Concept in Definition ABC

In most representations of the Christian cross an inscription appears at the top. It is the acronym INRI, which means "Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews" and which corresponds to the Latin phrase "Iesus Nazarenvs Rex Ivdaeorvm". According to tradition Christianity collected in the Gospels the inscription INRI appeared on the cross in which Jesus Christ was executed.

The reason for this registration

Most biblical historians agree on the explanation of this inscription. In this sense, Pontius Pilate was the one who ordered to place a small poster on the cross with the initials INRI and he did so following the instructions of the Roman priests. They were intended to make a mockery, since Christ did not proclaim himself king but the Jewish people did. Therefore, in its origin the initials INRI were words of mockery and contempt towards someone who was considered a leader, but to the Romans he was nothing more than a man who had opposed the laws and tradition of the Romans.

Its original ironic meaning serves to recall the historical context in which Christ was punished by the Romans. When Christianity was consolidated as religion officer of the Roman empire, the initials INRI came to symbolize the recognition of the figure of Christ. Since then, in the images in which the crucified Christ appears, the INRI inscription can be seen.

The expression "for more inri"

In Spanish there is a expression very popular, "to make matters worse". Equivalent to others, such as "to top it off" or "to top it off." To better understand its meaning we can contextualize expression within an everyday situation. Let's imagine that a team modest football has to face another top level.

To begin with, it is a very difficult game for the modest team, but the situation gets even more complicated, as the team's top scorer is injured before the game. Faced with this unexpected situation, someone could say "and to make matters worse, the striker has been injured."

Other expressions of biblical origin

The expression "para más inri" allows us to remember that in Spanish we use many expressions whose origin is found in the Holy Scriptures. We say that someone has lost the oremus when a person does not know what he does, we exclaim God save me when we feel some kind of threat and we say that it is more false than Judas when we want to say that someone is a traitor.

Photos: iStock - Christian Kempin / binabina