When Pilate heard this, he asked if the man was a Galilean.
Our Lord Jesus was condemned as a blasphemer in the spiritual court, but it was the most impotent malice that could be that this court was actuated by; for, when they had condemned him, they knew they could not put him to death, and therefore took another course. I. They accused him before Pilate.
Commenting on Luke 23:1-12
When Pilate heard of Galilee,.... "The name of Galilee", as the Syriac and Persic versions read when that was mentioned, he asked; the Ethiopic version says, the "Galilaeans"; some of which might be present, being come to the feast of the passover, and were very proper persons to inquire of: whether the man were a Galilean; so Jesus was reputed to be: for though he...
Verse 6. Whether he were a Galilean. He asked this because, if he was, he properly belonged to Herod's jurisdiction, who reigned over Galilee.