So when Pilate saw that he was gaining nothing, but rather that a riot was beginning, he took water and washed his hands before the crowd, saying, “I am innocent of this man’s blood; see to it yourselves.”
Matthew 27:24. But Pilate, perceiving that he gained nothing by it. As sailors, who have experienced a violent tempest, at last give way, and permit themselves to be carried out of the proper course; so Pilate, finding himself unable to restrain the commotion of the people, lays aside his authority as a judge, and yields to their furious outcry.
Then answered all the people,.... They were as unanimous in their imprecations upon themselves, as in desiring the crucifixion of Christ: and said, his blood be on us, and on our children; not for the cleansing of them from sin, which virtue that blood has, but if there were any stain, blot, or pollution, through the shedding of it, they wished it might be on...
Verse 24. He took water, etc. The Jews were accustomed to wash their hands when they wished to show that they were innocent of a crime committed by others. See . They often used signs to represent their meaning. Pilate, in doing this, meant to denote that they were guilty of his death, but that he was innocent.