelico is also quite
correct: ישוע הנצרי ומלך היהודים = Jesus the Nazarite and the King of the Jews.
(hard to see these on the reproduction, but believe
me!).
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The final illustration is a unique Latin
inscription. It is called the Pilate Stone and it is a block of limestone with a
carved inscription attributed to Pontius Pilate, prefect of the
Roman-controlled province of Judaea during the life of Jesus. The stone was
found in 1961 by a team of Italian archeologists and is unique because it is the
only universally accepted archaeological find with an inscription mentioning the
name “Pontius Pilatus” to date – look at the end of the second line. It was
found in the ancient theater built by Herod the Great, in the present-day city
of Caesarea, which was the capital of the Province of Judaea at the time that
Pontius Pilate was the Roman
governor.
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Enroll Today into a Koine
Judeo-Greek course created by Judith Green.To leave a comment, Click Here
Yours,
Dr. Eli
Lizorkin-Eyzenberg
Jewish Studies Department, Dean of the
faculty
eTeacherBiblical, Israeli Academy of
Linguistics and
History
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