Superscription

A superscription — also called an inscription or title — is the text written above or upon something to identify it. The umbrella collects the gospel notices of the title placed on the cross of Jesus, where the charge against him was written for all to read.

The Title on the Cross

Mark records the wording briefly: "And the superscription of his accusation was written over, THE KING OF THE JEWS" (Mark 15:26). In Mark the line is the formal charge — what Pilate's court has put against the condemned.

Luke gives the same content with one extra word: "And there was also a superscription over him, THIS IS THE KING OF THE JEWS" (Luke 23:38). The title is written over Jesus where the crowd would read it.

John names the writer and the act of placing the title: "And Pilate wrote a title also, and put it on the cross. And there was written, JESUS OF NAZARETH, THE KING OF THE JEWS" (John 19:19). John's wording adds the name and place of origin to the charge — the full identification of the man on the cross.

The three accounts converge on the same title. Whatever the writer's intent, the inscription on the cross publicly named Jesus by the title "King of the Jews."