Pilate’s reply to Jesus, Do you think I am a Jew? is more literally “Am I a Jew?” (Revised Standard Version). The Greek is in the form of a question that expects a negative answer. New American Bible makes this an exclamation “I am no Jew!”; New English Bible translates “What! am I a Jew?” Pilate’s response expresses contempt for the Jews. However, the more obvious meaning is that Pilate is disclaiming any real knowledge of Jesus, other than the information given him by the Jewish authorities. This is made clear by the following sentence (It was you own people…). Some readers may not see clearly the connection between Jesus’ question and Pilate’s reply. To some extent the relation may be indicated by rendering Pilate’s reply “Why should such a question come from me? I’m not a Jew.” However, this expansion is probably unnecessary, since the following statement indicates clearly that the accusation came from the Jewish authorities.

Quoted with permission from Newman, Barclay M. and Nida, Eugene A. A Handbook on the Gospel of John. (UBS Handbook Series). New York: UBS, 1980. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .