15:10
This verse provides some background information. It explains why Pilate responded to the crowd by asking them if they wanted him to release Jesus. The NET Bible puts 15:10 in parentheses to show that it is background information:
(For he knew that the chief priests had handed him over because of envy.)
You should indicate that this is background information in the way that is natural in your language.
Pilate knew that Jesus had not done anything against Roman law. He knew the chief priests were angry because many Jewish people were following Jesus rather than the chief priests. The chief priests had accused Jesus of wrong because they were envious of him and wanted to kill him.
For he knew: The Greek has a clause here that the Berean Standard Bible literally translates as For he knew . In some languages, it may be more natural to add some implicit information here. For example:
Pilate asked this because he knew…
This clause indicates that Pilate understood why the chief priests handed Jesus over to him for trial. Someone had probably given him information that helped him understand.
it was out of envy: The phrase it was out of envy means “because they were jealous.” The chief priests were envious or jealous of Jesus. This was probably because the ordinary people liked to listen to Jesus more than they liked listening to the chief priests.
Here are some other ways to translate this phrase:
because they were envious of him/Jesus
-or-
because they were jealous of his popularity
Some languages have special idioms to express envy.
the chief priests: A Jewish priest was a man who offered sacrifices to God on behalf of the people. He also performed other rituals for them. The phrase the chief priests refers to the leaders among these priests.
Here are some other ways to translate this:
the leading/ruling priests
-or-
the elders among the Jewish sacrificers
-or-
the most prominent priests
See how you translated priest at 15:1b.
had handed Jesus over: The Greek verb that the Berean Standard Bible translates as the idiom had handed…over means “delivered into the control of someone else.” In this case they gave Jesus to Pilate to judge him.
Here are some other ways to translate this verb:
gave/delivered
-or-
brought Jesus to him. (Contemporary English Version)
This verb also occurs in 15:1d. See how you translated it there.
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