23:21a
but: The Greek conjunction that the Berean Standard Bible translates as but introduces a statement by the people that directly and strongly contrasts with what Pilate had hoped and wanted in 23:20. Instead of releasing Jesus, the people wanted Pilate to have Jesus crucified.
they kept shouting: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as they kept shouting indicates that the people continued to shout for some time. They yelled the same words many times. They were shouting these words back to Pilate as their answer to him. Some other ways to translate this are:
they repeatedly shouted
-or-
they just continued to yell/call again and again
-or-
they ⌊answered⌋ ⌊him⌋, shouting over and over
23:21b
Crucify Him! Crucify Him!: The phrase Crucify Him! is repeated for emphasis. The people were urgently demanding that Pilate crucify Jesus. In some languages it may be more natural to say it only once and emphasize it in a different way. This is especially true if the term for Crucify has several words.
Here the crowd did not expect Pilate to crucify Jesus himself. He would order his soldiers to do it. In some languages it may be necessary to make this clear. For example:
Cause him to be killed/executed on a cross!
-or-
⌊Order
(sing) your soldiers to⌋ nail/fasten him to a cross to kill him!
Crucify Him: The word Crucify (and “crucifixion”) refers to a method that Romans used to execute criminals. They nailed or tied the living criminal to a stake or to two large beams of wood that were joined in the form of a cross (+). They set the cross upright in the ground. Then they left the criminal on the cross until he died. Crucifixion was a slow and painful death.
Some ways to translate Crucify Him are:
Kill him on a cross!
-or-
Nail him to the cross/post so that he dies!
In some languages the term for Crucify will need to include a word for “cross.” Some ways to translate the word “cross” are:
plank/wood of death
-or-
crossed-beam(s) of death
-or-
a tree for killing people
-or-
a stake/post to which they fasten/nail someone ⌊to kill him⌋
You may want to include a footnote to explain more about crucifixion. For example:
One Roman method to execute a criminal was to crucify him. They crossed two large pieces of wood and joined them together. Then soldiers nailed or tied the criminal’s arms to one piece of wood and his feet to the other. They set the cross upright and allowed him to die a slow and painful death on it.
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