(_b_) Others thus: Since you have received from God power over Me, _but have not had an opportunity of judging of My character_, therefore your sin is less than that of Caiphas and the Sanhedrim, who with the clearest evidences of My Divinity before them have yet condemned Me and delivered Me to you. But it is objected to this view also, that the words upon which the interpretation hinges, are not found in the text. (_c_) Others thus: since you possess lawful authority, therefore the Sanhedrim is more guilty in handing Me over to you than it would be, if you possessed not this authority. For, in handing Me over to you, they try to brand Me as a malefactor, and they surrender Me to one who has the power to put Me to death, even by the cruel death of crucifixion. In this view, held by Toletus, the sin of the Sanhedrim is compared, not with that of Pilate, but with what their own sin would have been, had they merely brought Jesus before some unlawful tribunal. The last connection, though, perhaps, not sufficiently obvious, is the most natural. The meaning of the whole verse is: You have lawful authority indeed, but not independently of God; and since you have lawful authority, therefore, My accusers are the more guilty. The words “he that hath delivered me to thee” refer primarily to Caiphas, the high‐priest, but include the Sanhedrim with him in the responsibility for delivering up Christ. 12. Et exinde quaerebat 12. And from thenceforth Pilatus dimittere eum. Iudaei Pilate sought to release him. autem clamabant, dicentes: Si But the Jews cried out, hunc dimittis, non es amicus saying: If thou release this Caesaris: omnis enim qui se man, thou art not Cesar’s regem facit contradicit friend. For whosoever maketh Caesari. himself a king, speaketh against Cesar. 12. *And from thenceforth Pilate sought to release him.* Pilate, who had hitherto tried to shirk the trial of Jesus, or to induce the Jews to call for His release, now “sought” himself to release Him. At this juncture, when all other motives had failed to move Pilate, the Jews exasperated charge him with being the enemy of Cæsar, if he refuse to condemn one who claimed to be a sovereign within Cæsar’s dominions. Their words conveyed to Pilate that they would denounce him to Cæsar, in case he persisted in refusing to condemn Jesus. Tiberius (14‐37 A.D.), who was Roman Emperor at the time, was, according to Suetonius (Vit. Tib., c. 58), a most suspicious tyrant, and one with whom, as Tacitus tells us: “Majestatis crimen omnium accusationum complementum erat” (Ann. iii. 38).