This and the following verses are peculiar to St. John, and furnish another instance of his exact knowledge of what took place at Jerusalem.
Many of the Jews. — That is, of the hierarchical party, as generally in this Gospel. (Comp. Note on John 1:19.) It has been sometimes understood here of the people generally, because the inscription was written in the three languages; but the last clause of the verse furnishes the reason for the action of the chief priests in the next verse. It would be better to punctuate the verses thus: “This title therefore read many of the Jews, because the place where Jesus was crucified was nigh to the city. And it was written in Hebrew, and Greek, and Latin. Therefore said the chief priests...”
Nigh to the city. — Comp. Note on Matthew 27:33.
Hebrew, and Greek, and Latin. — “Hebrew,” i.e., the current Syro-Chaldaic, was the language of the people generally. The precise form which occurs here is used in the New Testament only by St. John (John 5:2; John 19:13; John 19:17; John 19:20; John 20:16; Revelation 9:11; Revelation 16:16). “Greek” was the most widely-known language of the time. “Latin” was the official language of the Roman Empire.