Matthew 27:24–26

Jesus is Condemned and Mocked

27:24 When32 Pilate saw that he could do nothing, but that instead a riot was starting, he took some water, washed his hands before the crowd and said, “I am innocent of this man’s blood. You take care of it yourselves!”33 27:25 In34 reply all the people said, “Let his blood be on us and on our children!” 27:26 Then he released Barabbas for them. But after he had Jesus flogged,35 he handed him over36 to be crucified.37

32	tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated.
33	sn You take care of it yourselves! Compare the response of the chief priests and elders to Judas in 27:4. The expression is identical except that in 27:4 it is singular and here it is plural.
34	tn Grk “answering, all the people said.” This construction is somewhat redundant in English and has been simplified in the translation.
35	tn The Greek term φραγελλόω (phragelloō) refers to flogging. BDAG 1064 s.v. states, “flog, scourge, a punishment inflicted on slaves and provincials after a sentence of death had been pronounced on them. So in the case of Jesus before the crucifixion … Mt 27:26; Mk 15:15.” sn A Roman flogging (traditionally, “scourging”) was an excruciating punishment. The victim was stripped of his clothes and bound to a post with his hands fastened above him (or sometimes he was thrown to the ground). Guards standing on either side of the victim would incessantly beat him with a whip (flagellum) made out of leather with pieces of lead and bone inserted into its ends. While the Jews only allowed 39 lashes, the Romans had no such limit; many people who received such a beating died as a result. See C. Schneider, TDNT, 515–19.
36	tn Or “delivered him up.”
37	sn See the note on crucified in 20:19.