John Calvin Commentary John 18:31

"Pilate therefore said unto them, Take him yourselves, and judge him according to your law. The Jews said unto him, It is not lawful for us to put any man to death:" — John 18:31 (ASV)

According to your law. Pilate, offended by their barbarous and violent proceedings, undoubtedly reproaches them by stating that this form of condemnation, which they were eager to carry into effect, was contrary to the common law of all nations and to the feelings of mankind. At the same time, he censures them for boasting that they had a law given to them by God.

Take you him. He says this ironically; for he would not have allowed them to pronounce on a man a sentence of capital punishment. It is as if he had said, “If he were in your power, he would instantly be executed, without being heard in his own defense; and is this the equity of your Law, to condemn a man without any crime?”

Thus wicked men, falsely assuming the name of God as an excuse for their conduct, expose His holy doctrine to the reproaches of enemies, and the world eagerly seizes on it as an occasion for slander.

We are not allowed. Those who think that the Jews refuse an offer, which Pilate had made to them, are mistaken; but rather, knowing that he had said to them in mockery, Take you him, they reply, “You would not allow it; and since you are the judge, execute your office.”