KJV: And set up over his head his accusation written, THIS IS JESUS THE KING OF THE JEWS.
YLT: and they put up over his head, his accusation written, 'This is Jesus, the king of the Jews.'
Darby: And they set up over his head his accusation written: This is Jesus, the King of the Jews.
ASV: And they set up over his head his accusation written, THIS IS JESUS THE KING OF THE JEWS.
ἐπέθηκαν | they put up |
Parse: Verb, Aorist Indicative Active, 3rd Person Plural Root: ἐπιτίθημι Sense: in the active voice. |
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ἐπάνω | over |
Parse: Preposition Root: ἐπάνω Sense: above. |
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κεφαλῆς | head |
Parse: Noun, Genitive Feminine Singular Root: κεφαλή Sense: the head, both of men and often of animals. |
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αὐτοῦ | of Him |
Parse: Personal / Possessive Pronoun, Genitive Masculine 3rd Person Singular Root: αὐτός Sense: himself, herself, themselves, itself. |
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αἰτίαν | accusation |
Parse: Noun, Accusative Feminine Singular Root: αἰτία Sense: cause, reason. |
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γεγραμμένην | written |
Parse: Verb, Perfect Participle Middle or Passive, Accusative Feminine Singular Root: γράφω Sense: to write, with reference to the form of the letters. |
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ΟΥΤΟΣ | This |
Parse: Demonstrative Pronoun, Nominative Masculine Singular Root: οὗτος Sense: this. |
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ΙΗΣΟΥΣ | Jesus |
Parse: Noun, Nominative Masculine Singular Root: Ἰησοῦς Sense: Joshua was the famous captain of the Israelites, Moses’ successor. |
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ΒΑΣΙΛΕΥΣ | King |
Parse: Noun, Nominative Masculine Singular Root: βασιλεύς Sense: leader of the people, prince, commander, lord of the land, king. |
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ΤΩΝ | of the |
Parse: Article, Genitive Masculine Plural Root: ὁ Sense: this, that, these, etc. |
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ΙΟΥΔΑΙΩΝ | Jews |
Parse: Adjective, Genitive Masculine Plural Root: Ἰουδαῖος Sense: Jewish, belonging to the Jewish race. |
Greek Commentary for Matthew 27:37
The title This inscription gave the name and home, Jesus of Nazareth, and the charge on which he was convicted, the King of the Jews and the identification, This is. The four reports all give the charge and vary in the others. The inscription in full was: This is Jesus of Nazareth the King of the Jews. The three languages are mentioned only by John (John 19:20), Latin for law, Hebrew (Aramaic) for the Jews, Greek for everybody. The accusation (charge, cause, αιτια aitia) correctly told the facts of the condemnation. [source]
Reverse Greek Commentary Search for Matthew 27:37
Matthew, simply accusation; Luke, superscription; John, title. See on Matthew 27:37. [source]
The writing upon the top of the cross (our word epigraph). Luke 23:38 has this same word, but Matthew 27:37 has “accusation” See Matthew for discussion. John 19:19 has “title” (τιτλον titlon). [source]
Mark 15:26 has “the superscription of his accusation” Matthew 27:37, “his accusation,” John 19:19 “a title.” But they all refer to the charge written at the top on the cross giving, as was the custom, the accusation on which the criminal was condemned, with his name and residence. Put all the reports together and we have: This is Jesus of Nazareth the King of the Jews. This full title appeared in Latin for law, in Aramaic for the Jews, in Greek for everybody (John 19:20). [source]
Properly, cause of accusation. Rev., crime. See on Matthew 27:37, and compare note on Matthew 19:10. [source]
This famous sneer of Pilate reveals his own ignorance of truth, as he stood before Incarnate Truth (John 14:6). Quid est veritas? The answer in Latin is Vir est qui adest as has been succinctly said by the use of the same letters. Pilate turned with indifference from his own great question and rendered his verdict: “I find no crime in him” For this use of αιτια aitia see Matthew 27:37; Mark 15:26. Pilate therefore should have set Jesus free at once. [source]
Only John tells us that Pilate himself wrote it and John alone uses the technical Latin word titlon (several times in inscriptions), for the board with the name of the criminal and the crime in which he is condemned; Mark (Mark 15:26) and Luke (Luke 23:28) use επιγραπη epigraphē (superscription). Matthew (Matthew 27:37) has simply αιτιαν aitian (accusation). The inscription in John is the fullest of the four and has all in any of them save the words “this is” (ουτος εστιν houtos estin) in Matthew 27:37. [source]