Luke 23:2 — meaning, Hebrew and Greek word study, commentary
Luke 23:2
And they began to accuse him, saying, We found this fellow perverting the nation, and forbidding to give tribute to Caesar, saying that he himself is Christ a King.
to be a plaintiff · verb — present active infinitive
him
αὐτοῦautou
G846
the reflexive pronoun self · personal pronoun — genitive singular masculine
saying
λέγοντες·legontes
G3004
properly · verb — present active participle, nominative plural masculine
found
εὕραμενheuramen
G2147
to find (literally or figuratively) · verb — second aorist active indicative, 1st person plural
this
τοῦτονtoûton
G5126
this (person
perverting
διαστρέφονταdiastrephonta
G1294
to distort · verb — present active participle, accusative singular masculine
nation
ἔθνοςethnos
G1484
a race (as of the same habit) · noun — accusative singular neuter
and
καὶkai
G2532
and · conjunction
forbidding
κωλύονταkōluonta
G2967
to estop · verb — present active participle, accusative singular masculine
give
διδόναιdidonai
G1325
to give (used in a very wide application · verb — present active infinitive
tribute
φόρουςphorous
G5411
a load (as borne) · noun — accusative plural masculine
Cæsar
ΚαίσαριKaisari
G2541
Cæsar · noun — dative singular masculine, a title
saying
λέγονταlegonta
G3004
properly · verb — present active participle, accusative singular masculine
himself
ἑαυτὸνhe'auton
G1438
him- (her- · reflexive pronoun
is
εἶναι.¶einai
G1511
to exist · verb — present active infinitive
Christ
χριστὸνchriston
G5547
anointed · noun — accusative singular masculine, a title
King
βασιλέαbasilea
G935
a sovereign (abstractly · noun — accusative singular masculine
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
Acts 17:6-7 And when they found them not, they drew Jason and certain brethren unto the rulers of the city, crying, These that have turned the world ups…
Luke 23:14 Said unto them, Ye have brought this man unto me, as one that perverteth the people: and, behold, I, having examined him before you, have fo…
John 19:12 And from thenceforth Pilate sought to release him: but the Jews cried out, saying, If thou let this man go, thou art not Cæsar’s friend: who…
1 Kings 21:10-13 And set two men, sons of Belial, before him, to bear witness against him, saying, Thou didst blaspheme God and the king. And then carry him…
Psalms 62:4 They only consult to cast him down from his excellency: they delight in lies: they bless with their mouth, but they curse inwardly. Selah.
Jeremiah 20:10 For I heard the defaming of many, fear on every side. Report, say they, and we will report it. All my familiars watched for my halting, sayi…
Jeremiah 38:4 Therefore the princes said unto the king, We beseech thee, let this man be put to death: for thus he weakeneth the hands of the men of war t…
Zechariah 11:8 Three shepherds also I cut off in one month; and my soul lothed them, and their soul also abhorred me.
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on Luke 23:1-12
Our Lord Jesus was condemned as a blasphemer in the spiritual court, but it was the most impotent malice that could be that this court was actuated by; for, when they had condemned him, they knew they could not put him to death, and therefore took another course.
I. They accused him before Pilate. The whole multitude of them arose, when they saw they could go no further with him in their court, and led him unto Pilate, though it was no judgment day, no assizes or sessions; and they demanded justice against him, not as a blasphemer (that was no crime that he took cognizance of), but as one disaffected to the Roman government, which they in their hearts did not look upon as any crime at all, o…
Perverting the nation - The Greek word διαστρεφοντα, signifies stirring up to disaffection and rebellion. Many MSS. and versions add ἡμων, Our nation. They intimated that he not only preached corrupt doctrine, but that he endeavored to make them disaffected towards the Roman government, for which they now pretended to feel a strong affection!
Several copies of the Itala add, Destroying our law and prophets. Et solventem legem nostram et prophetas.
Forbidding to give tribute to Caesar - These were the falsest slanders that could be invented. The whole of our Lord's conduct disproved them. And his decision in the case of the question about the lawfulness of paying tribute to Caesar, Mat 22:21…
And they began to accuse him,.... After they found that Pilate would not receive him as a malefactor upon their word, and delivery of him to him as such; but insisted on knowing what they had to charge him with, and what accusation they had to bring against him:
saying, we have found this fellow perverting the nation; the nation of the Jews. Three of Beza's copies read, "our nation"; and so do the Vulgate Latin, and all the Oriental versions; and it is to be understood, either of his perverting the nation from the true doctrine of Moses and the prophets; by spreading among them new notions, and false principles of religion; whereby he was a troubler of God's Israel, as Ahab charged Elijah,…
The Church Fathers
(lib. iii. c. 8.) He next relates what happens before Pilate, as follows, And they began to accuse him, saying, We found this fellow perverting our nation, &c. Matthew and Mark do not give this, though affirming that they accused Him, but Luke has laid open the very charges which they falsely brought against Him.
...they delivered Him to Pilate the Roman governor, accusing Him of many and great things, none of which they could prove. Whereupon the governor, as out of patience with them, said: "I find no cause against Him." But they bringing two lying witnesses, wished to accuse the Lord falsely; but they being found to disagree, and so their testimony not conspiring together, they altered the accusation to that of treason, saying, "This fellow says that He is a king, and forbids to give tribute to Caesar."
Now two charges having been brought against our Lord, namely, that He forbade to pay tribute to Cæsar, and called Himself Christ the King, it may be that Pilate had chanced to hear that which our Lord spake, Render unto Cæsar the things which be Cæsar's; and therefore setting aside this accusation as a palpable lie of the Jews, he thought fit to ask concerning that alone of which he knew nothing, the saying about the kingdom; for it follows, Pilate asked him, saying, Art thou the King of the Jews, &c.
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;…
Pilate, Pontius — Probably connected with the Roman family of the Pontii, and called “Pilate” from the Latin pileatus, i.e., “wearing the pileus”, which was the “cap or badge of a manumitted slave,” as indicating that…
Taxes — First mentioned in the command (Ex. 30:11-16) that every Jew from twenty years and upward should pay an annual tax of “half a shekel for an offering to the Lord.” This enactment was faithfully…
Indictments · The second, of trea — The second, of trea
Treason · .Jesus falsely accused of — .Jesus falsely accused of
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).
Luke 23:2-12
Matthew 27:11-14
Mark 15:2-5
Luke 23:2-12
11. Now Jesus stood [245] before the governor. And the governor asked him, saying, Art thou the King of the Jews? Jesus saith to him, Thou sayest it. [246] 12. And when he was accused by the chief priests and elders, and he answered nothing. 13. Then Pilate saith to him, Hearest thou not how many things they testify against thee? [247] 14. And he did not answer him a single word, so that the governor was greatly astonished.
2. And Pilate asked him, Art thou the King of the Jews? And he answering said to him, Thou sayest it. [248] 3. And the chief priests accused him of many things. 4. And Pilate again asked him, saying, Answerest th…
The religious charges against Jesus were now replaced by political ones in order to gain a Roman conviction. Pilate was only interested in what concerned Rome. The Jewish charge of blasphemy would not be sufficient, so the council had to show that Jesus was a danger to Rome. They accused Jesus of inciting insurrection against Roman taxation and claiming to be a king. All but the last charge were false.
