Section 15:33–41

Jesus died

Mark told the story of Jesus’ death and indicated the time certain important events happened. Jesus was nailed to the cross at the third hour of the day (9:00 a.m.). Then at the sixth hour (12:00 noon) it became as dark as nighttime. It probably remained dark until Jesus died sometime during the ninth hour (3:00 p.m.).

Three important events happened in this section. First, Jesus shouted, “My God, my God, why have you abandoned me?” These are the only words that Mark recorded that Jesus spoke while on the cross. They show that God the Father rejected Jesus while he took upon himself the sins of mankind. Second, when Jesus died, the curtain in the temple was torn in two. This curtain represented the barrier between mankind and the presence of God. Third, the Roman centurion in charge of the crucifixion confessed that Jesus was the Son of God. (He was the first man in the book of Mark to say this.)

It is good to translate this section before you decide on a heading for it.

Here are some other possible headings for this section:

The death of Jesus
-or-
Jesus dies on the cross

There are parallel passages for this section in Matthew 27:45–56, Luke 23:44–49, and John 19:28–30.

Paragraph 15:33–37

15:33

From the sixth hour: The phrase the sixth hour refers to around 12:00 noon.

Here are some other ways to translate this phrase:

At midday
-or-
When the sun was high in the sky
-or-
At 12:00/noon

until the ninth hour: The phrase the ninth hour refers to around 3:00 p.m. It was the middle of the afternoon.

Here are some other ways to translate this phrase:

until the middle of the afternoon
-or-
until about three hours before sunset
-or-
until 3:00 p.m.

Mark does not say clearly that the darkness ended right at this point in the story and before Jesus died. (It would be somewhat strange to imagine that the darkness lifted before Jesus cried out that God had abandoned him.)

darkness came over all the land: The clause darkness came over all the land means that the whole land became dark. People could not see any light from the sun. It was as dark as it is at nighttime.

In some languages there may be an idiom expressing this. For example:

The whole land became pitch-black.

all the land: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as land can mean region, country, or earth. In this context it probably refers to Judea, the land of the Jews.

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