Luke 23:6

Jesus Brought Before Herod

6 Now [when] Pilate heard [this], he asked if the man was a Galilean.

Luke 23:6 Meaning and Commentary

Luke 23:6

When Pilate heard of Galilee
"The name of Galilee", as the Syriac and Persic versions read when that was mentioned, he asked;
the Ethiopic version says, the "Galilaeans"; some of which might be present, being come to the feast of the passover, and were very proper persons to inquire of: whether the man were a Galilean;
so Jesus was reputed to be: for though he was born at Bethlehem of Judah, he was brought up at Nazareth in Galilee, where he spent the greater part of his private life, and his public ministry was chiefly exercised in those parts; hence the Jews thought, that he came out of Galilee, and was a Galilean, ( John 7:41 John 7:52 ) and so he used to be called by Julian the apostate; and it seems, that the answer returned to Pilate was, that he was a Galilean; and so the Persic version adds, and they said, yes; for it follows,

Luke 23:6 In-Context

4 So Pilate said to the chief priests and the crowds, "I find no basis for an accusation against this man.
5 But they insisted, saying, "He incites the people, teaching throughout the whole of Judea and beginning from Galilee as far as here."
6 Now [when] Pilate heard [this], he asked if the man was a Galilean.
7 And [when he] found out that he was from the jurisdiction of Herod, he sent him over to Herod, who was also in Jerusalem in those days.
8 And [when] Herod saw Jesus, he was very glad, for he had been wanting to see him for a long time, because he had heard about him and was hoping to see some miracle performed by him.

Footnotes 2

  • [a]. *Here "[when]" is supplied as a component of the participle ("heard") which is understood as temporal
  • [b]. *Here the direct object is supplied from context in the English translation
Scripture quotations marked (LEB) are from the Lexham English Bible. Copyright 2012 Logos Bible Software. Lexham is a registered trademark of Logos Bible Software.