Mark 15:10

ἐγίνωσκεν. He was becoming aware. Pilate was shrewd enough to see that there was violent animus against Jesus and that the charges against Him were untrue. Jewish leaders were not likely to resent a Rabbi’s being hostile to Rome: they were quite capable of resenting the success of a rival Teacher. His real crime was that He had been too popular, and it was this which led Pilate to hope that the proposal to release Him in honour of the Feast would be welcomed by the people. But he made a mistake in calling Him “the King of the Jews.” Such a title in the mouth of a Roman official must seem to be contemptuous; he would have done better, had he called Him “the Prophet of Galilee.”