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John 19 General Notes
Structure and formatting
Some translations set each line of poetry farther to the right than the rest of the text to make it easier to read. The ULB does this with the poetry in 19:24, which are words from the OT.
Special concepts in this chapter
"Purple garment"
The color purple was a sign of royalty in the ancient Near East. Jesus was mockingly dressed to look like a king.
"You are not Caesar's friend"
Pilate did not want to sentence Jesus to death, but the Jews forced him. They did this to make it seem as if allowing Jesus to live would betray the Roman government.
The tomb
The tomb in which Jesus was buried (John 19:41) was the kind of tomb in which wealthy Jewish families buried their dead. It was an actual room cut into a rock. It had a flat place on one side where they could place the body after they had put oil and spices on it and wrapped it in cloth. Then they would roll a large rock in front of the tomb so no one could see inside or enter.
Important figures of speech in this chapter
Sarcasm
The following phrases are intended to be taken sarcastically: "Hail, King of the Jews," "Should I crucify your king?" and "Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews." Sarcasm is the use of irony to insult someone. (See: rc://en/ta/man/translate/figs-irony)
Other possible translation difficulties in this chapter
Gabbatha, Golgotha
These are two Hebrew words. After translating the meanings of these words ("The Pavement" and "The Place of a Skull"), the author transliterates their sounds by writing them with Greek letters.