John 19:11

Thou couldest Or, wouldest. This is Christ's last word to Pilate; a defence of the supremacy of God, and a protest against the claim of any human potentate to be irresponsible.

from above i.e. from God. This even Pilate could understand: had Jesus said -from My Father" he would have remained uninstructed. The point is not, that Pilate is an instrument ordained for the carrying out of God's purposes (Acts 2:23); he was such, but that is not the meaning here. Rather, that the possession and exercise of all authority is the gift of God; John 3:27; Romans 13:1-7 (see notes there). To interpret -from above" of the higher tribunal of the Sanhedrin is quite inadequate. Comp. John 3:3; John 3:7; John 3:31; James 1:17; James 3:15; James 3:17, where the same adverb, anôthen, is used: see notes in each place.

therefore Better, for this cause (John 12:18; John 12:27); comp. John 1:31; John 5:16; John 5:18; John 7:22; John 8:47.

he that delivered me unto thee Caiaphas, the representative of the Sanhedrin and of the nation. The expression rendered -he that delivered" is used in John 13:11; John 18:2; John 18:5 of Judas. But the addition -to thee" shews that Judas is not meant; Judas had not betrayed Jesus to Pilate but to the Sanhedrin. The same verb is used of the Sanhedrin delivering Him to Pilate, John 18:35.

hath the greater sin Because he had the opportunity of knowing Who Jesus was. Once more we have the expression, peculiar to S. John, -to have sin" (John 9:41; John 15:22; John 15:24; 1 John 1:8).