ChristadelphianBooksOnline
The Agora
Bible Articles and Lessons: S

Superscription on cross, the

The superscription on the cross:

Gospel	Quoted language?	Reason	Wording of inscription
Mat 27:37	Latin (Matt was Roman official)	Civil, legal	"Hic est Jesus rex Judaeorum" (This is Jesus the king of the Jews).
Luk 23:38	Greek	Intellectual, cultural	"This is the king of the Jews".
Joh 19:19,20	Hebrew	Religious, national	"Jesus of Nazareth the king of the Jews".
Mark 15:26	Greek, but only words common to all three	Summary of other 3, most concise	"The king of the Jews"

"His crime became his title" -- the "titulus" = inscription board, commonly used in Roman executions.

The fullest title, in Hebrew -- "Yeshua [Jesus] Ha-Natzr [of Nazareth] u'Melek [the King] Ha-Yehudim [of the Jews]" -- spells out, as an acronym, the very name of God: "YHWH". And for this reason, too, the leaders of Israel would demand that the title be removed!