23:16

Therefore I will punish Him and release Him: As a result of the reasons in 23:14–15, Pilate decided that he would just punish Jesus and then let him go free. He would not execute Jesus. Pilate thought that if he punished Jesus in a less severe way, the Jewish leaders would be satisfied and not demand that Jesus be killed.

Your translation should not imply that Pilate punished Jesus because of his innocence. In some languages it may be helpful to indicate more explicitly that the punishment was easy in contrast to death. For example:

So I will only/just punish him and then I will set him free.
-or-
So after I punish Him, I will release Him

Therefore: The Greek conjunction that the Berean Standard Bible translates as Therefore introduces what Pilate decided to do as a result of the facts in 23:14–15. Other English versions introduce this result with “So.” Some versions do not use a conjunction. Introduce Pilate’s decision in a way that is natural in your language.

I will punish Him: In this context the Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as punish means “discipline, train.” In this context it indicates that Pilate would order Jesus to be whipped. The Romans usually whipped anyone who was accused of a crime, even if that person was not guilty. They hoped that the whipping would make the person try to avoid being accused of a crime again. This would also avoid trouble for the government. Another way to translate it is:

I will just beat/whip him

Pilate did not imply here that he would whip Jesus himself. In many languages it is necessary to indicate that he would cause or order others to do it. For example:

I will command that he be whipped
-or-
I will order/command ⌊my men⌋ to punish/whip him.

release Him: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as release is used in a special way here to mean “pardon/release a prisoner.” It implies that the prisoner will be freed. Some other ways to translate the phrase release Him are:

let him go (Good News Translation)
-or-
set him free

Use a natural way in your language to refer to releasing a prisoner.

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