John 19:21

21 Then the chief priests of the Jews said to Pilate, "Do not write 'The king of the Jews,' but, 'He said, I am king of the Jews.'"

John 19:21 Meaning and Commentary

John 19:21

Then said the chief priests of the Jews to Pilate
Who were not only informed of this inscription, but might read it themselves, for they were present at the crucifying of Christ, and mocked at him as he hung on the tree; these, when they read the title, were greatly offended at it, partly because it was doing too great an honour to Jesus to call him the King of the Jews: and partly because it fixed a public brand of infamy upon their nation, that a king of theirs should be crucified: wherefore they went to Pilate and addressed him, saying,

write not the King of the Jews:
because they did not own him for their king, which this title seemed to suggest, nor had he in their opinion any right to such a character; wherefore they desired that in the room of these words he would be pleased to put the following,

but that he said, I am King of the Jews;
that so he might be thought to be a seditious person and a traitor; one that laid claim to the temporal crown and kingdom of Israel, and one that suffered justly for attempts of that kind.

John 19:21 In-Context

19 And Pilate also wrote a notice and placed [it] on the cross, and it was written: "Jesus the Nazarene, the king of the Jews."

20 So many of the Jews read this notice, because the place where Jesus was crucified was near the city. And it was written in Aramaic, in Latin, [and] in Greek.

21 Then the chief priests of the Jews said to Pilate, "Do not write 'The king of the Jews,' but, 'He said, I am king of the Jews.'"

22 Pilate replied, "What I have written, I have written."

23 Then the soldiers, when they had crucified Jesus, took his clothing and made four shares--for each soldier a share--and the tunic. (Now the tunic was seamless, woven from the top {in a single piece}.)