John 19:11 — meaning, Hebrew and Greek word study, commentary
John 19:11
Jesus answered, Thou couldest have no power at all against me, except it were given thee from above: therefore he that delivered me unto thee hath the greater sin.
Jesus (i.e. Jehoshua) · noun — nominative singular masculine, a proper name
answered
ἀπεκρίθηapekrithē
G611
to conclude for oneself · verb — aorist middle deponent indicative, 3rd person singular
Thou couldest have
εἶχεςeiches
G2192
to hold (used in very various applications · verb — imperfect active indicative, 2nd person singular
no
οὐδεμίαν,oudemian
G3762
not even one (man · adjective — accusative singular feminine
power
ἐξουσίανexousian
G1849
privilege · noun — accusative singular feminine
against
κατ᾽kat᾽
G2596
(prepositionally) down (in place or time) · preposition
me
ἐμοῦemoû
G1700
of me
except
εἰei
G1487
if · conditional particle
it were
ἦνēn
G2258
I (thou
given
δεδομένονdedomenon
G1325
to give (used in a very wide application · verb — perfect passive participle, nominative singular neuter
thee
σοίsoí
G4671
to thee
from above
ἄνωθεν·anōthen
G509
from above · adverb
therefore
διὰdia
G1223
through (in very wide applications · preposition
he that
τοῦτοtoûto
G5124
that thing
delivered
παραδούςparadous
G3860
to surrender · verb — second aorist active participle, nominative singular masculine
me
μέme
G3165
me · personal pronoun — 1st person accusative singular
unto thee
σοίsoí
G4671
to thee
hath
ἔχει.echei
G2192
to hold (used in very various applications · verb — present active indicative, 3rd person singular
the greater
μείζοναmeizona
G3173
big (literally or figuratively · adjective — accusative singular feminine, comparative
sin
ἁμαρτίανhamartian
G266
a sin (properly abstract) · noun — accusative singular feminine
Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).
Cross-references
Romans 13:1 Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers. For there is no power but of God: the powers that be are ordained of God.
John 3:27 John answered and said, A man can receive nothing, except it be given him from heaven.
Acts 2:23 Him, being delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God, ye have taken, and by wicked hands have crucified and slain:
Daniel 4:17 This matter is by the decree of the watchers, and the demand by the word of the holy ones: to the intent that the living may know that the m…
John 7:30 Then they sought to take him: but no man laid hands on him, because his hour was not yet come.
Acts 3:13 The God of Abraham, and of Isaac, and of Jacob, the God of our fathers, hath glorified his Son Jesus; whom ye delivered up, and denied him i…
Daniel 4:25 That they shall drive thee from men, and thy dwelling shall be with the beasts of the field, and they shall make thee to eat grass as oxen,…
James 1:17 Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shado…
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on John 19:1-15
Here is a further account of the unfair trial which they gave to our Lord Jesus. The prosecutors carrying it on with great confusion among the people, and the judge with great confusion in his own breast, between both the narrative is such as is not easily reduced to method; we must therefore take the parts of it as they lie.
I. The judge abuses the prisoner, though he declares him innocent, and hopes therewith to pacify the prosecutors; wherein his intention, if indeed it was good, will by no means justify his proceedings, which were palpably unjust.
1. He ordered him to be whipped as a criminal, Joh 19:1. Pilate, seeing the people so outrageous, and being disappointed in his project of rel…
Thou couldest--rather, "shouldst."
have no power at all against me--neither to crucify nor to release, nor to do anything whatever against Me [BENGEL].
except it were--"unless it had been."
given thee from above--that is, "Thou thinkest too much of thy power, Pilate: against Me that power is none, save what is meted out to thee by special divine appointment, for a special end."
therefore he that delivered me unto thee--Caiaphas, too wit--but he only as representing the Jewish authorities as a body.
hath the greater sin--as having better opportunities and more knowledge of such matters.
Adam Clarke on John 19:11
Hath the greater sin - It is a sin in thee to condemn me, while thou art convinced in thy conscience that I am innocent: but the Jews who delivered me to thee, and Judas who delivered me to the Jews, have the greater crime to answer for. Thy ignorance in some measure excuses thee; but the rage and malice of the Jews put them at present out of the reach of mercy.
John Gill on John 19:11
Jesus answered,.... With great intrepidity and courage, with freedom and boldness, as being not at all dismayed with his threatenings, or affected with his proud boasts, and in order to expose the vanity of them:
thou couldst have no power at all against me, except it were given thee from above: meaning, not from the Jewish sanhedrim, whose court of judicature was in the temple, which was higher than the other part of the city; nor from the Roman emperor, or senate of Rome, the higher powers; by whom Pilate was made governor of Judea, and a judge in all causes relating to life and death; but reference is had to the place from whence he came, and to the decree and council of God above, and t…
The Church Fathers
Accordingly, the Lord also said to Pilate: "Thou couldest have no power at all against me, except it were given thee from above." But still, when the ability is given, surely no necessity is imposed. Therefore, although David had received ability to kill Saul, he preferred sparing to striking him. Whence we understand that bad men receive ability for the condemnation of their depraved will, while good men receive ability for trying of their good will.
That the devil has no power against man unless God have allowed it. In the Gospel according to John: "Jesus said, Thou couldest have no power against me, unless it were given thee from above." Also in the third of Kings: "And God stirred up Satan against Solomon himself." Also in Job, first of all God permitted, and then it was allowed to the devil; and in the Gospel, the Lord first permitted, by saying to Judas, "What thou doest, do quickly." Also in Solomon, in the Proverbs: "The heart of the king is in God's hand."
When Jesus says that power was given to Pilate from above, he does not mean that God the Father inflicted crucifixion on his own Son against his will. Rather, he means that the Only-Begotten himself gave himself to suffer for us and that the Father suffered the fulfillment of the mystery in him. It is, then, plainly the consent and approval of the Father that is here said to have been given, and the pleasure of the Son is also clearly signified. For no doubt the force of numbers could never have overcome the power of the Savior.
The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).
Dictionary and topics
Humiliation of Christ — (Phil. 2:8), seen in (1) his birth (Gal. 4:4; Luke 2:7; John 1:46; Heb. 2:9), (2) his circumstances, (3) his reputation (Isa. 53; Matt. 26:59, 67; Ps. 22:6; Matt. 26:68), (4) his soul (Ps. 22:1;…
Myrrh — Heb. mor. (1.) First mentioned as a principal ingredient in the holy anointing oil (Ex. 30:23). It formed part of the gifts brought by the wise men from the east, who came to worship the infant Jesus…
Demagogism · .Pilate — .Pilate
Opinion, Public · .By Pilate — .By Pilate
Politics · .Pilate, con — .Pilate, con
Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).
John 19:7-11
7. The Jews answered him, We have a law, and according to our law he ought to die, because he made himself the Son of God. 8. When therefore Pilate heard this saying, he was the more afraid; 9. And went again into the hall, and said to Jesus, Whence art thou? And Jesus gave him no answer. 10. Then Pilate said to him, Speakest thou not to me? Knowest thou not that I have power to crucify thee, and have power to release thee? 11. Jesus answered, Thou wouldest have no power against me, unless it were given to thee from above; therefore he who hath delivered me to thee hath the greater sin.
7. We have a law. They mean that, in proceeding against Christ, they do what is right, and…
You would have no power over me: Although Pilate had the power to . . . crucify Jesus, it was only because God had given him this temporary power so Jesus could advance toward the cross (see 10:18).
