The Wife of Pilate Since the story of Pilate’s wife is found
only in the Gospel of Matthew (27:19), it seems reasonable to
examine it specifically through the perspective of Matthew. What
function is served by that very short narrative in that
particular Gospel? Commentators have remarked that Pilate’s
wife, a Gentile woman who pleads the innocence of Jesus (“that
just man”) serves as a literary foil to the Jewish leaders who
clamor for his crucifixion (27:23). This comment is surely
accurate, but it does not indicate a larger context, nor an
intention specific to Matthew. Indeed, this is the sort of story
we might more readily have expected in Luke. The latter, after
all, is rather preoccupied with showing that the Roman
authorities regarded Jesus as innocent (Luke 23:4,14–15,20,47),
and among the four evangelists, he is certainly the one who
writes most often about women, whether in Jesus’ parables or
among his actual associates. It seems, then, that a closer
examination of Matthew 27:19 is required. The te