Atlas Biblica

    person · also Pontius

    Pilate

    Πιλᾶτος

    Pontius Pilate, the Roman governor of Judea who presided over the trial of Jesus and ultimately ordered his crucifixion.

    IllustrationJohn 19Pilate presides from the judgment seat as the robed and thorn-crowned Jesus faces him on the pavement, while religious authorities demand his crucifixion.
    verses
    53
    first named
    Matthew 27:2
    last named
    1 Timothy 6:13
    period
    the New Testament
    role
    Ruler

    Description

    Who was Pilate?

    In the words of STEPBible TIPNR:

    Pontius Pilate was the Roman governor (prefect) of Judea during the time of Jesus' ministry and crucifixion (Luk.3.1). He is most known for his role in the trial and execution of Jesus, as recorded in all four Gospels (Matthew 27; Mark 15; Luke 23; John 18-19).

    When Jesus was brought before Pilate by the Jewish leaders, who accused him of claiming to be the king of the Jews, Pilate questioned Jesus and found no fault in him (Jhn.18.29-38). However, faced with the insistence of the Jewish leaders and the growing crowd, Pilate ultimately gave in to their demands and ordered Jesus to be crucified (Mat.27.24; Mrk.15.15; Luk.23.24; Jhn.19.16).

    Pilate is portrayed as a reluctant participant in Jesus' death, attempting to release him but ultimately succumbing to political pressure (Jhn.19.12). He is also depicted as a somewhat cynical and world-weary figure, as seen in his famous question to Jesus, "What is truth?" (Jhn.18.38).

    Pilate's involvement in Jesus' crucifixion is also mentioned in the Book of Acts, where the early Christian leaders affirm that Jesus was crucified under Pontius Pilate (Act.3.13; 4.27; 13.28). In 1Ti.6.13, Paul refers to Jesus' good confession before Pontius Pilate.

    Relations

    Direct connections

    Every entity the graph places in a stated relation with this one, grouped by the kind of link. Each relation is authored once and its inverse derived, so both ends always agree. Rows marked “registry” come from the identity spine rather than from a verse, and a row marked “which bearer is the source’s decision” is one where the name could have meant more than one person. The last group is not a relation at all — it counts the events two entities stand in together.

    How the graph connects Pilate 10 of 11 entities the graph connects to Pilate, in one group: events 10. Kinship, company and ground are stated relations; events counts the acts two entities stand in together and is not a relation. Each mark is sized by how many verses name that entity and labelled with the link and the count, so the grouping and the size are both readable without colour. Distance from the centre carries nothing.Israel3 events · 2,578 versesJesus38 events · 1,160 versesJudah7 events · 1,023 versesSacrifice1 event · 177 versesFeast2 events · 63 versesHerod5 events · 24 versesCrucifixion2 events · 16 versesPrisoner3 events · 15 versesBarabbas2 events · 10 versesCrowd2 events · 9 versesPilate

    The 10 best-attested of 11 are drawn. All 11 are listed below.

    Stands in the same events as

    and 10 more, ordered by how many events they share.

    Places

    Where this happens

    The places the claims about this person reach, drawn where the gazetteer locates them. A point is where a row puts them and never where tradition does; no line joins two points, because the rows state where and not in what order.

    Where the story of Pilate happens The one place the claims about Pilate reach, on a map of the world the text moves through, framed to them: Gabbatha. Each dot is a coordinate from the gazetteer, sized by how many rows put Pilate there. The coastline is a modern one, simplified; no border, road or settlement of any period is drawn, and no line joins two points, because the rows state where and not in what order.Gabbatha
    the New TestamentThe one place the claims about Pilate reach

    The pattern

    Where Pilate is named

    Every book of the corpus in the order it is read, each as wide as the chapters it holds. A bar is the verses of that book which write the name, and the flat stretches are as much of the answer as the bars.

    Where the name is written across the corpus. 53 verses across 6 of 66 books; 60 write the name nowhere. OLD TESTAMENT · 39 BOOKSNEW TESTAMENT · 27 BOOKSMATTHEW–ACTS52 VERSES39 books and 929 chapters with no mentionBOOK WIDTH = CHAPTER COUNT Where the name is written across the corpus. 53 verses across 6 of 66 books; 60 write the name nowhere. OT · 39 BOOKSNT · 27 BOOKSMATTHEW–ACTS52 VERSES39 books with no mentionBOOK WIDTH = CHAPTER COUNT
    Pilate is named in 53 verses, and the name is written 59 times in them — occurrences of the name in the Hebrew or Greek, counted in the versification of the Berean Standard Bible (v5.7). Every book of the corpus is drawn, its width its share of the 1,189 chapters. 60 of the 66 books never write it. A verse that tells of this subject without writing the name is not counted here.

    Read it

    Where to read it

    Every verse of the text carried here that names this entity — 53, across 6 books. The name is written 59 times in them.

    1. Matthew8 verses

      27:227:1327:1727:2227:2427:5827:6227:65

    2. Mark10 verses

      15:115:215:415:515:915:1215:1415:1515:4315:44

    3. Luke12 verses

      3:113:123:123:323:423:623:1123:1223:1323:2023:2423:52

    4. John19 verses

      18:2918:3118:3318:3518:3718:3819:119:419:619:819:1019:1219:1319:1519:1919:2119:2219:3119:38

    5. Acts3 verses

      3:134:2713:28

    6. 1 Timothy1 verse

      6:13

    Onward

    Where this page goes

    Nothing in the graph stands one hop from this entity yet. These are the best-connected entities of the same type, so the page still ends somewhere. Descriptions by STEPBible TIPNR.

    ElsewhereDavidAnointed king of Israel, ancestor of Jesus ChristElsewhereBenjaminYoungest son of Jacob and RachelElsewhereIsraelPatriarch, son of Isaac, father of twelve tribes

    Where they appear

    Chapter by chapter

    Atlas's reading of each chapter this person appears in, in canonical order. One line per chapter, and each leads to the whole of it.

    Sources

    What this rests on