John 19:21

Easy-to-Read Version

The leading Jewish priests said to Pilate, "Don't write, ‘The King of the Jews.' But write, ‘This man said, I am the King of the Jews.'"

Parallel Translations

Christian Standard Bible®
So the chief priests of the Jews said to Pilate, “Don’t write, ‘The King of the Jews,’ but that he said, ‘I am the King of the Jews.’”

King James Version (1611)
Then said the chiefe Priests of the Iewes to Pilate, Write not, The king of the Iewes: but that he said, I am King of the Iewes.

King James Version
Then said the chief priests of the Jews to Pilate, Write not, The King of the Jews; but that he said, I am King of the Jews.

English Standard Version
So the chief priests of the Jews said to Pilate, "Do not write, ‘The King of the Jews,' but rather, ‘This man said, I am King of the Jews.'"

New American Standard Bible
So the chief priests of the Jews were saying to Pilate, "Do not write, 'The King of the Jews'; rather, write that He said, 'I am King of the Jews.'"

New Century Version
The leading priests said to Pilate, "Don't write, ‘The King of the Jews.' But write, ‘This man said, "I am the King of the Jews."'"

Amplified Bible
Then the chief priests of the Jews said to Pilate, "Do not write, 'The King of the Jews'; but, 'He said, "I am King of the Jews."'"

New American Standard Bible (1995)
So the chief priests of the Jews were saying to Pilate, "Do not write, 'The King of the Jews'; but that He said, 'I am King of the Jews.'"

Legacy Standard Bible
So the chief priests of the Jews were saying to Pilate, "Do not write, ‘The King of the Jews;' but that He said, ‘I am King of the Jews.'"

Berean Standard Bible
So the chief priests of the Jews said to Pilate, "Do not write, 'The King of the Jews,' but only that He said, 'I am the King of the Jews.'"

Contemporary English Version
So the chief priests went to Pilate and said, "Why did you write that he is King of the Jews? You should have written, ‘He claimed to be King of the Jews.'"

Complete Jewish Bible
The Judeans' head cohanim therefore said to Pilate, "Don't write, ‘The King of the Jews,' but ‘He said, "I am King of the Jews."'"

Darby Translation
The chief priests of the Jews therefore said to Pilate, Do not write, The king of the Jews, but that *he* said, I am king of the Jews.

Geneva Bible (1587)
Then saide the hie Priests of the Iewes to Pilate, Write not, The King of the Iewes, but that he sayd, I am King of the Iewes.

George Lamsa Translation
The high priests then said to Pilate, Do not write that he is the king of the Jews; but that he said, I am the king of the Jews.

Good News Translation
The chief priests said to Pilate, "Do not write ‘The King of the Jews,' but rather, ‘This man said, I am the King of the Jews.'"

Lexham English Bible
Then the chief priests of the Jews said to Pilate, "Do not write ‘The king of the Jews,' but, ‘He said, I am king of the Jews.'"

Literal Translation
Then the chief priests of the Jews said to Pilate, Do not write, The King of the Jews, but that One said, I am King of the Jews.

American Standard Version
The chief priests of the Jews therefore said to Pilate, Write not, The King of the Jews; but, that he said, I am King of the Jews.

Bible in Basic English
Then the chief priests of the Jews said to Pilate, Do not put, The King of the Jews, but, He said, I am the King of the Jews.

Hebrew Names Version
The chief Kohanim of the Yehudim therefore said to Pilate, "Don't write, 'The King of the Yehudim,' but that, 'he said, I am King of the Yehudim.'"

International Standard Version
Then the Jewish high priests told Pilate, "Don't write, 'The King of the Jews,' but that this fellow said, 'I am the King of the Jews.'"

Etheridge Translation
And the chief priests said to Pilatos, Do not write that he is king of the Jihudoyee, but that he said, I am the king of the Jihudoyee.

Murdock Translation
And the chief priests said to Pilate: Write not that he is king of the Jews, but that he said I am king of the Jews.

Bishop's Bible (1568)
Then sayde the hye priestes of the Iewes to Pilate, Write not kyng of the Iewes: but, that he sayde, I am kyng of the Iewes.

English Revised Version
The chief priests of the Jews therefore said to Pilate, Write not, The King of the Jews; but, that he said, I am King of the Jews.

World English Bible
The chief priests of the Jews therefore said to Pilate, "Don't write, 'The King of the Jews,' but that, 'he said, I am King of the Jews.'"

Wesley's New Testament (1755)
Then said the chief priests to Pilate, Write not, the king of the Jews; but that he said, I am the king of the Jews.

Weymouth's New Testament
This led the Jewish High Priests to remonstrate with Pilate. "You should not write `The King of the Jews,'" they said, "but that he claimed to be King of the Jews."

Wycliffe Bible (1395)
Therfor the bischops of the Jewis seiden to Pilat, Nyle thou write kyng of Jewis, but for he seide, Y am king of Jewis.

Update Bible Version
The chief priests of the Jews therefore said to Pilate, Do not write, The King of the Jews; but that he said, I am King of the Jews.

Webster's Bible Translation
Then said the chief priests of the Jews to Pilate, Write not, The King of the Jews; but that he said, I am King of the Jews.

New English Translation
Then the chief priests of the Jews said to Pilate, "Do not write, ‘The king of the Jews,' but rather, ‘This man said, I am king of the Jews.'"

New King James Version
Therefore the chief priests of the Jews said to Pilate, "Do not write, "The King of the Jews,' but, "He said, "I am the King of the Jews.""'

New Living Translation
Then the leading priests objected and said to Pilate, "Change it from ‘The King of the Jews' to ‘He said, I am King of the Jews.'"

New Life Bible
Then the head religious leaders of the Jews said to Pilate, "Do not write, ‘The King of the Jews'! Write, ‘He said, I am the King of the Jews.'"

New Revised Standard
Then the chief priests of the Jews said to Pilate, "Do not write, ‘The King of the Jews,' but, ‘This man said, I am King of the Jews.'"

J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
The High-priests of the Jews, therefore, were saying unto Pilate - Do not be writing, The King of the Jews; but that, he, said: King of the Jews, I am.

Douay-Rheims Bible
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.

Revised Standard Version
The chief priests of the Jews then said to Pilate, "Do not write, 'The King of the Jews,' but, 'This man said, I am King of the Jews.'"

Tyndale New Testament (1525)
Then sayde the hye prestes of ye Iewes to Pylate: wryte not kynge of the Iewes: but that he sayde I am kynge of the Iewes.

Young's Literal Translation
The chief priests of the Jews said, therefore, to Pilate, `Write not -- The king of the Jews, but that one said, I am king of the Jews;'

Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
Then sayde the hye prestes of the Iewes vnto Pilate: Wryte not kynge of the Iewes, but yt he sayde, I am kynge of the Iewes.

Mace New Testament (1729)
thereupon the chief priests of the Jews went to Pilate, saying, don't write, "The king of the Jews;" but that he said, I am king of the Jews.

Simplified Cowboy Version
The religious leaders objected and asked the sign be changed to, "He said he was the king of the Jews."

Contextual Overview

¹⁹ Pilate told them to write a sign and put it on the cross. The sign said, " jesus of nazareth, the king of the jews ." ²⁰ The sign was written in Aramaic, in Latin, and in Greek. Many of the Jews read this sign, because the place where Jesus was nailed to the cross was near the city. ²¹ The leading Jewish priests said to Pilate, "Don't write, ‘The King of the Jews.' But write, ‘This man said, I am the King of the Jews.'" ²² Pilate answered, "I will not change what I have written." ²³ After the soldiers nailed Jesus to the cross, they took his clothes and divided them into four parts. Each soldier got one part. They also took his tunic. It was all one piece of cloth woven from top to bottom. ²⁴ So the soldiers said to each other, "We should not tear this into parts. Let's throw lots to see who will get it." This happened to make clear the full meaning of what the Scriptures say: "They divided my clothes among them, and they threw lots for what I was wearing." So the soldiers did this. ²⁵ Jesus' mother stood near his cross. Her sister was also standing there with Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene. ²⁶ Jesus saw his mother. He also saw the follower he loved very much standing there. He said to his mother, "Dear woman, here is your son." ²⁷ Then he said to the follower, "Here is your mother." So after that, this follower took Jesus' mother to live in his home. ²⁸ Later, Jesus knew that everything had been done. To make the Scriptures come true he said, "I am thirsty."

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

Reciprocal: Luke 23:49 - the women John 18:38 - I find

Cross-References

Genesis 4:7
You know that if you do what is right, I will accept you. But if you don't, sin is ready to attack you. That sin will want to control you, but you must control it."

Genesis 12:2
I will build a great nation from you. I will bless you and make your name famous. People will use your name to bless other people.

Genesis 18:24
What if there are fifty good people in that city? Will you still destroy it? Surely you will save the city for the fifty good people living there.

Genesis 19:8
Look, I have two daughters who have never slept with a man before. I will give my daughters to you. You can do anything you want with them. But please don't do anything to these men. They have come to my house, and I must protect them."

Genesis 19:9
The men surrounding the house answered, "Get out of our way!" They said to themselves, "This man Lot came to our city as a visitor. Now he wants to tell us how we should live!" Then the men said to Lot, "We will do worse things to you than to them." So the men started moving closer and closer to Lot. They were about to break down the door.

Genesis 19:15
The next morning at dawn, the angels were trying to make Lot hurry. They said, "This city will be punished, so take your wife and your two daughters who are still with you and leave this place. Then you will not be destroyed with the city."

Genesis 19:16
When Lot did not move fast enough, the two men grabbed his hand. They also took the hands of his wife and his two daughters. The two men led Lot and his family safely out of the city. The Lord was kind to Lot and his family.

Psalms 34:15
The Lord watches over those who do what is right, and he hears their prayers.

Psalms 102:17
He will listen to the prayers of those in poverty. He will not ignore them.

Psalms 145:19
He listens to his followers and does what they want. He answers their prayers and saves them.

Gill's Notes on the Bible

Then said the chief priests of the Jews to Pilate,.... Who were not only informed of this inscription, but might read it themselves, for they were present at the crucifying of Christ, and mocked at him as he hung on the tree; these, when they read the title, were greatly offended at it, partly because it was doing too great an honour to Jesus to call him the King of the Jews: and partly because it fixed a public brand of infamy upon their nation, that a king of theirs should be crucified: wherefore they went to Pilate and addressed him, saying,

write not the King of the Jews: because they did not own him for their king, which this title seemed to suggest, nor had he in their opinion any right to such a character; wherefore they desired that in the room of these words he would be pleased to put the following,

but that he said, I am King of the Jews; that so he might be thought to be a seditious person and a traitor; one that laid claim to the temporal crown and kingdom of Israel, and one that suffered justly for attempts of that kind.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

See the notes at Matthew 27:32-37.

John 19:22

What I have written ... - This declaration implied that he would make no change. He was impatient, and weary of their solicitations. He had yielded to them contrary to the convictions of his own conscience, and he now declared his purpose to yield no further.