John 19:21

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.'"

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.

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.'"

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.

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 wrote a notice and had it put on the cross. "Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews," is what he wrote. ²⁰ Many people read it, because the place where Jesus was crucified was not far from the city. The notice was written in Hebrew, Latin, and Greek. ²¹ 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.'" ²² Pilate answered, "What I have written stays written." ²³ After the soldiers had crucified Jesus, they took his clothes and divided them into four parts, one part for each soldier. They also took the robe, which was made of one piece of woven cloth without any seams in it. ²⁴ The soldiers said to one another, "Let's not tear it; let's throw dice to see who will get it." This happened in order to make the scripture come true: "They divided my clothes among themselves and gambled for my robe." And this is what the soldiers did. ²⁵ Standing close to Jesus' cross were his mother, his mother's sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene. ²⁶ Jesus saw his mother and the disciple he loved standing there; so he said to his mother, "He is your son." ²⁷ Then he said to the disciple, "She is your mother." From that time the disciple took her to live in his home. ²⁸ Jesus knew that by now everything had been completed; and in order to make the scripture 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
If you had done the right thing, you would be smiling; but because you have done evil, sin is crouching at your door. It wants to rule you, but you must overcome it."

Genesis 12:2
I will give you many descendants, and they will become a great nation. I will bless you and make your name famous, so that you will be a blessing.

Genesis 18:24
If there are fifty innocent people in the city, will you destroy the whole city? Won't you spare it in order to save the fifty?

Genesis 19:8
Look, I have two daughters who are still virgins. Let me bring them out to you, and you can do whatever you want with them. But don't do anything to these men; they are guests in my house, and I must protect them."

Genesis 19:9
But they said, "Get out of our way, you foreigner! Who are you to tell us what to do? Out of our way, or we will treat you worse than them." They pushed Lot back and moved up to break down the door.

Genesis 19:15
At dawn the angels tried to make Lot hurry. "Quick!" they said. "Take your wife and your two daughters and get out, so that you will not lose your lives when the city is destroyed."

Genesis 19:16
Lot hesitated. The Lord , however, had pity on him; so the men took him, his wife, and his two daughters by the hand and led them out of the city.

Psalms 34:15
The Lord watches over the righteous and listens to their cries;

Psalms 102:17
He will hear his forsaken people and listen to their prayer.

Psalms 145:19
He supplies the needs of those who honor him; he hears their cries 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.