King James Version · Under Rome
Matthew 27
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When the morning was come, all the and of the people against to put him to : And when they had bound him, they led him away, and him to the governor. Then , which had betrayed him, when he saw that he was condemned, himself, and brought again pieces of silver to the and , Saying, I have in that I have betrayed the innocent . And they said, What is that to us? see thou to that. And he cast down the pieces of silver in , and departed, and went and hanged himself. And the took the silver pieces, and said, It is not lawful for to put them into the , because it is the price of . 7And they , and bought with them the ’s field, to bury strangers in. Wherefore that field was called, The field of , unto this day. Then was fulfilled that which was spoken by the , saying, And they took pieces of silver, the price of him that was valued, whom they of the did value; And gave them for the ’s field, as appointed me. And stood before the governor: and the governor asked him, saying, Art thou the King of the ? And said unto him, Thou sayest. And when he was accused of the and , he answered nothing. Then said unto him, Hearest thou not how many things they against thee? And he answered him to never a word; insomuch that the governor marvelled greatly. Now at that feast the governor was wont to unto the people a prisoner, whom they would. And they had then a notable prisoner, called Barabbas. Therefore when they were gathered together, said unto them, Whom will ye that I unto you? Barabbas, or which is called ? For he knew that for envy they had him. When he was set down on the seat, his wife sent unto him, saying, Have thou nothing to do with that man: for I have suffered many things this day in a because of him. But the and persuaded that they should ask Barabbas, and destroy . 21The governor answered and said unto them, Whether of the twain will ye that I unto you? They said, Barabbas. saith unto them, What shall I do then with which is called ? They all say unto him, Let him be . And the governor said, Why, what evil hath he done? But they cried out the more, saying, Let him be . When saw that he could prevail nothing, but that rather a tumult was made, he took water, and washed his hands before , saying, I am innocent of of this person: see ye to it. Then answered all the people, and said, His be on us, and on our children. Then released he Barabbas unto them: and when he had scourged , he him to be . Then the soldiers of the governor took into the common hall, and gathered unto him the whole band of soldiers. And they stripped him, and put on him a scarlet robe. And when they had platted a , they put it upon his head, and a reed in his : and they bowed the knee before him, and mocked him, saying, Hail, King of the ! And they spit upon him, and took the reed, and smote him on the head. And after that they had mocked him, they took the robe off from him, and put his own raiment on him, and led him away to him. And as they came out, they found a man of Cyrene, by name: him they compelled to bear his . And when they were come unto a place called , that is to say, a place of a skull, They gave him vinegar to drink mingled with gall: and when he had tasted thereof, he would not drink. And they him, and parted his garments, casting lots: that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the , They parted my garments among them, and upon my vesture did they cast lots. And sitting down they watched him there; And set up over his head his accusation written, THIS IS THE KING OF THE . Then were there two thieves with him, one on , and another on the left. And they that passed by reviled him, wagging their heads, And saying, Thou that destroyest , and buildest it in three days, thyself. If thou be the Son of , come down from . Likewise also the mocking him, with the and , said, He others; himself he cannot . If he be the King of Israel, let him now come down from , and we will him. He trusted in ; let him him now, if he will have him: for he said, I am the Son of . The thieves also, which were with him, cast the same in his teeth. Now from the sixth hour there was over all the land unto the ninth hour. And about the ninth hour cried with a loud voice, saying, , , lama sabachthani? that is to say, My , my , why hast thou forsaken me? Some of them that stood there, when they heard that, said, This man calleth for . And straightway one of them ran, and took a spunge, and filled it with vinegar, and put it on a reed, and gave him to drink. 49The rest said, Let be, let us see whether will come to him. , when he had cried again with a loud voice, yielded up the ghost. And, behold, of was rent in twain from the top to the bottom; and the earth did quake, and the rocks rent; And the were opened; and many bodies of which slept arose, 53And came out of the after his , and went into the city, and appeared unto many. Now when the centurion, and they that were with him, watching , saw the earthquake, and those things that were done, they feared greatly, saying, Truly this was the Son of . And many women were there beholding afar off, which followed from , ministering unto him: Among which was , and the mother of and Joses, and the mother of ’s children. When the even was come, there came a rich man of Arimathea, named , who also himself was ’ : He went to , and begged the body of . Then commanded the body to be . 59And when had taken the body, he wrapped it in a clean linen cloth, And laid it in his own new , which he had hewn out in : and he rolled a great stone to the door of the , and departed. And there was , and the other , sitting over against the . Now the next day, that followed the day of the preparation, the and came together unto , Saying, Sir, we remember that that deceiver said, while he was yet alive, After three days I will . Command therefore that the be made sure until the third day, lest his come by night, and steal him away, and say unto the people, He is from : so the last error shall be worse than the first. said unto them, Ye have a watch: go your way, make it as sure as ye can. So they went, and made the sure, sealing the stone, and setting a watch.
The 1611 translation, public domain. Its original printing included the Apocrypha, which is why the deuterocanonical books can be read here. Notes and cards are EKLI’s own.
The world at this moment · Under Rome, 63 BC to AD 100 ›
Judea as a client kingdom and then a province. Roads, garrisons, taxes, crucifixion, and a common Greek language that let a message travel the empire faster than any before it.
- Rome
- The republic tears itself apart in civil war and comes out as an empire under Augustus. What follows is two centuries of relative peace across the whole Mediterranean, enforced by legions and paid for by taxes, with safe roads and safe sea lanes. Every one of Paul's journeys depends on that.
- Judea
- Governed first through Herod the Great, a client king of enormous ability and enormous brutality who rebuilds the temple into one of the wonders of the ancient world, then directly by Roman prefects. Crucifixion is the standard penalty for sedition and is used often and publicly.
- The wider world
- Greek is spoken from Spain to Syria, which means a letter written in Corinth can be read in Rome without translation. Jewish communities already exist in most major cities, which is where the first Christian preaching lands. Mystery religions, imperial cult, and philosophy all compete in the same marketplace.
- Further afield
- The Han dynasty rules China and trades silk westward along routes that touch the Roman world at second hand. In Britain the Roman conquest begins within a decade of the crucifixion.