Jesus, King of the Jews#INRI and ΙΝΒΙ

{{Further|Matthew 2:7|Matthew 2:8}}

In the account of the nativity of Jesus in the Gospel of Matthew, the Biblical Magi go to King Herod in Jerusalem and (in Matthew 2:2) ask him: "Where is he that is born King of the Jews?"{{sfn | France | 2007 | pp=43 and 83}} Herod asks the "chief priests and teachers of the law", who tell him in Bethlehem of Judea.

The question troubles Herod who considers the title his own, and in {{bibleverse|Matthew|2:7–8}} he questions the Magi about the exact time of the Star of Bethlehem's appearance. Herod sends the Magi to Bethlehem, telling them to notify him when they find the child. After the Magi find Jesus and present their gifts, having been warned in a dream not to return to Herod, they returned to their country by a different way.

An angel appears to Joseph in a dream and warns him to take Jesus and Mary into Egypt (Matthew 2:13). When Herod realizes he has been outwitted by the Magi he gives orders to kill all the boys in Bethlehem and its vicinity who are two years old and under. (Matthew 2:16)

In the accounts of the Passion of Jesus, the title King of the Jews is used on three occasions. In the first such episode, all four Gospels state that the title was used for Jesus when he was interviewed by Pilate and that his crucifixion was based on that charge, as in Matthew 27:11, Mark 15:2, Luke 23:3 and John 18:33.{{sfn | Brown | 1994 | pp=78-79}}

File:Ellwangen St Vitus Vorhalle Kreuzaltar detail2.jpg) on the cross, Ellwangen Abbey, Germany]]

The use of the terms king and kingdom and the role of the Jews in using the term king to accuse Jesus are central to the discussion between Jesus and Pilate. In {{Bibleverse|Matthew|27:11}}, {{bibleverse|Mark|15:2|KJV}}, and {{Bibleverse|Luke|23:3}} Jesus responds to Pilate, "you have said so" when asked if Jesus is the King of the Jews and says nothing further. This answer is traditionally interpreted as an affirmative.{{Cite book |last=Park |first=Wongi |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=M8KEDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA131 |title=The Politics of Race and Ethnicity in Matthew's Passion Narrative |date=2019 |publisher=Springer |isbn=978-3-030-02378-2 |pages=131–132 |language=en}}{{Cite book |last1=Davies |first1=William David |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZXIV2WOTVvMC&pg=PA581 |title=Matthew: Volume 3: 19-28 |last2=Davies |first2=W. D. |last3=Jr |first3=Dale C. Allison |date=1988 |publisher=A&C Black |isbn=978-0-567-08518-4 |language=en}}{{Cite book |last1=Brown |first1=Jeannine K. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=78qAEAAAQBAJ&pg=PT232 |title=Matthew |last2=Roberts |first2=Kyle |date=2018-09-27 |publisher=Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing |isbn=978-1-4674-5127-7 |language=en}} Some scholars describe it as ambiguous and enigmatic.{{Cite book |last=Turner |first=David L. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8z9LSdKLUl4C&pg=PA653 |title=Matthew |date=2008-04-15 |publisher=Baker Academic |isbn=978-0-8010-2684-3 |language=en}} Other scholars say it was calculated not to anger Pilate while allowing the gospel reader to understand that the answer is affirmative.{{Cite book |last=Turner |first=David L. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8z9LSdKLUl4C&pg=PA653 |title=Matthew |date=2008-04-15 |publisher=Baker Academic |isbn=978-0-8010-2684-3 |language=en}}{{Cite book |last1=Brown |first1=Jeannine K. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=78qAEAAAQBAJ&pg=PT232 |title=Matthew |last2=Roberts |first2=Kyle |date=2018 |publisher=Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing |isbn=978-1-4674-5127-7 |language=en}} In {{Bibleverse|John|18:34}}, he hints that the king accusation did not originate with Pilate but with "others" and, in John 18:36, he states: "My kingdom is not of this world". However, Jesus does not directly deny being the King of the Jews.{{sfn | Binz | 2004 | pp=81-82}}{{sfn | Ironside | 2006 | p=454}}

In the New Testament, Pilate writes "Jesus the Nazarene, King of the Jews" as a sign to be affixed to the cross of Jesus. John 19:21 states that the Jews told Pilate: "Do not write King of the Jews" but instead write that Jesus had merely claimed that title, but Pilate wrote it anyway.{{sfn | Brown | 1988 | p=93}} Pilate's response to the protest is recorded by John: "What I have written, I have written."

After the trial by Pilate and after the flagellation of Christ episode, the soldiers mock Jesus as the King of Jews by putting a purple robe (that signifies royal status) on him, place a Crown of Thorns on his head, and beat and mistreat him in {{Bibleverse|Matthew|27:29–30}}, {{Bibleverse|Mark|15:17–19}} and {{Bibleverse|John|19:2–3}}.{{sfn|Senior|1985|p=124}}

The continued reliance on the use of the term king by the Judeans to press charges against Jesus is a key element of the final decision to crucify him.{{sfn|Hengel|2004|p=46}} In {{Bibleverse|John|19:12}} Pilate seeks to release Jesus, but the Jews object, saying: "If thou release this man, thou art not Caesar's friend: every one that maketh himself a king speaketh against Caesar", bringing the power of Caesar to the forefront of the discussion.{{sfn|Hengel|2004|p=46}} In {{Bibleverse|John|19:12}}, the Jews then cry out: "Crucify him! ... We have no king but Caesar."

The use of the term "King of the Jews" by the early Church after the death of Jesus was thus not without risk, for this term could have opened them to prosecution as followers of Jesus, who was accused of possible rebellion against Rome.{{sfn|Hengel|2004|p=46}}

The final use of the title only appears in {{Bibleverse|Luke|23:36–37}}. Here, after Jesus has carried the cross to Calvary and has been nailed to the cross, the soldiers look up on him on the cross, mock him, offer him vinegar and say: "If thou art the King of the Jews, save thyself." In the parallel account in {{Bibleverse|Matthew|27:42}}, the Jewish priests mock Jesus as "King of Israel", saying: "He is the King of Israel; let him now come down from the cross, and we will believe in him."

In the New Testament, the "King of the Jews" title is used only by the gentiles, by the Magi, Pontius Pilate, and Roman soldiers. In contrast, the Jews in the New Testament prefer the designation "King of Israel" as used reverentially by Jesus' Jewish followers in {{Bibleverse|John|1:49}} and {{Bibleverse|John|12:13}}, and mockingly by the Jewish leaders in {{Bibleverse|Matthew|27:42}} and {{Bibleverse|Mark|15:32}}. From Pilate's perspective, it is the term "King" (regardless of Jews or Israel) that is sensitive, for it implies possible rebellion against the Roman Empire.{{sfn | France | 2007 | p=1048}}

In the Gospel of Mark the distinction between King of the Jews and King of Israel is made consciously, setting apart the two uses of the term by the Jews and the gentiles.{{sfn | Strecker | Horn | 2000 | p=375–376}}

{{redirect|INRI||INRI (disambiguation)}}

File:Agias Triados frescos cross.jpg crucifix, displays the lettering in Greek: ΙΝΒΙ (Trapeza of Holy Trinity Monastery, Meteora, Greece).]]

The initialism INRI represents the Latin inscription {{lang|la|IESVS NAZARENVS REX IVDÆORVM|italic=no}} ({{lang|la|Iesus Nazarenus, Rex Iudaeorum}}), which in English translates to "Jesus the Nazarene, King of the Jews" (John 19:19).{{sfn | De Bles | 1925| p=32}} John 19:20 states that this was written in three languages – Aramaic-Hebrew,{{efn|name=hebrew}} Latin, and Greek – and was put on the cross of Jesus. The Greek version of the initialism reads ΙΝΒΙ, representing {{lang|grc-x-koine|Ἰησοῦς ὁ Ναζωραῖος ὁ βασιλεύς τῶν Ἰουδαίων}} ({{transliteration|grc|Iēsoûs ho Nazōraîos ho basileús tôn Ioudaíōn}}).{{sfn | Andreopoulos | 2005 | p=26}}

Devotional enthusiasm greeted the discovery by Pedro González de Mendoza in 1492 of what was acclaimed as the actual tablet, said to have been brought to Rome by Saint Helena, mother of Emperor Constantine.{{sfn | Lanciani | 1902 | p=89}}{{sfn | Weiss | 1969 | p=102}}

In Western Christianity, most crucifixes and many depictions of the crucifixion of Jesus include a plaque or parchment placed above his head, called a titulus, or title, bearing only the Latin letters INRI, occasionally carved directly into the cross and usually just above the head of Jesus.

The initialism INRI (as opposed to the full inscription) was in use by the 10th century (Gero Cross, Cologne, ca. 970).

In Eastern Christianity, both the Eastern Orthodox Church and the Eastern Catholic particular churches sui iuris use the Greek letters ΙΝΒΙ, based on the Greek version of the inscription {{lang|grc-x-koine|Ἰησοῦς ὁ Ναζωραῖος ὁ βασιλεύς τῶν Ἰουδαίων}}. Some representations change the title to "ΙΝΒΚ," {{lang|grc-x-koine|ὁ βασιλεύς τοῦ κόσμου}} ({{transliteration|grc|ho Basileùs toû kósmou}}, "The King of the World"), or to {{lang|grc-x-koine|ὁ βασιλεύς τῆς Δόξης}} ({{transliteration|grc|ho Basileùs tês Dóxēs}}, "The King of Glory"),{{sfn | Andreopoulos | 2005 | p=26}}{{sfn|Aslanoff|2005|p=124}} not implying that this was really what was written but reflecting the tradition that icons depict the spiritual reality rather than the physical reality.

The Romanian Orthodox Church uses INRI, since abbreviation in Romanian is exactly the same as in Latin (Iisus Nazarineanul Regele Iudeilor).

Eastern Orthodox Churches that use Church Slavonic in their liturgy use {{lang|cu|ІНЦІ}} ({{transliteration|cu|INTsI}}, the equivalent of ΙΝΒΙ for {{langx|cu|І҆и҃съ назѡрѧни́нъ, цр҃ь і҆ꙋде́йскїй}}) or the abbreviation {{lang|ru|Царь Сла́вы}} ({{transliteration|ru|Tsar Slávy}}, "King of Glory").

{{see also|INRI (disambiguation)}}

In Spanish, the word {{lang|es|inri}} denotes any insulting or mocking word or phrase; it is usually found in the fixed expression {{lang|es|para más/mayor inri}} (literally "for more/greater insult"), which idiomatically means "to add insult to injury" or "to make matters worse". Its origin is sometimes made clearer by capitalisation {{lang|es|para más INRI}}.

The initials INRI have been reinterpreted with other expansions (backronyms). In an 1825 book on Freemasonry, Marcello Reghellini de Schio alleged that Rosicrucians gave "INRI" alchemical meanings:{{sfn|de Schio|1825|p=12}}

• Latin {{lang|la|Igne Natura Renovatur Integra}} ("by fire, nature renews itself"); other sources have {{lang|la|Igne Natura Renovando Integrat}}
• Latin {{lang|la|Igne Nitrum Roris Invenitur}} ("the nitre of dew is found by fire")
• Hebrew {{lang|he|ימים, נור, רוח, יבשת}} (Yammīm, Nūr, Rūaḥ, Yabešet, "water, fire, wind, earth" — the four elements)

Later writers have attributed these to Freemasonry, Hermeticism, or neo-paganism. Aleister Crowley's The Temple of Solomon the King includes a discussion of Augoeides, supposedly written by "Frater P." of the A∴A∴:{{sfn|Crowley|1909|p=160}}

:For since Intra Nobis Regnum deI [footnote in original: I.N.R.I.], all things are in Ourself, and all Spiritual Experience is a more of less complete Revelation of Him [i.e. Augoeides].

Latin {{lang|la|Intra Nobis Regnum deI}} literally means "Inside Us the Kingdom of god".

Leopold Bloom, the nominally Catholic, ethnically Jewish protagonist of James Joyce's Ulysses, remembers his wife Molly Bloom interpreting INRI as "Iron Nails Ran In".{{sfn|Bloom|1989|p=335}}{{sfn|Ellmann|2010|p=164}}{{sfn|Quigley|2015|p=128}}{{sfn|Mihálycsa|2017|p=61}} The same meaning is given by a character in Ed McBain's 1975 novel Doors.{{sfn|McBain|2017|p=65}} Most Ulysses translations preserve "INRI" and make a new misinterpretation, such as the French {{lang|fr|Il Nous Refait Innocents}} "he makes us innocent again".{{sfn|Szczerbowski|1998|p=221}}

In isopsephy, the Greek term ({{lang|grc-x-koine|βασιλεὺς τῶν Ἰουδαίων}}) receives a value of 3343 whose digits seem to correspond to a suggested date for the crucifixion of Jesus, (33, April, 3rd day).

File:Magi Herod MNMA Cl23532.jpg|The Magi visit Herod to ask about the newborn King of the Jews, Matthew 2:2.

File:Ecce homo by Antonio Ciseri (1).jpg|Pilate, trying and handing over Jesus, the King of the Jews, Mark 15:2

File:Michelangelo Merisi, called Caravaggio - The Crowning with Thorns - Google Art Project.jpg|Jesus with a royal purple robe mocked and beaten as the King of the Jews, {{Bibleverse|John|19:2–3}}

File:Paolo Veronese 010.jpg|Jesus, on the cross, is mocked in Calvary as the King of the Jews, {{Bibleverse|Luke|23:36–37}}.

File:INRI-Isenheimer.jpg|INRI from the Isenheim Altarpiece

File:Crucifix.JPG|A Latin crucifix with a stylized INRI plaque attached, in cornfields near Mureck, Styria, Austria

File:InriPrague.jpg|INRI plaque attached to Crucifix and Calvary statue on the north side of Charles Bridge, Prague

File:Inri.jpg|Detail of The Small Crucifixion, painting by Matthias Grünewald, {{Circa|1510}}, National Gallery of Art, Washington

File:Sagrada_Familia_-_Juny_de_2016_-_03.jpg| {{Smallcaps|iesus nazarenus rex iudæorum}} on the side of the Sagrada Familia

{{Portal|Christianity}}

• Christ the King
• Ichthys
• Names and titles of Jesus in the New Testament
• Titulus Crucis

{{notelist|refs=

{{efn|name=range|See range of translations assembled at [https://www.biblegateway.com/verse/en/Mark%2015:26 BibleGateway.com] }}

}}

{{reflist|refs=

{{cite web |title=inri |url=https://dle.rae.es/inri?m=form |website=Diccionario de la lengua española |publisher=Real Academia Española |access-date=16 March 2020 |language=es}}

}}

{{refbegin|2|indent=yes}}

• {{cite book | last=Andreopoulos | first=A. | title=Metamorphosis: The Transfiguration in Byzantine Theology and Iconography | publisher=St. Vladimir's Seminary Press | year=2005 | isbn=978-0-88141-295-6 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1UZCTtEuGcMC&pg=PA26}}
• {{cite book|title=The Incarnate God: The Feasts of Jesus Christ|first= Catherine |last=Aslanoff|date= 2005|publisher= St Vladimir's Seminary Press |isbn=0-88141-130-2}}
• {{cite book | last=Binz | first=Stephen | title=The names of Jesus | publisher=Twenty-Third Publications | publication-place=Mystic, CT | year=2004 | isbn=1-58595-315-6 | oclc=56392998|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1IvfTV0MAMQC&pg=PA81}}
• {{cite book |last1=Bloom |first1=Harold |title=Middle twentieth century |series=The Art of the Critic |volume=9 |date=1989 |publisher=Chelsea House |isbn=978-0-87754-502-6 |language=en}}
• {{cite book | last=Boxall | first=Ian | title=SCM studyguide to the books of the New Testament | publisher=SCM Press | publication-place=London | year=2007 | isbn=978-0-334-04047-7 | oclc=171110263|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=uTkQNHL-tOEC&pg=PA125}}
• {{cite book|last=Breuer|first=Yochanan|editor-last=Katz|editor-first=Steven T.|title=The Cambridge History of Judaism Vol. IV: The Late Roman-Rabinic Period|date=2006|chapter=Aramaic in Late Antiquity|chapter-url= https://books.google.com/books?id=BjtWLZhhMoYC&dq=Aramaic+vernacular+hebrew&pg=PA457|isbn= 978-0521772488|publisher=Cambridge University Press}}
• {{cite book | last=Brown | first=R.E. | title=The Gospel and Epistles of John: A Concise Commentary | publisher=Liturgical Press | year=1988 | isbn=978-0-8146-1283-5 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JIM0Q0bjgYkC&pg=PA93| author-link= Raymond E. Brown}}
• {{cite book | last=Brown | first=R.E. | title=Introduction to the New Testament Christology | publisher=Bloomsbury Academic | year=1994 | isbn=978-0-8264-7190-1 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=N2dhtAh94zIC&pg=PA78 | author-link= Raymond E. Brown}}
• {{cite book|last1=Buth|first1=Randall|first2=Chad|last2=Pierce |editor-first1=Randall |editor-last1=Buth|editor-first2=R. Steven|editor-last2=Notley |chapter=Hebraisti in Ancient Texts: Does ἑβραϊστί Ever Mean ‘Aramaic’? |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=F5QXAwAAQBAJ&dq=%22John+19:20%22+Aramaic+Hebrew&pg=PA107|title=The Language Environment of 1st Century Judea Vol. 2|url=|year=2014|publisher=BRILL|isbn= 9789004264410}}
• {{cite book|last=Cresswell|first=Peter|title=The Invention of Jesus|date=2013|isbn= 9781780286211|publisher=Watkins|url= https://books.google.com/books?id=D47Pim5iozkC&dq=%22The+same+goes+for+the+note+in+Luke+23,+38%22&pg=PT106}}
• {{cite journal |first=Aleister |last=Crowley |title=The Temple of Solomon the King |journal=The Equinox |date=March 1909 |volume=1 |issue=1 |page=160 |location=London |publisher=Simpkin, Marshall, Hamilton, Kent}}
• {{cite book | last=De Bles | first=A. | title=How to Distinguish the Saints in Art by Their Costumes, Symbols, and Attributes | publisher=Art Culture Publications|location=New York| year=1925| isbn=978-0-8103-4125-8 | url=https://archive.org/details/howtodistinguish0000debl/page/n3/mode/2up}}
• {{cite book |first=Marcello Reghellini |last=de Schio|title=Esprit du dogme de la Franche-Maçonnerie |date=1825 |publisher=H. Tarlier |location=Brussels |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9uatD1BJFswC&pg=PA12 |language=fr}}
• {{cite book |last1=Ellmann |first1=Maud |title=The Nets of Modernism: Henry James, Virginia Woolf, James Joyce, and Sigmund Freud |date=2010 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-1-139-49338-3 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xTl5ULHa098C&pg=PA164}}
• {{cite book | last=France | first=R. T. | title=The Gospel of Matthew | publisher=William B. Eerdmans Pub | publication-place=Grand Rapids, Mich | year=2007 | isbn=978-0-8028-2501-8 | oclc=122701585|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0ruP6J_XPCEC&pg=PA1048}}
• {{cite book| title=Studies in Early Christology|first= Martin|last= Hengel|date= 2004 |isbn=0-567-04280-4|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0fLPOx1B-AwC&pg=PA46|publisher=A&C Black}}
• {{cite book | last=Ironside | first=H.A. | title=John | publisher=Kregel Publications | series=Ironside Expository Commentaries Series | year=2006 | isbn=978-0-8254-9619-6 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2CFi7X7NTeoC&pg=PA454}}
• {{cite book|last= Köstenberger |first= Andreas J. |editor-first1= Glen G.|editor-last= Scorgie |editor-first2= Mark L. |editor-last2= Strauss |editor-first3= Steven M. |editor-last3=Voth | chapter= Translating John’s Gospel: Challenges and Opportunities|chapter-url= https://books.google.com/books?id=pYkn5RbltmwC&dq=hebraisti+aramaic+hebrew+bible+versions&pg=PA350 |title= The Challenge of Bible Translation: Communicating God's Word to the World |year=2009|publisher=Zondervan|isbn= 978-0310321859}}
• {{cite book | last=Lanciani | first=R.A. | title=Storia degli scavi di Roma e notizie intorno le collezioni romane di antichità | publisher=E. Loescher | year=1902 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=mh0XAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA89 | language=it|volume=I}}
• {{cite book |last1=McBain |first1=Ed |title=Doors |date=2017 |publisher=Head of Zeus |isbn=978-1-78854-045-2 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=stgoDwAAQBAJ&pg=PT65 |chapter=Part Two }}
• {{cite book |last1=Mihálycsa |first1=Erika |title=Reading Joycean Temporalities |date=2017 |publisher=Brill |isbn=978-90-04-34251-4 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZDE9DwAAQBAJ&pg=PA61 |chapter='Weighing the point': A Few Points on the Writing of Finitude in Ulysses}}
• {{cite book |last1=Quigley |first1=Megan |title=Modernist Fiction and Vagueness: Philosophy, Form, and Language |date=2015 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-1-316-19566-6 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jPUnBgAAQBAJ&pg=PA128 }}
• {{cite book | last=Robbins | first=V.K. | title=Exploring the Texture of Texts: A Guide to Socio-Rhetorical Interpretations | publisher=Bloomsbury Academic | year=1996 | isbn=978-1-56338-183-6 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8jDYi04F6KEC&pg=PA76}}
• {{cite book|first=Shmuel|last=Safrai |editor-first1= R. Steven|editor-last1= Notley|editor-first2=Marc|editor-last2=Turnage|editor-last3=Becker|editor-first3=Brian|chapter= Spoken and Literary Languages in the Time of Jesus |chapter-url= https://brill.com/view/book/edcoll/9789047417354/BP000013.xml|title=Jesus' Last Week, Jerusalem Studies in the Synoptic Gospels — Volume One |date=2006|isbn= 978-9004147904|publisher=BRILL}}
• {{cite book|title=The Passion of Jesus in the Gospel of Matthew|first= Donald |last=Senior |date=1985|isbn=0-89453-460-2|publisher=M. Glazier|volume=1}}
• {{cite book|last1=Szczerbowski |first1=Tadeusz |editor1-last=Strässler |editor1-first=Jürg |chapter=Language Games in Translation: Etymological Reinterpretation of Hierograms |title=Tendenzen Europäischer Linguistik: Akten des 31. Linguistischen Kolloquiums, Bern 1996

|year=1998 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=860BT-IaLXYC&pg=PA221 |issn=0344-6727 |series=Linguistiche Arbeiten |volume=381 |publisher=Walter de Gruyter |language=en |isbn=9783110913767 }}

• {{cite book | last1=Strecker | first1=G. | last2=Horn | first2=F.W. | title=Theology of the New Testament | publisher=Presbyterian Publishing Corporation | year=2000 | isbn=978-0-664-22336-6 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_6NxpAvdrOgC&pg=PA3758}}
• {{cite book|last=Wegner|first=Paul D.|title=The Journey From Texts to Translations: The Origin and Development of the Bible|publisher=Baker Academic|isbn= 9780801027994|date=2004|url= https://books.google.com/books?id=kkVFOTsBOAEC&dq=%22luke+23:38%22+versions&pg=PA226}}
• {{cite book | last=Weiss | first=R. | title=The Renaissance Discovery of Classical Antiquity | publisher=Humanities Press | series=History e-book project | year=1969 | isbn=978-80-13-01950-9 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=GHBoZfnWgfgC }}

{{refend}}

{{Titles of Jesus}}

Category:Christian terminology

Category:Christology

Category:Crucifixion of Jesus

Category:Eschatology

Category:Pontius Pilate