Giovanni 19:14

And it was the preparation of the passover, and about the sixth hour: and he saith unto the Jews, Behold your King! It was the preparation of the Passover - That is, the time in which they were just preparing to kill the paschal lamb. Critics differ widely concerning the time of our Lord's crucifixion; and this verse is variously understood. Some think it signifies merely the preparation of the Sabbath; and that it is called the preparation of the passover, because the preparation of the Sabbath happened that year on the eve of the Passover.

Others think that the preparation of the Sabbath is distinctly spoken of in Giovanni 19:31, and was different from what is here mentioned. Contending nations may be more easily reconciled than contending critics.

The sixth hour - Mark says, Marco 15:25, that it was the third hour. Τριτη, the third, is the reading of DL, four others, the Chron. Alex., Seuerus Antiochen., Ammonius, with others mentioned by Theophylact. Nonnus, who wrote in the fifth century, reads τριτη, the third. As in ancient times all the numbers were written in the manuscripts not at large but in numeral letters, it was easy for Γ three, to be mistaken for Ϛ six.

The Codex Bezae has generally numeral letters instead of words. Bengel observes that he has found the letter Γ gamma, Three, exceedingly like the Ϛ episemon, Six, in some MSS. The major part of the best critics think that τριτη, the third, is the genuine reading. See the note on Marco 15:25.

Behold your king! - This was probably intended as an irony; and, by thus turning their pretended serious apprehensions into ridicule, he hoped still to release him.