Digging Up the Bible: The Pilate Inscription

DIGGING UP THE BIBLE
Important Archeological Finds that help Us Understand Scripture
pdf
Dr. Paul Manuel—2017
 

Pilate Inscription
(AD 26-37)

An excavation in Caesarea (1961), seat of the provincial Roman government in 1^st century Judea, unearthed a dedicatory limestone plaque with a Latin inscription that translates:

To the Divine Augustis [this] Tiberieum
...Pontius Pilate ... prefect of Judea
...has dedicated [this]

The Pilate inscription, as it is called, attests to the Roman appointed governor in office during the mid-first century.

 

Pilate was the leading political figure at Jesus' trial before his crucifixion and had the final word in determining his sentence: "He had Jesus flogged, and handed him over to be crucified" (Matt 27:26).

Pilate had other negative interactions with the Jewish community, like "the Galileans whose blood [he] had mixed with their sacrifices" (Luke 13:1). Josephus records that Pilate also forcibly dispersed a crowd that protested an unpopular public works project:

He, foreseeing the tumult, had interspersed among the crowd a troop of his soldiers, armed but disguised in civilian dress, with orders not to use their swords, but to beat any rioters with cudgels. He now from his tribunal gave the agreed signal. Large numbers of the Jews perished, some from the blows which they received, others trodden to death by their companions in the ensuing flight. Cowed by the fate of the victims, the multitude was reduced to silence. (War 2.176-177)

Although Pilate acceded to the crowd's demands for Jesus' execution, he did not agree with the Sanhedrin's accusation of treason and stated as much: "I find no basis for a charge against him" (John 19:4).
 

Significance for Biblical Studies: The Pilate Inscription confirms the historicity and position as prefect of this New Testament figure. It suggests that Pilate sought to curry favor with his superiors, as did his interactions with those Rome might regard a political threat to the empire, like a potential Jewish insurrectionist.

 

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