Pilate and Jesus M E R I D I A N Crossing Aesthetics Werner Hamacher Editor Pilate and Jesus Giorgio Agamben Translated by Adam Kotsko stanford university press stanford, california Stanford University Press Stanford, California English translation © 2015 by the Board of Trustees of the Leland Stanford Junior University. All rights reserved. Pilate and Jesus was originally published in Italian in 2013 under the title Pilato e Gesú © 2013, Nottetempo. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system without the prior written permission of Stanford University Press. Printed in the United States of America on acid-free, archival-quality paper Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Agamben, Giorgio, 1942– author. [Pilato e Gesú. English] Pilate and Jesus / Giorgio Agamben ; translated by Adam Kotsko. pages cm.— (Meridian, crossing aesthetics) “Originally published in Italian in 2013 under the title Pilato e Gesú.” Includes bibliographical references. ISBN 978-0-8047-9233-2 (cloth : alk. paper) ISBN 978-0-8047-9454-1 (pbk. : alk. paper) 1. Pilate, Pontius, active 1st century. 2. Jesus Christ—Trial. 3. Jesus Christ—Crucifixion. I. Title. II. Series: Meridian (Stanford, Calif.) BS2520.P55A7313 2015 232.96’2—dc23 2014030860 ISBN 978-0-8047-9458-9 (electronic) Contents Acknowledgments ix § Pilate and Jesus 1 Glosses 47 Bibliography 59 Acknowledgments The translator would like to thank Carlo Salzani and Harold Stone for their helpful comments on the translation; Colleen McCarroll for her bibliographical assistance; and Emily-Jane Cohen, Friederike Sunda- ram, and the entire staff at Stanford University Press.