Acts 13:28
in Acts 13And though they found no ground for a death sentence, they asked Pilate to have Him executed.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And though they found no cause of death in him, yet asked they of Pilate that he should be slain.
KJV
And though they found no cause of death in him, yet desired they Pilate that he should be slain.
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This verse in Acts 13
Commentary
9 notes on this verseThey found no cause of death in him - No reason why he should be condemned. Though they accused him of several things, yet they could not substantiate the most trifling charge against him; and yet, in opposition to all justice and equity, desired Pilate to put him to death! This points their perfidy in the strongest light.
This site's exposition
The people of Jerusalem
on Acts 13:27-29
The people of Jerusalem and their rulers did not recognize Jesus, yet in condemning Him they fulfilled the words of the prophets. When they had carried out all that was written about Him, they laid Him in a tomb.
This site's exposition
they found no ground for a death sentence
Pilate declared Jesus innocent three times at Luke 23:4, 14 and 22. The rulers asked for the execution as they had asked for Barabbas, the charge Peter laid at 3:14. Paul names the Roman judge in a Roman colony.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
"Men and brethren, children of the stock of Abraham, and whosoever among you feareth God, to you is the word of this salvation sent. For they that dwell at Jerusalem, and their rulers, because they knew Him not, nor yet the voices of the prophets which are read every sabbath day, they have fulfilled them in condemning Him. And though they found no cause of death in Him, yet desired they Pilate that He should be slain." On all occasions we find them making a great point of showing this, that the blessing is peculiarly theirs, that they may not flee from Christ, as thinking they had nothing to do with Him, because they had crucified Him. "Because they knew Him not," he says: so that the sin was one of ignorance. See how he gently makes an apology even on behalf of those crucifiers. And not only this: but he adds also, that thus it must needs be. And how so? "By condemning Him, they fulfilled the voices of the prophets." "Men and brethren," etc. For since they were possessed by fear, as having slain Him, and conscience made them aliens, the Apostles discourse not with them as unto Christicides, neither as putting into their hands a good which was not theirs, but one peculiarly their own. "For they that dwell at Jerusalem, and their rulers:" as much as to say, not ye, but they: and again, apologizing even for those, "Because they knew Him not, and the voices of the Prophets which are read every sabbath day, in condemning Him, they fulfilled them." A great charge it is against them that they continually hearing heeded not. […]
The Medieval Church1 voice
"Finding no cause of death in Him, they asked Pilate to kill Him." He says that the death penalty was desired by them. He brings Pilate onto the scene so that, on the one hand, the suffering might be made widely known, and on the …
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
And though they found no cause of death in him,....
The preaching of the gospel to the Gentiles at their request, and upon the Jews' refusal of it, wherein the apostles justified themselves against the displeasure which the Jews conceived at it, and God owned them,
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
children . . . of Abraham, and whosoever among you feareth God--Gentile proselytes. to you is the word of this salvation sent--both being regarded as one class, as "the Jew first," to whom the Gospel was to be addressed in the first instance.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — starts-lowercase
1 more voice on this verse
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
And though they found ... - They found no crime which deserved death. This is conclusively shown by the trial itself. After all their efforts; after the treason of Judas; after their employing false witnesses; still no crime was laid to his charge. The Sanhedrin condemned him for blasphemy; and yet they knew that they could not substantiate the charge before Pilate, and they therefore endeavored to procure his condemnation on the ground of sedition. Compare Luk 22:70-71, with Luk 23:1-2. Yet desired they Pilate ... - Mat 27:1-2; Luk 23:4-5.
The words behind it
9 Greek wordsEvery Greek word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Greek | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| καὶ | kai | And | G2532 → | 9120 times |
| μηδεμίαν | medemian | no | G3367 → | 90 times |
| αἰτίαν | aitian | cause | G156 → | 20 times |
| θανάτου | thanatou | of death | G2288 → | 120 times |
| εὑρόντες | heurontes | having found | G2147 → | 175 times |
| ᾐτήσαντο | etesanto | they begged | G154 → | 70 times |
| Πιλᾶτον | pilaton | Pilate | G4091 → | 55 times |
| ἀναιρεθῆναι | anairethenai | to execute | G337 → | 24 times |
| αὐτόν. | auton | him. | G846 → | 5565 times |
καὶAnd
kaiG2532 →9120 times
μηδεμίανno
medemianG3367 →90 times
αἰτίανcause
aitianG156 →20 times
θανάτουof death
thanatouG2288 →120 times
εὑρόντεςhaving found
heurontesG2147 →175 times
ᾐτήσαντοthey begged
etesantoG154 →70 times
ΠιλᾶτονPilate
pilatonG4091 →55 times
ἀναιρεθῆναιto execute
anairethenaiG337 →24 times
αὐτόν.him.
autonG846 →5565 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Matthew 27:19While Pilate was sitting on the judgment seat, his wife sent him this message: “Have nothing to do with that innocent man, for I have suffered terribly in a dream today because of Him.”
it leads to
- 1 Peter 2:22
“He committed no sin, and no deceit was found in His mouth.”
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Zechariah 9:9
Rejoice greatly, O Daughter of Zion! Shout in triumph, O Daughter of Jerusalem! See, your King comes to you, righteous and victorious, humble and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of…
- Proverbs 29:1
A man who remains stiff-necked after much reproof will suddenly be shattered beyond recovery.
- Matthew 27:24
When Pilate saw that he was accomplishing nothing, but that instead a riot was breaking out, he took water and washed his hands before the crowd. “I am innocent of this man’s blood,” he…
- Matthew 2:12–13
And having been warned in a dream not to return to Herod, they withdrew to their country by another route.
- 1 Peter 2:22
Through
John 19:4Once again Pilate came out and said to the Jews, “Look, I am bringing Him out to you to let you know that I find no basis for a charge against Him.”
it leads to
- John 19:6
As soon as the chief priests and officers saw Him, they shouted, “Crucify Him! Crucify Him!” “You take Him and crucify Him,” Pilate replied, “for I find no basis for a charge against Him.”
- John 18:38
“What is truth?” Pilate asked. And having said this, he went out again to the Jews and told them, “I find no basis for a charge against Him.
- Luke 23:4
Then Pilate said to the chief priests and the crowds, “I find no basis for a charge against this man.”
- John 19:6
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies21
About Acts
This page draws on 10 works. Open the list of works
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); J. A. Alexander, The Acts of the Apostles Explained; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Chrysostom, Homilies on the Acts of the Apostles; John Chrysostom, Homily on Acts 29; John Gill, Exposition of the New Testament (1746-1748); Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible; Theophylact of Ohrid, Commentary on Acts and W. M. Ramsay, St. Paul the Traveller and the Roman Citizen.