Expositor's Bible Commentary Commentary Luke 23:23

"But they were urgent with loud voices, asking that he might be crucified. And their voices prevailed." — Luke 23:23 (ASV)

In vivid Greek, Luke brings the crowd’s action to a climax. He shifts attention from Pilate to the people by ending the Greek sentence in v.23 not with the verb but with a reference to the shouting of the crowd.

Luke then proceeds directly to Pilate’s action, who had acted in accord with the crowd’s wishes. Having emphasized God’s plan and will throughout his gospel, Luke now notes the human factor: Jesus is delivered to the “demand” of the crowd (cf. Acts 2:23).