John 18:30

If this man were not an evil-doer (ei mh hn outo kakon poiwn). Condition (negative) of second class (periphrastic imperfect indicative), assumed to be untrue, with the usual apodosis (an and aorist indicative, first aorist plural with k). This is a pious pose of infallibility not in the Synoptics. They then proceeded to make the charges ( Luke 23:2 ) as indeed John implies ( Luke 18:31 Luke 18:33 ). Some MSS. here read kakopoio (malefactor) as in 1 Peter 2:12 1 Peter 2:14 , with which compare Luke's kakourgo ( Luke 23:32 ; so also 2 Timothy 2:9 ), both meaning evil-doer. Here the periphrastic present participle poiwn with kakon emphasizes the idea that Jesus was a habitual evil-doer (Abbott). It was an insolent reply to Pilate (Bernard).