Cambridge Greek Testament Commentary

Matthew 27:2

אBL, several Versions and Fathers omit Ποντίῳ before Πιλάτῳ. The majority of MSS. give both names. Josephus generally has Πιλᾶτος only.

2. THE DELIVERY TO PONTIUS PILATE

St Mark 15:1; St Luke 23:1; St John 18:28; ‘then led they Jesus from Caiaphas unto the hall of Judgment (or Prætorium), and it was early.’

2. Πιλάτῳ. Pontius Pilatus was the governor, or more accurately, the Procurator of Judæa, which after the banishment of Archelaus (see ch. Matthew 2:22) had been placed under the direct government of Rome, and attached as a dependency to Syria. Pilate filled this office during the last ten years of the reign of Tiberius, to whom as Procurator in an imperial province he was directly responsible. In the year A.D. 35 or 36, he was sent to Rome on a charge of cruelty to the Samaritans. The death of Tiberius probably deferred his trial, and according to Eusebius, ‘wearied with his misfortunes,’ he put himself to death. In character Pilate appears to have been impolitic, cruel and weak. On three signal occasions he had trampled on the religious feelings of the Jews, and repressed their resistance with merciless severity. A further instance of cruelty, combined with profanation, is alluded to, St Luke 13:1 : ‘the Galilæans, whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices.’ The name Pontius connects Pilate with the gens of the Pontii, to which the great Samnite General, C. Pontius Telesinus, belonged. The cognomen Pilatus probably signifies ‘armed with a pilum’ (javelin). Tacitus mentions Pontius Pilate in a well-known passage (Ann. XV. 44), ‘Auctor nominis ejus Christus Tiberio imperitante per procuratorem Pontium Pilatum supplicio affectus erat.’ ‘Christus, from whom the Christians are called, suffered death in the reign of Tiberius, under the procurator P. Pilate.’ Many traditions have gathered round the name of Pontius Pilate. According to one, he was banished to Vienne in the south of France; according to another, he ended a restless life by plunging into a deep and gloomy lake on Mount Pilatus, near Lucerne. The shallow pool, often dry in the summer months, sufficiently disproves this story. The usual residence of the Roman Procurator in Judæa was Cæsarea Stratonis (see map).

The wish of the Sanhedrin in delivering Jesus to Pilate was to have their sentence confirmed without enquiry, see ch. Matthew 26:66.

τῷ ἡγεμόνι. Pilate’s special title as dependent governor of an imperial province was ἐπίτροπος (procurator), or ‘high steward.’ In the plural ἡγεμόνες is used as a general term. Cp. ἐπὶ ἡγεμόνας, ch. Matthew 10:18, and 1 Peter 2:14. In the singular ἡγεμὼν is applied in the N.T. to the Procurators of Judæa, as here and elsewhere to Pilate, in Acts 23:24 and elsewhere to Felix. In Luke 3:1, ἡγεμονία means the imperium of Cæsar, ἡγεμονεύειν is used of the Proprætor Quirinus, Luke 2:2. In the Acts St Luke distinguishes with great historical accuracy the various titles of the provincial governors. See note, ch. Matthew 10:18.

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Cambridge Greek Testament Commentary

Matthew 27:2

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