What Does John 19:15 Mean in the King James?
But they cried out, Away with him, away with him, crucify him. Pilate saith unto them, Shall I crucify your King? The chief priests answered, We have no king but Cæsar.
The analysis reads the King James wording.
King James Version The King James Version, first published in 1611. Selah Verse shows the standard text.
THE KEY
The same Greek verb John uses for the Lamb who “taketh away” the world’s sin is shouted here as “Away with him”: removal is demanded against the one who removes.
THE MEANING
The repeated command to remove Jesus becomes a demand for his execution, and the answer names Caesar as the only king they will acknowledge. The verse speaks now: a person’s declared ruler is revealed by whom they accept and whom they are willing to cast out.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
The belief that rejecting one authority leaves allegiance empty dissolves here: the crowd names the power it chooses in the same breath that it rejects Jesus.
THE ROOT
ἆρον
aron
GROWS FROM
αἰρ
air
Lift, raise, take up; by extension, carry away or remove.
The English “away” sounds like mere dismissal, but this verb can name lifting and carrying off as well as removal. The echo to John 1:29 sharpens the scene: the crowd calls for the removal of the one whose work is to remove the world’s sin.
ALSO GROWS
airō: Lift, take up, carry, or remove.
αἴρω
This verb’s range holds both lifting something up and taking it away, giving the crowd’s command more force than a simple dismissal.
epairō: Raise or lift up.
ἐπαίρω
This compound keeps the root’s sense of lifting, showing the movement concealed inside the command to take Jesus away.
βασιλέα
basilea
GROWS FROM
βασιλ
basil
Kingly rule and kingship.
The English “King” can sound like a title, but this word belongs to a family for kingdom and reigning. “We have no king but Caesar” names the governing power they will recognize, not just the person they prefer.
ALSO GROWS
basileia: Kingdom, reign, or royal authority.
βασιλεία
The related word makes the governing dimension of the crowd’s declaration visible.
basileuō: To reign or exercise kingship.
βασιλεύω
This branch turns the title into an action: a king is the one whose rule is accepted.
THE PATTERN
A public confession of allegiance reveals which authority a person places above all others.
And the LORD said unto Samuel, Hearken unto the voice of the people in all that they say unto thee: for they have not rejected thee, but they have rejected me, that I should not reign over them.No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.THE THREAD
The next day John seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith, Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.The verb translated “taketh away” is the same verb shouted here as “Away with him.” John 1:29 describes removal as the Lamb’s work; this verse turns that same word against him.
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