Charles Ellicott Commentary John 19:9

"and he entered into the Praetorium again, and saith unto Jesus, Whence art thou? But Jesus gave him no answer." — John 19:9 (ASV)

And went again into the judgment hall, and saith unto Jesus.—He had brought Jesus out to the people. He now led Him back to the palace to inquire further of Him in private.

Whence art thou?—The question is based on the claim to be Son of God, of which he had heard. He knew that Jesus was a Galilean before sending Him to Herod (Luke 23:6). It is not of His earthly habitation, therefore, that he inquires, but of His origin and nature. (Compare the same word used in the same sense in John 8:14 and Matthew 21:25.)

But Jesus gave him no answer.—This silence of our Lord has seemed hard to understand, and very many and very different have been the explanations suggested. An explanation can only be suggested; it cannot be given with any degree of certainty. But what seems most in harmony with the situation is that Pilate’s question was one that, for him, could not be answered in reality, and therefore was not answered in appearance. The answer had, indeed, already been given (John 18:37), but he had treated it with an impatience that showed he could not receive it then. Not being of the truth, he could not hear the voice of the Son of God, and therefore that voice did not speak.