Bible Dictionary
TITLE
A title is an identifying inscription or designation. The title placed over Jesus on the cross declared Him to be “The King of the Jews”; the same English word in 2 Kings refers instead to a monument or grave-marker.
Definition
A title is an identifying inscription or designation. In the New Testament, the title placed over Jesus on the cross identified him as “The King of the Jews.” In another Old Testament passage, the same English word represents a monument or grave-stone.
Biblical Usage
Pilate’s title over Jesus was written as an inscription on the cross. The word therefore functions as a public designation of the charge or identity associated with him at his crucifixion.
Historical Background
In Second Kings 23:17, the underlying Hebrew word means a grave-stone or monument, not an inscription in the usual sense. The source distinguishes this use from the title in John 19.
Related Figures
Historical Bible Dictionaries
International Standard Bible Encyclopedia (ISBE)
<p>ti'-t'-l: Joh 19:19,20 for titlos.</p><p>The following arrangement of the title on the cross has been suggested: See Geikie, Life and Words of Christ, chapter lxiii, note e; Seymour, The Cross in Tradition, History and Art (New York, 1898), pp. 115, 116,136, 138.</p><p>In 2Ki 23:17, the King James Version has "title" for tsiyyun. The word is connected with tsawah, "to command," and King James Version seems to have understood tsiyyun as "that giving directions," "sign-posts" (compare Eze 39:15). The word, however, means "grave-stone," "monument."</p><p>See SUPERSCRIPTION.</p>